American Medical Biographies/Ash, John
Ash, John (1823–1886)
John Asch was a native of Yorkshire, England, and educated at Guy's Hospital, London, where he obtained his degree and held also the London M. R. C. S. Very little is known of his boyhood or of his ancestry. He married on the eleventh of December, 1875, Adelaide Ann Amelia, daughter of Sir John de Veulle, Knight, High Bailiff of the Island of Jersey. He arrived in Victoria, B. C., in 1862, during the days of the Cariboo gold excitement.
A man of great force of character, he soon achieved distinction not only in his chosen profession but also in politics. He was a member of the old Vancouver Island Assembly, and after British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederated Provinces, July, 1871, he represented the district of Comox (Vancouver Island) in the Provincial Legislature for four terms, 1871 to 1884.
After retiring from public life he visited England twice, and then quietly settled down in Victoria to renew practice in which as an oculist he specially enjoyed a more than provincial reputation. Patients from the neighboring states came to consult him, as he was in those days considered a skilful and successful operator.
He died of apoplexy on March 17, 1886, in his sixty-third year.