Person:Sir Ralph de Assheton (1)

The Notorious Black Knight - fact and fiction by Tammy Hensel (freelance writer)

Sir Ralph de Assheton, the Black Knight of Ashton, struck so much fear into the heart of English people that his death is still celebrated more than 500 years later! The Black Knight Pageant and festival held annually in Ashton-on-Lynn keeps the legend alive.

It is said Sir Ralph rode around the countryside on his black steed looking for peasants to torture and kill. One of his legendary methods was to roll them downhill in a barrel spiked with nails!

He became so feared as Vice-Constable of England that children are said to have prayed this nightly prayer: "Sweet Jesus, for thy mercy's sake And for thy bitter passion, Save us from the axe of the Tower, And from Sir Ralph of Ashton."

Was Sir Ralph as notorious as legend tells us? We will probably never know. Yet whatever the local people thought of him, he was a man of influence among the nobility and in the royal court.

Sir Ralph was most likely born sometime around 1421 to Sir John de Assheton (Ashton) and second wife Margaret Byron. He served as a "page of Honour" to King Henry VI in 1428, a right usually given to a child around 7 years old. In 1438 he contracted to marry Margaret (Margary) Byron, daughter and heir of John Byron, Lord of Middleton. The marriage occurred either that year or the next. This began the tenure of the Asshetons as Lords of the Manor at Middleton.

Under King Edward IV, Sir Ralph held the offices of Knight Marshal of England and Sheriff of York. He was knighted in 1482 for his courage at the battle of Hutton field and King Richard III rewarded him for his support with huge land grants. In 1483 he became of Lieutenant of the Tower of London and Vice-Constable of England in 1483.1 On June 6, 1486 he was pardoned by King Henry VII for supporting King Richard III. The year and circumstances of his death are uncertain, but no mention is found of him after 1486. One legend says he was killed by a relative on the Monday after Easter

References: The Peerage http://thepeerage.com/p22837.htm#i228363 Middletonia website: http://www.middletonia.co.uk/localhistory/lordsofthemanor.html Ashton-Under-Lynn Photo Blog http://ashton-under-lyne.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_de_Ashton

1.   Wikpedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph de Ashton.
2.   Middletonia website http://www.middletonia.co.uk/localhistory/lordsofthemanor.html.

   The First Sir Ralph Assheton
   
   Sir Ralph was knighted in 1483 for his bravery on the battlefields and held various public offices. He was appointed Vice Constable of England by Richard III who it is said was a personal friend. More locally Sir Ralph had somewhat of an evil reputation. Legend has it that he terrorised the people of nearby Ashton where he still had interests and was known there as The Black Knight. A pagan custom of the time was to see in the Spring by destroying anything representing Winter. It is said that Sir Ralph Assheton would ride to Ashton each Easter Monday and kill anyone allowing corn marigolds to grow in their fields. He would apparently do this by rolling them down a hill in a barrel spiked with nails! What a way to go. Of course these legends and stories get blown out of all proportion and it's highly likely that this tale is greatly exaggerated. However there is no smoke without fire and Sir Ralph obviously treated people so unpleasantly to the extent that an annual event was staged in Ashton for hundreds of years involving a ritual of the burning of a straw effigy paraded through town to commemorate him. This was known as 'The Riding of the Black Lad.' This event still occurred as late as the 1950's when it fizzled out but has enjoyed a more recent revival in the form of a more modern day carnival in the area.
   An old prayer also relates to 'The Black Knight';
   "Sweet Jesu for thy mercies sake and for thy bitter passion,
   Save us from the axe of the Tower and from Sir Ralph de Assheton."
   Sir Ralph died around the late 1480's when the manor passed to his son Richard. Although such a prominent character, there is little information surrounding the death of Sir Ralph Assheton.

