He purchased the Old Friary on the north side of the town by the River Frome, where he made extensive alterations, and lived there with his family.
In Parliament, he strongly supported the royal prerogative and was an active member and chairman of committees However, in his religious views he was sympathetic to the Puritan cause.
On 22 April 1628, he was imprisoned by the House of Lords for speaking against the liberty of the subject, but was released when he recanted and craved pardon.
As King's Serjeant, he represented the Crown in various cases including the trial of John Felton, the assassin of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham.
Ashley, he singled out, almost certainly unfairly, as the worst and most avaricious offender who used his legal abilities and influences to obtain his ends through the Court of Wards.
In one of these proceedings on 16 November 1635, Ashley was making a speech before the Court when his nephew uttered a prayer to be delivered from the lawyer's arguments and purposes.
At this point, Ashley collapsed with a paralytic seizure with "his mouth drawn to his ear" and was carried out of the Court and never spoke again.