The Ashbys of Tysoe
Steve Milton
Elizabeth Ashby (1833-aft 1901)
"Late in the year 1858, Elizabeth Ashby had gone to Idlicote House... which was at the time tenanted by a member of a family of very high rank, great landowners in Warwickshire and neighbouring counties. There she had become maid to the lady of the house, a childless, unhappy woman. Her husband was the father of Elizabeth's unborn babe".
Joseph Ashby was born in 1859. The most likely candidate for his father is William Compton (1818-1897) later Marquess of Northampton. His father provided for him but his Elizabeth, a fiercely independent woman, refused to use the money. Elizabeth married William Townsend in 1863, and had two children. William died in around 1866. Elizabeth's occupation in subsequent census's is given a dressmaker or seamstress.