Ralph Assheton (general)
Encyclopedia
Ralph Assheton was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons
House of Commons of England
The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

  from 1640 to 1649. He was a general in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

.

Assheton was eldest son of Sir Richard Assheton of Middleton (who died 1618) and a descendent of Ralph de Ashton
Ralph de Ashton
Sir Ralph de Ashton , was an officer of state under Edward IV of England.-Early life:Ashton was the half-brother of Sir Thomas de Ashton the alchemist [see Ashton or Assheton, Sir Thomas de, fl. 1446], and the son of the Ashton mentioned by Froissart [see Ashton, Sir John de, fl. 1370]. His mother...

 of Middleton. He was admitted at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Sidney Sussex College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England.The college was founded in 1596 and named after its foundress, Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex. It was from its inception an avowedly Puritan foundation: some good and godlie moniment for the mainteynance...

 on 22 May 1614 and was also admitted at Gray's Inn
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

 on 24 May 1614. He was awarded MA at Cambridge in 1615 on the visit of the King, and was incorporated at Oxford University in 1616.

Assheton was probably elected Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Clitheroe
Clitheroe (UK Parliament constituency)
Clitheroe was a parliamentary constituency in Lancashire.The town of Clitheroe was first enfranchised as a parliamentary borough in 1559, returning two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England until 1707, then to the House of Commons of Great Britain until 1800, and finally to the...

. in 1625 and re-elected in 1626. In November 1640, he was elected MP for Lancashire
Lancashire (UK Parliament constituency)
Lancashire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1290, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832...

 in the Long Parliament
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...

. He was an energetic supporter of parliament and the avowed leader of the Presbyterian party in Lancashire. In the Civil War he became a colonel-general in the parliamentary army and was commander in chief of the parliamentary forces in Lancashire. He was excluded from palieaent in 1648.

Assheton died aged 54.

Assheton's eldest son Ralph was created baronet
Assheton Baronets
-Assheton Baronets of Lever, Lancs :*Sir Ralph Assheton, 1st Baronet*Sir Ralph Assheton, 2nd Baronet*Sir Edmund Assheton, 3rd Baronet*Sir John Assheton, 4th Baronet...

after the restoration.
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