John Bligh, 1st Earl of Darnley (28 December 1687 – 12 September 1728), was an Irish peer born of an English family.[1]
The Earl of Darnley | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Irish House of Commons for Athboy | |
| In office 1713–1721 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Johnson (1682–1721) |
| Succeeded by | Richard Ashe |
| Member of the Irish House of Commons for Trim | |
| In office 1709–1713 | |
| Preceded by | William Napper |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Jones |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Bligh 28 December 1687 |
| Died | 12 September 1728 (aged 40) |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | Thomas Bligh (brother) Robert Bligh (brother) John Bligh, 4th Earl of Darnley (grandson) Theodosia Blachford (granddaughter) Theodosia Meade, Countess of Clanwilliam (granddaughter) John Crosbie, 2nd Earl of Glandore (grandson) Nicholas Ward, 2nd Viscount Bangor (grandson) |
| Children | 7, including Edward, John |
| Parent(s) | Thomas Bligh Elizabeth Napier |
Early life edit
He was the son of Elizabeth (née Napier) Bligh and Thomas Bligh (1654–1710) of Plymouth, a Commissioner of Customs and Excise despatched to Ireland in search of forfeited estates who was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland around November 1706.[2][3] His younger brothers were Lt.-Gen. Thomas Bligh, best known for his service during the Seven Years' War,[4] and the Very Rev. Robert Bligh, the Dean of Elphin.[5]
His paternal grandfather was William Bligh, a prosperous Plymouth merchant, and his maternal grandfather was Col. James Napier of Loughcrew. He was descended from a prominent Devon family via a cadet branch which had settled in County Meath, Ireland.[2]
Career edit
From 1709 to 1713, Bligh represented Trim in the Irish House of Commons, after which he represented Athboy from 1713 to 1721.[6]
In 1721, he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Clifton of Rathmore, in the County of Meath.[7] In 1723, the Darnley title held by his wife's ancestors (which had become extinct on the death of Charles Stewart, 6th Duke of Lennox and 6th Earl of Darnley in 1672) was revived when he was created Viscount Darnley, of Athboy in the County of Meath, in the Peerage of Ireland.[8] In 1725, Bligh was further honoured when he was advanced as Earl of Darnley (a reference to his ancestors the Stewarts of Darnley of Cobham), in the County of Meath, also in the Peerage of Ireland.[9]
Personal life edit
On 24 August 1713, he was married to Lady Theodosia Hyde, 10th Baroness Clifton of Leighton Bromswold (1695–1722), a daughter of Edward Hyde, Viscount Cornbury, 3rd Earl of Clarendon and the former Catherine O'Brien of Cobham Hall, suo jure Baroness Clifton of Leighton Bromswold (a granddaughter of George, 9th Seigneur d'Aubigny and niece of Charles, 6th Duke of Lennox). Together, they were the parents of seven children, five of whom lived to adulthood:[10]
- Lady Ann Bligh (1718–1789),[11] who married Robert Hawkins-Magill of Gill Hall in 1742. After his death in 1745, she married Bernard Ward, 1st Viscount Bangor, in 1747.[2]
- Lady Theodosia Bligh (1710–1777), who married, as his first wife, William Crosbie, 1st Earl of Glandore, in 1745.[2]
- Lady Mary Bligh (b. 1711), who died in infancy.[10]
- Hon. George Bligh (b. 1714), who died in infancy.[10]
- Edward Bligh, 2nd Earl of Darnley (1715–1747), who died unmarried in 1747, aged 31.[2]
- Lady Mary Bligh (1716–1748), who married William Tighe MP, of Rosanna, County Wicklow, in 1736.[2]
- John Bligh, 3rd Earl of Darnley (1719–1781), who also represented Athboy in the Irish House of Commons and Maidstone in the British House of Commons; he married Mary Stoyte, daughter and heiress of John Stoyte and Mary (née Howard) Stoyte (sister of Ralph Howard, 1st Viscount Wicklow and eldest daughter of Rt. Rev. Robert Howard, Bishop of Elphin), in 1766.[2]
Lord Darnley died in 1728 and was buried with his wife in the "Hyde Vault" in Westminster Abbey, in the north ambulatory, near the steps up to Henry VII's chapel.[12] Upon his death, he was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, the second Earl. He had already succeeded his mother in 1722 as the 11th Baron Clifton of Leighton Bromswold in the Peerage of England.[13] The second Earl served as a Lord of the Bedchamber to Frederick, Prince of Wales, but died unmarried in 1747, aged 31. He was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Earl. On his death the titles passed to his eldest son, the fourth Earl.[13]
Descendants edit
Through his daughter, Lady Mary, he was a grandfather of the Irish philanthropist, Theodosia (née Tighe) Blachford (1744–1817) (the wife of Rev. William Blachford, prebendary to Tassasagar,[2] and mother of Anglo-Irish poet Mary (née Blanchford) Tighe).[10]
Through his daughter Lady Ann, he was a grandfather of Theodosia Hawkins-Magill (1743–1817) (the wife of John Meade, 1st Earl of Clanwilliam), Nicholas Ward, 2nd Viscount Bangor (1750–1827), Hon. Edward Ward (1753–1812), and Hon. Robert Ward (1754–1831).[2]
References edit
- ^ Debrett, John (1816). The Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland. F.C. and J. Rivington. p. 893. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Burke's Peerage Limited. 1850. pp. 62–63, 270–271. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ Burke, Bernard; Burke, Sir Bernard (1858). Royal Descents and Pedigrees of Founders' Kin. Harrison. pp. 10, LXXX. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ Collins, Arthur (1779). Vol. 7: The peerage of England : containing a genealogical and historical account of all the peers of that kingdom, now existing, either by tenure, summons, or creation, their descents and collateral lines, their births, marriages and issues, famous actions both in war and peaces, religious and charitable donations, deaths, places of burial, monuments, epitaphs, and many valuable memoirs never before printed : also their paternal coats of arms, crests, supporters and mottoes, curiously engraved on copper-plates / collected from records, old wills, authentic manuscripts, our most approved historians, and other authorities, which are cited by Arthur Collins, esq. ; in eight volumes. Printed for W. Strahan, J.F. and C. Rivington, J. Hinton, T. Payne, W. Owen, S. Crowder, T. Caslon, T. Longman, C. Rivington, C. Dilly, J. Robson, T. Lowndes, G. Robinson, T. Cadell, H.L. Gardner, W. Davis, J. Nichols, T. Evans, J. Bew, R. Baldwin, J. Almon, J. Murray, W. Fox, J. White, Fielding and Walker, T. Beecroft, J. Donaldson, M. Folingsby. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ "BLIGH, Thomas Cherburgh (?1761-1830), of Brittas, co. Meath". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ Irish Historical Studies. Hodges, Figgis & Company. 2004. p. 215. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ "No. 5977". The London Gazette. 29 July 1721. p. 2.
- ^ "No. 6135". The London Gazette. 2 February 1723. p. 4.
- ^ "No. 6378". The London Gazette. 1 June 1725. p. 2.
- ^ a b c d Tighe, Mary (2020). The Collected Letters of Mary Blachford Tighe. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 436. ISBN 978-1-61146-247-0. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
- ^ "Edward Hyde & family". www.westminster-abbey.org. Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
- ^ a b "Darnley, Earl of (I, 1725)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 2 August 2021.