The younger son of a Catholic family from Cheshire, Arthur Aston became a professional soldier during the 1620s. He served the King of Poland until 1630, then raised and commanded an English regiment for Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Aston returned to England in 1639 and bought an estate at Cattenhall in Cheshire. He fought in the Second Bishops' War in 1640, after which he was discharged from the King's service because of sensitivity over his religion. He was knighted in February 1641.
Aston offered his services to King Charles on the outbreak of the First Civil War in 1642. Despite concerns over his Catholicism, Prince Rupert persuaded the King to grant him a commission. Aston was appointed Colonel-General of Dragoons a few days before the battle of Edgehill (October 1642). Later that year, he was appointed governor of the strategically-important town of Reading. During the winter of 1642-3, Aston strengthened Reading's defences, blowing up the abbey church to obtain stone and bullying the soldiers and citizens into carrying out the work. In April 1643, Reading was besieged by the Earl of Essex. During the siege, Aston was struck on the head by a falling brick and rendered speechless, so the dishonour of surrendering the town went to his second-in-command, Colonel Fielding. Despite rumours that Aston's injury was feigned, he was appointed major-general to Prince Rupert and fought at the siege of Bristol and the first battle of Newbury.
In August 1643, Aston was appointed governor of Oxford at the request of Queen Henrietta Maria, who preferred a Catholic to be in command. As at Reading, however, the soldiers and citizens grew to resent Aston's severity and imperiousness. According to one report, he was confined to his chamber In February 1644 after beating up the Mayor of Oxford. Aston continued as governor of Oxford until September 1644 when he broke a leg in a riding accident. Gangrene set in and the leg was amputated. The King granted him a pension of £1,000 per year and he was replaced as governor by Sir Henry Gage. Although Aston made every effort to discredit Gage and undermine his authority, he was not re-appointed to the governorship when Gage was killed in January 1645.
On Rupert's recommendation, Aston joined the service of the Marquis of Ormond, who in 1649 was preparing Ireland to be a new Royalist power base. Aston was appointed governor of Drogheda, which occupied an important strategic position at the mouth of the River Boyne between Dublin and Ulster. Cromwell himself attacked Drogheda in September 1649. Aston refused the summons to surrender and was killed during the storming of the town — bludgeoned to death with his own wooden leg, which the Parliamentarian soldiers believed to be filled with gold coins.
References:
Basil Morgan, Sir Arthur Aston, Oxford DNB, 2004
P. Young & W. Emberton, Sieges of the Great Civil War, 1978
Links:
Biography of Aston www.berkshirehistory.com