MB ChB Manch 1953, DSc 1971; DObst RCOG 1955; DPM Eng 1959; FRCP Edin 1968.
Born on 16 Jan 1930, Ashcroft studied at the University of Manchester. He was house physician at MRI before moving to Scotland where he became Registrar at Royal Edinburgh Hospital for Nervous and Mental Disorders, later becoming honorary consultant. He was also Professor in Mental Health at the University of Aberdeen and assistant director of the MRC Unit Research Department at Edinburgh University.