, rector of Hanwell, near Banbury in Oxfordshire, was the son of Robert
, rector of Hanwell, near Banbury in Oxfordshire, was the son of Robert Ashwell of
Harrow on the Hill, in Middlesex, and was born in the
parish of St. Martin, Ludgate, London, Nov. 18, 1612.
He was admitted a scholar of Wadham college, Oxford, in
1627, took the degrees in arts, was elected fellow, and became a celebrated tutor in that house. In the time of the
great rebellion he continued in Oxford, and preached several times before the king, court, and parliament. A
little before the surrender of the garrison of Oxford, he
had the degree of B. D. conferred upon him and about
the latter end of 1658 he was presented to the living of
Hanwell, having been before, as Mr. Wood thinks, chaplain
in the family of sir Anthony Cope, lord of the manor of
Hanwell. He had the character of a very peaceable and
religious man, and was well versed in logic, the schoolmen,
and fathers. He wrote, 1 “Fides Apostolica, or, a discourse asserting the received authors and authority of the
Apostles’ Creed,
” Oxon, Reformed
Pastor,
” had advanced some things against this work, expressed his regret afterwards, in his “Catholic Theology,
”
for having said any thing against it. 2. “Gestus Eucharisticus, concerning the Gesture to be used at the receiving
the Sacrament,
” Oxon. De Socino et
Socinianismo a treatise on the Socinian heresy,
” said to
be part of a greater work in manuscript. 4. “De Ecclesia, &c. a dissertation concerning the church of Rome;
”
also a part of his great work on Controversies, published at
Oxford, 1688, 4to. 5. “An Answer to Plato Redivivus,
”
in manuscript. He also translated, from Pocock’s edition,
“Philosophus Autodidactus, sive Epistola Abi Gioaphar
Ebn Tophail de Hai Ebn Yokdan,
” &c. Lond.