Ashley became a member of the Royal Society of Musicians on 7 April 1765.
Ashley of the Guards', who is sometimes supposed to have been the same individual,[citation needed] but was more probably another member of the family, possibly his brother Jane, who was born in 1740 and died at Westminster on 5 April 1809.
John Ashley in 1795 undertook the management of the oratorio concerts at Covent Garden.
According to the official book commemorating the 300th anniversary of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, he served as Master in 1804, the year of its bicentenary.
He became a member of the Royal Society of Musicians 17 April 1796, and died in October 1836.