John Ash

John Ash (December 24, 1822 – April 17, 1886) was a Canadian physician and politician.

Early life John Ash was born December 24, 1822, in Ormskirk, United Kingdom to father William Ash. He attended Guy's Hospital in Southwark, London, where he met John Sebastian Helmcken, a future key player in the joining of British Columbia to the Canadian Confederation. In 1845 Ash became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons and the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries. From 1849 to 1860, he practised medicine Coxwold, before emigrating to Canada in 1862, arriving in Victoria, British Columbia. On approximately July 31, 1863, Ash's wife Dorothy Agar gave birth to a daughter, Annie Freer, in the Esquimalt home of John Sebastian Helmcken.

In 1874, Ash's wife Dorothy died. He married the next year, but his new wife Adelaide died in 1881 of malaria. After his retirement from politics, Ash continued to practise medicine, until his death from apoplexy on April 17, 1886, at age 63.