Thomas Ashton PC DL (23 March 1844 – 12 October 1927) was a British trade unionist.
This dissolved two years later, but Ashton re-established it in 1873, facing victimisation, but also being elected as checkweighman.
He subsequently led the formation of the Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Federation, and was its secretary from 1881.
[1] Ashton next worked with Ben Pickard to establish the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, and he was appointed as its first secretary.
Although he personally supported the Conservative Party, he did not attempt to influence the union's political views, which initially followed Pickard's liberalism.