Guild of One-Name Studies
One-name studies, Genealogy
Study: Ashfield
Variants: Aschfeilde
Category: 3 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is well under way on a global basis.
Contact: Mrs Anthea Ashfield
-- In 1369 Robert de Ashfeld was patron of St George's Church in Stowlangtoft, Suffolk
-- Robert Ashfeld was a man-at-arms with Henry V in France in 1415.
-- Edmund Ashfield of Ewelme, Oxfordshire and Shenley, Buckinghamshire, was knighted in 1570.
-- Robert Ashfield was knighted in 1598 in Christchurch, Dublin.
-- Edmond Ashfield of Chesham, Buckinghamshire, was a prisoner in the Tower of London in 1601. He was also knighted there in 1603/4.
-- An Ashfield, either named Robert or John, was servant to Robert Catesby and was involved in the Gunpowder Plot, running messages between Catesby, Guy Fawkes and other conspirators.
-- John Ashfield of Suffolk was knighted at Theobalds in 1615. He was one of the Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber of King Charles I and became a Baronet in 1626. The baronetcy continued for several generations but was said to be extinct by 1727.
-- Patience Ashfield 1627-1708 is included in A Biographical Dictionary of English Women Writers.
-- Edmund Ashfield flourished as a pastellist between 1669 and 1690.
The earliest references to the surname Ashfield have been found in Suffolk and Norfolk. By 1439 there is an Ashfield family in Heythrop, Oxfordshire. By the 1500s there are families in Chesham, Bucks and in Chipping Norton and Witney, Oxfordshire, where they were involved with the wool industry for many generations. In the 1600s they were prominent in Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire and also in Worcestershire -- in Shipston on Stour, Pershore and Bromsgrove.
Today the largest concentration of the Ashfield surname is still centred in that area, between the counties of Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire. There are Ashfield families throughout England and also in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Canada, the USA, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
Entries from the General Register Offices BMD Indexes for England and Wales from 1837 to 2002 have been recorded.
Many extracts have been made from the UK Census records from 1841 to 1911 and also from US and Canadian census records.
Information from the International Genealogical Index has been recorded as has some parish register data.
Copies have been made of many Ashfield wills from the PCC wills collection.
I would be very pleased to help anyone with an interest in the Ashfield family seeking information on their ancestors and would also be interested in receiving further Ashfield information.