ASGILL, JOHN (1659-1738), English writer, was born at Hanley Castle, Worcestershire, the author of a tract (1700) to prove that Christians need not die. He made a considerable for tune in legal practice in Ireland, and was returned to the Irish Parliament for Enniscorthy (17o3), and the English Parliament for Bramber (17o5—o7), but was expelled from both because the burning of his "blasphemous pamphlet" had been ordered. In 1707 he was arrested for debt, and the remainder of his life was spent in the Fleet Prison, or within the rules of the King's Bench. He died in 1738. Asgill also wrote in 1714-15 pamphlets defending the Hanoverian succession against the claims of the Pretender.