3.   Person Page - 22837, in The Peerage.

   Sir Ralph Assheton1
   M, #228363, d. before 1490
   
   Last Edited=27 Apr 2007
   Sir Ralph Assheton was the son of Sir John de Assheton and Margaret Byron.2,1 He married, firstly, Margaret Barton, daughter of John Barton, circa 1439.1 He married, secondly, Elizabeth Chichele, daughter of John Chichele.1 He died before 1490.1
   He held the office of Lieutenant of the Tower of London.1 He came into the Middleton estate through his first wife.1 He held the office of Knight Marshal of England.1 Sir Ralph Assheton also went by the nick-name of ‘The Black Knight of Ashton'.1 He held the office of Page of Honour to King Henry VI in 1428.1 He held the office of Sheriff of York from 1473 to 1474.1 He was invested as a Knight Banneret in 1482.1 He held the office of Vice-Constable of England in 1483.1 On 6 June 1486 he was pardoned by King Henry VII for supporting King Richard III.1
   Children of Sir Ralph Assheton and Margaret Barton
   Sir Ralph Assheton+2
   Sir Richard Assheton1
   Citations
   [S37] Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 1, page 827. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
   [S37] Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.

4.   The Pedigree of Ralph "Black Knight" Ashton.

   http://fabpedigree.com/s064/f859362.htm

5.   Http://cybergata.com/roots/8259.htm.

   Sir Ralph Assheton Knight & Sheriff of Yorkshire
   
   Marriage: Margaret Barton about 1439 in Middleton, Lancastershire, England 256,257,402
   Died: 10 Apr 1484, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England 256
   General Notes:
   
   
   ~History of Lancaster, Vol. V, "Middleton," pp. 161-169, By 1480 the greater part of the Middleton estate was held by Sir Ralph Ashton and Margery his wife. 861
   
   Noted events in his life were:
   
   • Background Information. 535
   Sir Ralph Assheton was a page of honor to King Henry VI. He married Margaret, daughter of John Barton, esquire of Middleton, Lancashire. Margaret was heir to her uncle, Richard Barton, and became the proprietor of that estate.
   
   Ralph Assheton was knight marshal of England, lieutenant of the Tower of London, and sheriff of Yorkshire in 12 and 13 Edward IV. In 24 Henry IV, and 1482, he was made knight bannert at Hatton field, in Scotland. He was later appointed vice-constable of England, with the authority of constable. He has been named to have been amongst the knight who rode in procession at the coronation of Richard III, and he died soon after. He had, along with other children, two sons:
   
   Sir Richard Ashton, his heir
   
   Sir Ralph Ashton, who married Margaret, daughter and heir of Adam Lever and acquired the Lever lordship.
   
   ~Burke's A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Ireland, pg. 20
   
   • Background Information. 931
   Ralph was the son of Sir John and his second wife, Lady Margaret Byron. In 6 Hnery VI, as appears by dded of trust to the Abbot of Whalley, his father exchanged the use of his son Ralph for 1000 marks from that Abbot. In 17 Henry VI, Ralph was a page to Henry VI, and the same year he married Margery, daughter of John Barton, of Middleton, Esquire, and heiress to her Uncle, Richard Barton, which came to Ralph de Ashton. He was Knight Marshal of England, Lieutenant of the Tower of London and Sheriff of Yorkshire in 12 and 13 Edward VI.
   
   Sir Ralph and Margaret (Mary) had six sons and seven daughter:
   
   Richard
   Ralph, who married Margaret, daughter and heiress of Adam Lever, of Lever, in Lancashire.
   Thomas, a priest
   William
   Edmund
   John
   and three that died young.
   Mary, who married John Nasfield
   Phillipa, who married Thomas Cauton, Esq.
   Anne, married John Talbot, of Salisbury, 30 Hnery VI
   Lucy, married Richard Westhorpe
   Three other daughters, Elizabeth, Johanna and Agnes, died at an early age.
   
   ~History and description of the town and parish of Ashton-Under-Lyne, pg. 18-19
   
   • Records and Notes.
   In 1480 Sir Ralph Ashton of Fryton and Margery his wife granted land in Birtle and Middleton, &c. to his son Richard and Isabel his wife, daughter of John Talbot of Salebury. [Kuerden fol. MS. 39, no. 648; also 38, no. 635; Towneley, MS. HH, no. 2061]
   
   ~History of Lancaster, Vol. V, "Middleton," pp. 161-169 861
   
   
   Ralph married Margaret Barton, daughter of John Barton esquire of Middleton and Margaret Byron, about 1439 in Middleton, Lancastershire, England 861,535.,862 (Margaret Barton was born about 1425 in Middleton, Lancastershire, England 861.)