Mrs. Ashton Yates, born Frances-Marie Lovett, was the author of "Letters Written During a Journey to Switzerland in the Autumn of 1841," a two-volume travel diary published in London. She was the wife of Sir John Ashton (1781-1863), a British Whig politician and railroad investor. Although first educated as a Unitarian minister, he later worked at a mercantile firm in Liverpool and wrote several books on corn laws and economics, serving in Parliament 1837 to 1841. They lived at Dingle Head, Toxteth Park, and were the parents of five daughters.