Ashley, Lord. See Shaftesbury, First Earl of.
Ashmead-Bartlett, Sir Ellis, English politician, born in 1849. He entered Parliament in 1880, and was Civil Lord of the Admiralty from 1885 to 1892. He served in the Græco-Turkish and South African wars, and was knighted in 1892. He died in 1902.
Ash´mole, Elias, English antiquary, born 1617, died 1692. He became a chancery solicitor in London, but afterwards studied at Oxford, taking up mathematics, physics, chemistry, and particularly astrology. He published Theatrum Chymicum in 1652. On the Restoration he received the post of Windsor Herald, and other appointments both honourable and lucrative. In 1672 appeared his History of the Order of the Garter. He presented to the University of Oxford his collection of rarities, to which he afterwards added his books and MSS., thereby commencing the Ashmolean Museum.
Ash´taroth. See Astarte.
Ashton-in-Makerfield, a town of Lancashire, England, 4 miles from Wigan, with collieries, cotton-mills, &c. Pop. (1921), 22,489.
Ashton-under-Lyne, a municipal and parliamentary borough of Lancashire, England, 6 miles
east of Manchester, on the north bank of the River Tame, a well-built place, with handsome streets and public buildings. The chief employment is the cotton manufacture, but there are also collieries and ironworks, which employ a great many persons. Pop. 51,080; (municipal borough) (1921), 43,333.
Ashton-upon-Mersey, a town or urban district of England, Cheshire, on the south side of the Mersey, several miles south-west of Manchester. Pop. (1921), 7780.
Ashura´da, a small island in the S.E. corner of the Caspian, formed by Russia into a trading station.
Ash-Wednesday, the first day of Lent, so called from a custom in the Western Church of sprinkling ashes that day on the heads of penitents, then admitted to penance. The period at which the fast of Ash-Wednesday was instituted is uncertain; but it probably dates from the eighth century at least. In the Roman Catholic Church the ashes are now strewn on the heads of all the clergy and people present. In the Anglican Church Ash-Wednesday is regarded as an important fast day.