James Williamson, 1st Baron Ashton, DL, JP (31 December 1842 – 27 May 1930) was a British businessman, philanthropist and Liberal Party politician.

James was educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School and worked all his life in the family business.

[1] After the death of his second wife, Jessie, who supported him in his political life, he built the Ashton Memorial on a hill in the park in 1909.

It remains the world's second-largest memorial erected by a husband, to commemorate his late wife, after the Taj Mahal.

Williamson was a supporter of Gladstone's Government of Ireland Bill 1893, and gave generously to Irish causes.

[1] Lord Rosebery explained that the creation of the two peerages were a "point of honour" as they had been promised by Gladstone, and added that the idea they had been sold was "an infamous lie."

Nevertheless, the accusations that Ashton had purchased his title continued, and he was subject to frequent criticism and derision in Lancaster, which led to his eventual withdrawal from public life.

He followed through with his threat the next year, after insulting incidents related to the 1911 municipal elections, and he cancelled all his significant charitable interest in the city.

He even refused to meet a journalist from South America who had travelled to interview him but had mistakenly not arranged the appointment in advance.