Dr. John Ashe was born on December 24, 1822, in Yorkshire, England.

He was a physician and politician. Little is known of his early life and education except that he attended Guy’s Hospital in London. In 1845, he became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and a licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries. Ash practiced medicine in Coxwold (North Yorkshire) from 1849 to 1860. In 1862, he immigrated to Victoria, Vancouver Island. In 1865, he was elected to the House of Assembly of Vancouver Island as a junior member for Esquimalt District. He supported the union of Vancouver Island with British Columbia, providing it was coupled with the granting of responsible government and free port status for Victoria. He retained his seat until the abolition of the Island assembly upon the union of the two colonies in 1866. After British Columbia entered the confederation in 1871, Ash was elected to the provincial legislature for Comox on northern Vancouver Island in 1872. He was appointed to the Executive Council as provincial secretary in the government of Amor De Cosmos, serving until George Anthony Walkem’s government resigned in 1876. Ash also served as the first minister of mines of British Columbia in 1874. He remained in the assembly until 1882, when he decided not to seek re-election.

Dr. Ash’s domestic life was shadowed by sadness. His only child, Annie, died of diphtheria in 1868 at the age of five, and his wife died in 1874. Later the following year, Ash remarried Adelaide Anne Amelia de Veulle. While they were visiting England in 1881, Adelaide died of malaria. Dr. Ash returned to Victoria and continued to practice medicine, specializing in ophthalmology, until his death of apoplexy on April 17, 1886, in Victoria, British Columbia.

James Graham Ashbaugh was born on June 24, 1928, in Lawrenceville, Illinois.

He was an Emeritus Professor of Geography at the Portland State University, Oregon. He was the author of many articles and books, e.g., “A Geography of the Columbia River Ports” (1965). He edited the book, "The Pacific Northwest: Geographical Perspectives" (1997).

In 1950, he married Dorothy Louise Lambson (1930–2012). He died on August 6, 2000, in Portland, Oregon.

Thomas Almond Ashby was born on November 18, 1848, in Warren County, Virginia.

He was an American surgeon, writer, and politician. He attended Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, studying the classics, modern languages, and chemistry. He graduated from the University of Maryland (M.D., 1873) and practiced as a gynecologist. In 1877, he was one of the founders of the Maryland Medical Journal. He held various positions at the University of Maryland Medical Department before leaving in 1878. Under Ashby's leadership, the Women's Medical College was established in Baltimore in 1882. He served as Chair of Obstetrics (1882-1897) and as Chair of Diseases of Women and Children (1889-1897) at Baltimore Medical College. In 1897, Ashby became Professor of Diseases of Women at the University of Maryland. He was active in various professional medical associations. He was a Fellow of the American Medical Association, the American College of Surgeons, and the American Gynecological Society. Ashby was president of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland. In 1909, he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, where he focused on health issues. Ashby was chairman of the Hygienic Committee and introduced bills in the health field, including those concerning pure food, the care of the insane, and increasing the powers of the State Board of Health. He received an honorary LL.D. from Washington and Lee in 1912. Ashby wrote several books on the United States Civil War.

In 1877, he married Mary Cunningham (1855-1938). He died on June 26, 1916, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Edward Scott Ashenden was born on October 5, 1939.

He was an Australian politician who represented the South Australian House of Assembly seats of Todd from 1979 to 1985 and Wright from 1993 to 1997 for the Liberal Party. He served as Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Local Government Relations (1995–1996), Minister for Tourism (1996–1997), Minister for Local Government (1996–1997) and Minister for Recreation and Sport (1996–1997).

Dr. Leon Asher was born on April 13, 1865, in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany.

He was a Swiss physiologist, educator, and editor. He was a medicine professor at the University of Bern, Switzerland, and the director of its Institute of Physiology (since 1914). He edited the German journal Ergebnisse der Physiologie. He wrote numerous articles for various medical journals and lectured at the international medical conferences.

He was married to Else Laquer (1873-1958). He died in 1943 in Bern, Switzerland.

Nikolas Ashford and his wife Valerie Simpson were a husband and wife duo with two careers: one as a successful writing and producing team and the other as singers and performers themselves. They started their career in the mid-1960s, writing for artists such as the 5th Dimension, Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. At Motown they were paired with the vocal duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and they wrote and/or produced all but one of the late-1960s Gaye/Terrell singles. They also wrote and produced almost all the songs on three 1970s albums for former Supreme Diana Ross.

Ashford & Simpson's career as recording artists began in the early 1960s with the gospel group the Followers. In 1974, Ashford and Simpson married after resuming their career as a duo with the Warner Bros., and in 1975 Simpson sang backing vocals on Paul Simon’s number-one hit “50 Ways to Leave your Lover.” On his own, Ashford coproduced the hit “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” recorded by Diana Ross & The Supremes. In January 2009, they released a CD and DVD of their live performances titled The Real Thing and in June, they made a guest performance at a party at Tribeca Rooftop, New York, to celebrate Virgin Atlantic's birthday party. They also made their first appearance in Tokyo, Japan, in November and performed eight shows in four days at Blue Note Tokyo.
At President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration, Ashford and Simpson rewrote their song, "Solid", as "Solid as Barack". They dedicated it to him at his inaugural festivities.
The duo was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. Other awards include The Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Award, ASCAP Founders Award and the Grammy Trustee Award.
Ashford died in a New York City hospital in 2011 of complications from throat cancer.

Leonard Raymond Nelligan Ashley was born on December 5, 1928, in Miami, Florida.

He is an American English language educator and writer. He came to McGill University at age 15 and earned his B. A. (English) in 1949 and his M. A. in 1950. In 1956, he earned his Ph.D. at Princeton University. Ashley became an instructor at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City (1953-1956) and the University of Rochester, New York (1958-1961). He was an instructor at Brooklyn College, City University of New York (1961-1965), an assistant professor (1965-1968), associate professor (1968-1971), Professor of English (1972-1995) and Professor Emeritus (1995- ). He was also a part-time faculty member at the New School for Social Research, New York City (1962-1972). Aslley served as secretary of the International Linguistic Society (1980-1982) and later was on its board. He was vice president of Amici Linguarum and participated in the International Conferences on Onomastic Sciences in Europe. Ashley was a member of the United States Board on Geographical Names and a President Emeritus of The American Society of Geolinguistics. Aside from more traditional works on English drama, fiction, poetry, and books on onomastics and geolinguistics, he is also known for his series of popular dictionaries of the occult. He also served on the editorial board of various academic journals in the US and abroad. In 1998, he received the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Columbia Theological Seminary. Ashley has been listed as a noteworthy English language educator by Marquis Who's Who.