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JOHN ASHBURNHAM (c. 1603-1671)

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 729 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JOHN See also:ASHBURNHAM (c. 1603-1671)  , See also:English Royalist, was the son of See also:Sir See also:John See also:Ashburnham of Ashburnham in See also:Sussex . He See also:early entered the See also:king's service . In 1627 he was sent to See also:Paris by his relative the See also:duke of See also:Buckingham to make overtures for See also:peace, and in 1628 he prepared to join the expedition to Rochelle interrupted by the duke's assassination . The same See also:year he was made See also:groom of the bedchamber and elected member of See also:parliament for See also:Hastings, which See also:borough he also represented in the See also:Long Parliament of 164o . In this capacity he rendered services by See also:reporting proceedings to the king . He made a considerable See also:fortune and recovered the Ashburnham estates alienated by his See also:father . He became one of the king's See also:chief advisers and had his full confidence . He attended See also:Charles at See also:York an the outbreak of the See also:war with See also:Scotland . In the See also:Civil War he was made treasurer of the royal See also:army, in which capacityhe aroused See also:Hyde's See also:jealousy and remonstrances by infringing on his See also:province as See also:chancellor of the See also:exchequer . In 1644 he was a See also:commissioner at See also:Uxbridge . He accompanied Charles in his See also:flight from See also:Oxford in See also:April 1646 to the Scots, and subsequently escaped abroad, joining the See also:queen at Paris, residing afterwards at See also:Rouen and being sent to the See also:Hague to obtain aid from the See also:prince of See also:Orange . After the seizure of Charles by the army, Ashburnham joined. him at See also:Hampton See also:Court in 1647, where he had several conferences with See also:Cromwell and other army See also:officers .

When Charles escaped from Hampton Court on the 11th of See also:

November, he followed Ashburnham's See also:advice in opposition to that of Sir John See also:Berkeley, who urged the king to go abroad, and took See also:refuge in the Isle of See also:Wight, being placed by Ashburnham in the hands of See also:Robert See also:Hammond, the See also:governor . " Oh, See also:Jack," the king exclaimed when he understood the situation, " See also:thou hast undone me ! " when Ashburnham, " falling into a See also:great See also:passion of weeping, offered to go and kill Hammond." By this fatal step Ashburnham incurred the unmerited See also:charge of treachery and disloyalty . See also:Clarendon, however, who censures his conduct, absolves him from any See also:crime except that of folly and excessive self-confidence, and he was acquitted both by Charles I. and Charles II . He was separated with Berkeley from Charles on the 1st of See also:January 1648, waited on the mainland in expectation of Charles's See also:escape, and was afterwards taken and imprisoned at See also:Windsor, and exchanged during the second Civil War for Sir W . See also:Masham and other prisoners . He was one of the delinquents specially exempted from See also:pardon in the treaty of See also:Newport . In November he was allowed to See also:compound for his estates, and declared himself willing to take the See also:covenant . After the king's See also:death he remained in See also:England, an See also:object of suspicion to all parties, corresponded with Charles II., and underwent several terms of imprisonment in the See also:Tower and in See also:Guernsey . At the Restoration he was reinstated in his former See also:place of groom of the bedchamber and was compensated for his losses . He represented Sussex in parliament from 1661 till the 22nd of November 1667, when he was expelled the See also:House for taking a bribe of £500 from See also:French merchants for landing their wines . He died on the 15th of See also:June 1671 .

He had eight See also:

children, the eldest of whom, See also:William, See also:left a son John (1656-171o), who in 1689 was created See also:Baron Ashburn-See also:ham . John's second son, John (1687-1737), who became 3rd Baron Ashburnham on his See also:brother's death in 1710, was created See also:Viscount St See also:Asaph and See also:earl of Ashburnham in 1730 . The 5th earl (b . 184o) was his See also:direct descendant . See also:Bertram (1797-1878), the 4th earl, was the See also:collector of the famous Ashburnham library, which was dispersed in 1883 and 1884 . A See also:Letter from Mr Ashburnham to a Friend, defending John Ash. burnham's conduct with regard to the king, was published in 1648 . His longer Narrative was published in 183o by See also:George, 3rd earl of Ashburnham (the latter's championship of his ancestor, however being entirely uncritical and unconvincing) ; A Letter to W . Lenthali (1647) repudiates the charge brought against the king of violating his See also:parole (See also:Thomason Tracts, Brit . Museum, E 418 [41) .

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