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ASKE, John (b.1564), of Aughton, Yorks.
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Family and Education
b. 1564, 1st s. of Robert Aske of Aughton by Elizabeth, da. of Sir John Dawney. educ. Howden and Kirby Hill sch.; Caius, Camb. 1579. m. Christina or Christian, da. of Sir Thomas Fairfax of Denton and Nun Appleton by Dorothy, da. of George Gale†, wid. of John Rokeby of Sandal, 1s.
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Biography
The Askes of Aughton were descended from those of Aske in the North Riding and first appeared in the East Riding in the fourteenth century. Aske himself was a grand nephew of the Robert Aske hanged after the Pilgrimage of Grace. Practically nothing is known about him. His name does not appear in the 1593 parliamentary journals, but as knight for Yorkshire he could have chosen to serve on committees concerned with the subsidy (26 Feb.), legal matters (9 Mar.), kerseys (14, 15, 23 Mar.) and weirs (28 Mar.).
His father owned a great deal of property which Aske must have inherited, but he sold the manor of Aughton to Sir John Dawney in 1595, and is said to have sold all his other lands. In this connexion, he was involved in a Star Chamber case in 1598 or 1599 with John Robinson, clerk of the city of London, who accused him of attempted fraud. Robinson claimed that two years earlier there had been ‘a certain communication and speech between them for the having and buying’ of the manor of Dighton, the monastery of Ellerton, the priory of Thirkhead and certain other lands. After some hesitation Robinson paid Aske £2,550 for these properties and received the indentures but, ‘for reason of some trouble he was in’, Aske requested a delay before acknowledging the recognizances and Robinson naively agreed. The transaction was never completed and Aske apparently entered into various other recognizances which he did acknowledge, thereby defrauding Robinson both of his money and of the properties. It is not known how the case ended. A John Aske, probably the Member, was summoned before the Privy Council on 19 Feb. 1598. The date of his death has not been ascertained. His only son Richard is described as of the Middle Temple, London.
Foster, Yorks. Peds. i.; Gooder, Parl. Rep. Yorks. ii. 36; D’Ewes, 474, 496, 501, 507, 512; E. Riding Antiq. Soc.vii. 18; Tudor Fines (Yorks. Arch. Soc. rec. ser. vii, viii, liii), passim; St. Ch. 5/R1/37; APC, xxviii. 320.
