William Smedley-Aston

William Smedley-Aston (1868–1941)[1] was with his wife Irene a Victorian Pre-Raphaelite Arts & Crafts photographer and member of the Birmingham Group of artists and the Linked Ring Brotherhood.

[2] He was also instrumental in encouraging and financing early moving films or "Biographs" as they were initially known, through his firm the British Biograph Co.[3] He was married to Irene Smedley-Aston, who featured in many photographs, paintings, and drawings of the Arts and Crafts movement because the couple were friends with other members of the Birmingham School of Art and the Birmingham Group (artists) such as Joseph Southall, Arthur Gaskin and Maxwell Armfield.

They had three children: The family were relatives of John Smedley, who had constructed Riber Castle and whose company still exists as a luxury garment producer.

William's brother, J. Herbert (Bert) Aston, founded what became (after its 1919 merger as Tube Investments Limited) TI Group, the world's largest[when?]

In turn his son John Aston went on to run Reynolds Technology, which was part of TI Group, and included Raleigh bicycles