1935–2026
8th July 2026
Dennis Ashton was educated at Manchester Grammar School and won an Exhibition to study law at Queens’ from 1953 to 1956. Whilst at Cambridge he both coxed and rowed for the college boat club, and was an active member of the university climbing club.
After being articled to a solicitor in his home town of Bury, Lancashire he moved into local government. He was City Solicitor for Leicester, then Assistant Town Clerk for Liverpool, where he was responsible for getting two bills passed in Parliament, and later Deputy Director of Administration for Manchester City Council.
In 1977 he joined the Central Electricity Generating Board as Regional Secretary in the North West and in 1987 also became Regional Secretary in the North East. Following the privatisation of the electricity industry he took early retirement in 1990 and worked as a self-employed business consultant for 15 years.
Dennis was proficient in French and German and had a second home in Burgundy for 15 years. He is survived by his second wife Carmen and by his sons Mark (St. John’s 1981-84) and James (MBA Judge Business School 2003).
Written by Dennis’ family.
Site Search