He took a very active part in local politics, and succeeded in obtaining the charter of incorporation in 1881 for Hyde. He was one of the first radicals elected to Hyde town council, and at the first meeting of the new authority, he was elected as alderman and also first mayor of Hyde in recognition of his work. He funded many projects and was also an active member of the Manchester branch of the National Educational League, which did much to prepare the way for the passing of the 1870 act. His work on the Hyde Relief Committee was one of the reasons that the city council gave him the freedom of the city in 1892. As well as his many activities in Hyde and Manchester, Ashton served as High Sheriff of Lancashire and also as a magistrate for Cheshire and Lancashire. He was a leading member of the Liberal Party in Manchester. In 1882 he declined a baronetcy offered to him by William Gladstone, who became a close friend and who stayed at his Ford Bank home when he came to Manchester. Death and legacy Thomas Ashton died at Ford Bank, Didsbury, on 21 January 1898, and was buried at Hyde Chapel three days later. Due to the nature of his work, in particular his concern for his work force during the cotton famine, Professor Neil Bourne and Professor Andrew Curran decided to use his name when creating the Thomas Ashton Institute for Risk and Regulatory Research at the University of Manchester, an interdisciplinary research institute concerned with the understanding of failures that occur in the world of work leading to injury or ill-health. Family With his wife Elizabeth Ashton née Gair, Ashton had nine children: Harriet G. Ashton; Elizabeth M. Ashton; Katharine Ashton; Margaret Ashton; Grace Mary Ashton; Charlotte Jane Ashton; Thomas Gair Ashton and William Mark Ashton. Thomas Gair Ashton, an industrialist and politician, later became the first 1st Baron Ashton of Hyde. Margaret Ashton was a local politician, elected member of Manchester City Council in 1908. Charlotte Jane Ashton married Sir Edward Tootal Broadhurst, 1st Baronet, a director and eventually chairman of Tootal Broadhurst Lee. References 1818 births 1898 deaths People from Hyde, Greater Manchester English philanthropists English industrialists 19th-century English businesspeople Mayors of places in Greater Manchester Liberal Party (UK) councillors 19th-century English politicians 19th-century British philanthropists