(1758 - 1833), e. s. of Ralph Assheton of Downham and Cuerdale, Lancs; suc. fa. 1758; BNC and Balliol Oxf.; M.Temple 1779; m. 1786 Lettice, dau. of Sir Richard Brooke, 4th Bt. of Norton, Ches.
1783 - 4 [dep. England 18 Jun. 1783] Turin (21 - 26 Oct. 1783), Genoa (28 Oct.), Parma (7 Nov.), Modena, Bologna (10 Nov.), Loreto, Rome (Dec. 1783 - 10 Jan. 1784), Naples (by 17 Jan.), Rome (by 2 Mar. - 1 May), Leghorn, Florence (8 May), Bologna (12 May), Venice (18 May), Verona (2 Jun.), Milan ( - 6 Jun.)
William Assheton travelled with his cousin Richard Assheton, and his contemporary Thomas Pitt (b. c.1758, of whom little is known).1 In October 1783 they arrived in Turin and on the 26th were presented at Court by the British envoy, John Trevor.2 In the course of their journey through Italy they often encountered the Berrys and John Parkinson,3 but they were most frequently with Sir James Graham and his tutor Thomas Brand; all five sat to Angelica Kauffman in Rome in December 1783 (Assheton's portrait remains in a priv. coll.).4 In Rome Assheton, an amateur artist, made contact with other artists, including Captain Koehler (aide-de-camp to General Elliot in Gibraltar) and Jacob More. His letters and diaries also indicate a keen interest in topography and architecture - detailed descriptions of buildings being often accompanied by measurements.5
Downham still contains many of Assheton's Italian purchases,6 including copies of old masters, etchings by Piranesi, and a series of landscapes by Carlo Labruzzi (who may have given him lessons in Rome). Assheton's own watercolour landscapes made on his tour are the same size as, and are framed to match, the Labruzzis; some may have been copied by Anthony Devis.7
1. See Assheton list MSS. The Assheton MSS (priv. coll.) also contain 3 diaries and 14 letters to his family describing his travels. 2. AST cf. 3. Berry Jnls., 1:37 - 71. Parkinson jnl.MSS (from 10 Jan. 1784). 4. Kauffman 1924, 145. 5. Notes by H.V. Whitsey. 6. See G. Worsley, CL, 5 Oct. 1989, 108 - 13. 7. See S.H. Pavi?re, Wal.Soc., 25[1937]:133. I. Williams, Early English Watercolours, 41.