Alfred Ashford, 7th Earl Ashford, otherwise referred to as Lord Ashford, was the seventh head of the Ashford earldom, a prestigious European noble house. Alfred was the unintended consequence of his father Dr. Alexander Ashford, 6th Earl Ashford's research into genetic engineering, the goal of which to create his sister, Alexia. Publicly, they were his children, and thus grandchildren of Dr. Edward Ashford, 5th Earl Ashford, one of the founders of the Umbrella Corporation. He developed a reputation later in life as a brutal dictator.