Susan Ashcroft

Susan Ashcroft was born in Brighton and grew up in West Sussex. After studying music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama she taught at The Mount School in York before moving to London where she met her husband David.

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For twenty-five years Susan and David, together with their three children, Thom, Sophie and Ben, lived in Northern Ireland where for seven years she was the Marketing Manager of the Ulster Orchestra.

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On retirement she moved to Norfolk and began researching family history which is where she came upon the extraordinary story of David’s ancestor Richard Ashcroft, who, in 1747, became the first man to be hanged for being associated with smugglers under the terms of a new Act of Parliament which was passed in 1746.

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Never having written anything before, Susan found herself so immersed in Richard and Jenny Ashcroft's story that she felt she had to put pen to paper and bring it to a wider audience.

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She harbours a secret desire to one day see Richard cleared of what she believes were politically expedient trumped-up charges which should never have been brought against him.

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The means to do this is through the granting of a Royal Prerogative of Mercy. A campaign group working towards this end has now been formed.