[1] His general education was at Ipswich Endowed School and, having studied privately with Bertram Lawrence Hurst between 1903 and 1907, he gained a B.Sc (Engineering) in 1909 from London University.

They had one son, Michael Edward Ash (b.1927), the mathematician and brewer who invented ‘Easy Serve’ Draught Guinness and who pioneered the nitro-beer category.

Here he implemented the unique feature of scuttling, end-to-end, two tramp ships (each of about 400 feet in length and of about 3,000 tons) to form a revetment, enabling the containment of silting from the harbour area.

"[11]Ash retired from the Indian Civil Service in 1938 and, following the outbreak of WWII in 1939, he became a consultant to Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners, later joining the Ministry of Supply.

He became engineer-in-chief for Bovis of the world’s largest ordnance factory, ROF Swynnerton, overseeing the erection of 1,700 buildings within just nine months.

[4][10] At the height of the war, the Swynnerton factory employed approximately 18,000 labourers [12] and, as an arsenal, was instrumental in securing victory over the Nazis in 1945.

In 1964, the MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stephen Swingler commented: "At the peak of the war this factory in the heart of the Staffordshire countryside employed a total of 25,000 (sic.)