Hanes llenyddiaeth Gymreig o 1651 O.C. hyd 1850

Charles Ashton was a Welsh bibliographer and literary historian. He had very little education, and at the age of 12 went to work in the lead mine of Dylife. Ashton later joined the police force and served in many an area as an officer. By attending evening classes, mostly at Machynlleth, Ashton built on his past education and passed some of the South Kensington Science and Art examinations. It must be said that the newly formed National Eisteddfod Association provided Welshmen, like Charles Ashton, with various subjects and incentives for research during the end of the nineteenth century. His ‘Hanes Llenyddiaeth Gymreig o 1651 O.C. hyd 1850’, written for the National Eisteddfod at Swansea in 1891, was amongst his eisteddfodic successes. This work was later published by the National Eisteddfod Association in 1893 and examines the history of Welsh literature between 1651 and 1850.