Julian Ashton: Life & Legacy Early Life and Education Born: January 27, 1851, in Addlestone, Surrey, United Kingdom. Ashton’s father, Thomas Briggs Ashton, was an American amateur painter, and his mother, Henrietta, was the daughter of Count Carlo Rossi, a Sardinian diplomat. The family moved to Penzance, Cornwall, shortly after Julian's birth, then to Totnes, Devon, following his father’s death in 1864. He began working in an engineer’s office at age 15, dedicating his leisure time to painting and studying at the West London School of Art for three years. Further studies took him…