Sir Francis Ashley (24 November 1569 – 1635) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1625. Ashley was born at Damerham, the son of Sir Anthony Ashley of Damerham in Wiltshire and his wife Dorothy Lyte, daughter of John Lyte of Lytes Cary, Somerset. At the age of 16 he entered Magdalen College, Oxford, and graduated with BA on 5 June 1589. He went on to study law at the Middle Temple where he was called to the bar in 1596. In 1610 he was appointed recorder of Dorchester. He purchased the Old Friary on the north side of the town by the river Frome where he made extensive alterations and lived there with his family.