Fred Ashton
Fred Ashton, (Take a Drum and Beat It, "The Story of the Astonishing Ashton's" by Judy Cannon with Mark St Leon.)
Frederick “Flash Fred” Ashton (1866–1941) was a circus performer and early opal miner. Fred Ashton held a Miner’s Right at the Ridge, recorded in 1909.
Born on 28 September 1866 in Boorowa, New South Wales, Fred was the son of James Henry Ashton, founder of Ashton’s Royal Olympic Circus, and his wife Elizabeth (nee Critchley). From an early age, Fred was raised in the circus, touring with the family. He married Ellen “Nellie” Ryan in 1887 at Walgett, together they had thirteen children.
Fred was a bareback rider, tightrope dancer, tumbler, and acrobat. He and his brother James performed throughout rural New South Wales and Queensland. The brothers eventually parted ways professionally, with Fred carrying forward the circus.
Outside the ring, Fred took an interest in opal mining. By the time the Lightning Ridge opal field opened up in the early 1900s, Fred Ashton had already made a name for himself in the region. Like the shearers and boundary riders who passed through the Ridge in the early years, Fred’s mining activities were intermittent, supplementing his circus income.
In interviews late in life, Fred recalled the droughts in the west and paying a pound a bucket for water. His family travelled the inland routes for decades, enduring tough conditions, but ending up one of the most recognisable names in Australian circus history.
Fred Ashton died at Randwick on 17 February 1941 at the age of 74. He was buried in the Catholic section of Rookwood Necropolis. Fred was survived by his wife and ten children. His descendants continue the Ashton circus tradition into the 21st century.
Article: Research by Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: ‘Mr. Fred Ashton - Paying Inverell A Visit’, Armidale Express, 12 August 1892; ‘Acrobat at 82’, The Maitland Daily Mercury, 28 March 1938, p. 8; ‘Frederick Ashton’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 7, 1979; P. Robertson, ‘Hitching a Ride with the Ashton Circus Family’, Theatre Heritage Australia.