Life

Ash was born in Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

, and educated at Trinity College, Oxford

Trinity College, Oxford

The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...

; was B.A. in 1743, M. A. in 1746, M.B. in 1750, and M.D. in 1754. He settled at Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, and soon acquired a large practice. The general hospital

General hospital

A general hospital is a type of medical facility which is set up to deal with many kinds of disease and injury.General hospital may also refer to:*General Hospital, an American soap opera broadcast since 1963...

 at Birmingham was founded chiefly through his influence, and he was its first physician. While actively engaged in practice he became affected with temporary mental derangement

Derangement

In combinatorial mathematics, a derangement is a permutation of the elements of a set such that none of the elements appear in their original position....

, for which it is said he found a cure in the study of mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

 and botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

. He was admitted a candidate of the Royal College of Physicians

Royal College of Physicians

The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...

 22 December 1786, and in the following year resigned his office in Birmingham and removed to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. He became fellow of the College of Physicians 22 Dec. 1787, and afterwards practised with success in London. He filled the offices of censor of the college in 1789 and 1793; was Harveian orator in 1790, Gulstonian lecturer in 1791, and Croonian lecturer in 1793. He died 18 June 1798, and was buried in Kensington Church. His portrait, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, is preserved in the hospital at Birmingham, and was engraved by Bartolozzi

Bartolozzi

Bartolozzi is a surname, and may refer to:* Bruno Bartolozzi* Francesco Bartolozzi* Gaetano Stefano Bartolozzi...

 in 1791.

Works

Dr. Ash is described as a man of great skill in his profession, and of considerable general attainments. He was the founder of a social and literary club, called the Eumelian, from a punning allusion to his own name (Greek έυμελίας or more correctly έῦμμελίης, i.e. with an ashen spear, referred to in Boswell's 'Life of Johnson,' note to the last chapter), and was a fellow of the Royal Society

Royal Society

The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...

.

He wrote: 1. 'Experiments and Observations to investigate by Chemical Analysis the properties of the Mineral Waters of Spa, Aix,' &c. 12mo, London, 1788. 2. Oratio Harveiana, 4to, 1790.