A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Ashton, Herbert
ASHTON. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 7; h-p., 31.)
Herbert Ashton entered the Navy, 14 April, 1809, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Implacable 74, Capt. Thos. Byam Martin, stationed on the Baltic. On joining the Surveillante 38, Capt. Sir Geo. Ralph Collier, he served in the boats of that frigate, under Lieut. Hon. Jas. Arbuthnot, at the cutting out of a brig under a heavy fire from the batteries of St. Gildas and St. Jacques, on the coast of France, 5 Sept. 1810; after which, while actively co-operating with the patriots on the north coast of Spain, he assisted at the capture of the towns of Bermeo and Deba in 1811. When next with Capt. John Chambers White, in the Centaur 74, Mr. Ashton witnessed the destruction, in April, 1814, of the French 74-gun ship Regulus, three brigs of war, and several smaller vessels, in the neighbourhood of Bordeaux. We subsequently find him employed in the Sybille 44, Capt. Thos. Forrest; and, again with Sir G. R. Collier, in the Leander 50, en the Madeira and Halifax stations. Since his promotion, which took place, 20 Sept. 1815, he has, with the exception of a brief attachment in the early part of 1816, to the Fly 16, Capt. John Baldwin, been unemployed. Agent – Fred. Dufaur.