John William Ashton (1881-1963), artist and also known as Sir John William Ashton, was born on 20 September 1881 at Clifton, York, England, son of James Ashton, artist, and his wife Mary Elizabeth Rawlings, née Turnbull. He migrated to Adelaide with his parents and was educated at Prince Alfred College in 1889-97, then did odd jobs in his father's studio and studied drawing part time. He met Hans Heysen, who became a lifelong friend. In 1900 Will left for England to work under the seascapist Julian Olsson at St Ives, Cornwall. He spent the winter of 1902-03 at the Académie Julian, Paris, with E. Phillips Fox, David Davies and Heysen.

In 1904 Ashton had work accepted by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and th...