Miles Ashworth (bapt. 29 January 1792 – 13 April 1868) was an English co-operator, weaver, chartist, and marine. In 1844 he was a founding member of the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers and served as the society's first president.[1][2] He was father to fellow Rochdale Pioneer Samuel Ashworth.[3]
Miles Ashworth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Baptised | 29 January 1792 Rochdale, Lancashire, England |
| Died | (aged 76) Rochdale, Lancashire, England |
| Occupations | |
| Movement | |
| Spouse |
Jane Howarth (m. 1823) |
| Children | 7, including Samuel Ashworth |
Biography
editAshworth was born to William and Ann Ashworth and was baptised on the 29 January 1792 in Rochdale, Lancashire. He served as a marine during the Napoleonic Wars on HMS Bellerophon where he guarded Napoleon following his capture by the British in 1815.[1][2] After leaving the navy he became a weaver and in 1823 married Jane Howarth with whom he went on to have seven children.
In 1844 he was a founding member of the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers and was elected the society's first president. In 1845 he became a trustee of the co-op, with Charles Howarth succeeding him as president.
In 1848 he moved to Minster Lovell to join his son Samuel to work as a farmer as part of the Chartist Land Plan but after six months Samuel sold the plot and they returned to Rochdale.[4][1]
Ashworth died in Rochdale on the 13 April 1868 at the age of 76.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Davidson, Carol (2016). The Original Rochdale Pioneers. Lulu.com. pp. 59–62. ISBN 978-1-326-70522-0.
- ^ a b "Rochdale Pioneers". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/60696. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Shaffer, Jack (1999). Historical Dictionary of the Cooperative Movement. Internet Archive. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-8108-3666-2.
- ^ Saville, John (1972). Bellamy, Joyce M.; Saville, John (eds.). Dictionary of Labour Biography, Volume I. Internet Archive. London: Macmillan. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-0-333-42757-6.