[1] The son of an unmarried servant, the elder Ashby spent his life working in agriculture in Tysoe, Warwickshire, eventually farming over 200 acres of land.
As one biographer said "His life was remarkable, encapsulating in many aspects the ideal of the self-improving working man, and embracing most of the institutions—the nonconformist chapel, trades unionism, and working-class Liberalism—that so clearly represented social and political betterment in the later years of the nineteenth century".
[1] Never quite at ease with other academics, Ashby has been described as a "shy, reserved person with a touch of the suspicious caution of the typical countryman",[1] but also as a helpful tutor with a good sense of humour.
He inherited a radicalism from his father which manifested itself in support for the Labour Party, while his local commitments included service as a Justice of the Peace successively in Cardiganshire (1940–46) and Oxfordshire (1946–53).
Arthur Wilfred Ashby, three quarter-plate glass negatives and one bromide print, all by Elliot and Fry; held in the Photographic Collection at the National Portrait Gallery, London (NPGx86192, x99080, x99081, x99082)