Talk:Thomas Ashton (schoolmaster)

Identity

The author of his sketch in the 19th century Dictionary of National Biography only knew of the Thomas Ashton who was at Cambridge in 1559, mentioned in this page. However, 20th century Shrewsbury School historian, J.B. Oldham, discounted this on the grounds of the implied age, estimating he would have only lived to about the age of 38; he argued he was an older man at the time of becoming Headmaster by identifying him with an earlier Thomas Ashton who graduated from St John's College, Cambridge (who were later given an academic veto over the appointment of Shrewsbury School masters and who received many Old Salopians as undergraduates) in 1521, giving the first Headmaster a likely lifespan into his seventies. The latter had become the accepted Thomas Ashton by the time Martin E. Speight wrote his sketch on Ashton for the 2004 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. The latter article does not mention the earlier confusion and later establishment of headmaster Ashton's identity. I have added cited detail from the ODNB article into this page. Cloptonson (talk) 18:39, 6 June 2015 (UTC)