The marriage of Joshua Ashcroft and Esther Harrison took place in the Manchester Cathedral. This was the second marriage for Joshua. His first marriage to Sarah Barber in 1796 ended in 1800 when both Sarah and their child, Mary Sarah, died. Joshua and Esther were married just over six years when Joshua fell from a roof he was working on in Manchester and died. It is not known if Esther remarried.

Joshua Ashcroft, [died] 17 July 1806, [buried] 17 July 1806, 28 Y [years], killed. Joshua was buried at St. James Church, George Street, in Manchester, where his first wife and his daughter were buried.