John Ashton

John Ashton was an English author and literary antiquary, born in 1834 and dying on July 29, 1911. He wrote widely about earlier British life and culture, with a special interest in popular literature, customs, songs, satire, and social history.

His books show an eye for unusual details and overlooked corners of everyday life. Among the works associated with him are The History of Gambling in England, A History of English Lotteries, Curious Creatures in Zoology, Chap-books of the Eighteenth Century, Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne, The Dawn of the XIXth Century in England, and collections of ballads and street songs.

Ashton’s writing remains appealing because it is curious, wide-ranging, and rooted in old sources. Rather than focusing only on kings and battles, he often explored how people amused themselves, what they read, what they believed, and how they lived.