Earl of Darnley
Earldom of Darnley | |
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![]() ![]() Arms of Bligh:Azure, a Griffin segreant Or, armes and langued Gules, between three Crescents Argent.Crest:A Griffin’s Head erased Or.Supporters:On either side a Griffin wings expanded Or, ducally collared and chained Azure.[1] | |
Creation date | 29 June 1725 |
Creation | Third |
Created by | King George I |
Peerage | Peerage of Ireland |
First holder | John Bligh, 1st Viscount Darnley |
Present holder | Ivo Bligh, 12th Earl of Darnley |
Heir apparent | Harry Bligh, Lord Clifton |
Remainder to | The 1st Earl'sheirs male of the bodylawfully begotten |
Subsidiary titles | Viscount Darnley Baron Clifton of Leighton Bromswold Baron Clifton of Rathmore |
Status | Extant |
Seat(s) | Netherwood Manor |
Former seat(s) | Cobham Hall |
Motto | FINEM RESPICE (Look to the end) |
Earl of Darnleyis ahereditary titlethat has been created three times, twice in thePeerage of Scotlandand once in thePeerage of Ireland.
The first creation in the Scots Peerage came in 1580 in favour ofEsme Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox,who was createdDuke of Lennoxat the same time. The title of Lord Darnley had previously been held by John Stewart, head of the house ofStewart of Darnleyand firstEarl of Lennox(1488). The second creation in the Peerage of Scotland came in 1675 in favour ofCharles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond.He was made Duke of Lennox at the same time. For more information on this creation, see theDuke of Richmond.
The only creation in thePeerage of Irelandwas in 1725 toJohn Bligh, 1st Earl of Darnley,descended from a prominent Devon family via a cadet branch which had settled inCounty Meath,Ireland;he was the son ofthe Rt HonThomas Bligh who was in turn the son of John Bligh, of Plymouth, aCommissioner of Customs and Excisedespatched to Ireland in search of forfeited estates, and in turn his father was William Bligh, a prosperous Plymouth merchant.
John Bligh, 1st Earl of Darnley, marriedTheodosia Hyde,10thBaroness Clifton(ofLeighton Bromswold), great-granddaughter ofLord George Stuart,younger son ofEsmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox, also 3rd Earl of Darnley(see theBaron Clifton of Leighton Bromswoldand theDuke of Lennoxfor earlier history of these titles). He representedAthboyin theIrish House of Commonsfrom 1709 to 1721. In 1721 he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland asBaron Clifton of Rathmore,in the County of Meath.[2]In 1723 the Darnley title held by his wife's ancestors (which had become extinct on the death ofCharles Stewart, 6th Duke of Lennox and 6th Earl of Darnleyin 1672) was revived when he was createdViscount Darnley,ofAthboyin the County of Meath, in the Peerage of Ireland.[3]In 1725 Bligh was further honoured when he was advanced asEarl of Darnley,in the County of Meath, also in the Peerage of Ireland.[4]He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He had already succeeded his mother in 1722 as eleventhBaron Clifton of Leighton Bromswoldin thePeerage of England.Lord Darnley served as aLord of the BedchambertoFrederick, Prince of Wales,but died unmarried in 1747, aged 31.
He was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Earl. He had earlier represented Athboy in the Irish House of Commons andMaidstonein theBritish House of Commons.On his death the titles passed to his eldest son, the fourth Earl. In 1828 he presented a claim asheir-generalto the dukedom of Lennox, challenged by the CountessNugent,[5]but the House of Lords did not come to any decision on the matter. He was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son, the fifth Earl. He was elected asMember of ParliamentforCanterburyand served asLord Lieutenant of County Meath.On the death of his grandson, the seventh Earl (who had succeeded his father in 1896), the barony of Clifford of Leighton Bromswold separated from the Irish titles when it devolved upon the late Earl's daughter and only child, the ten-month-old Lady Elizabeth Bligh, who became the seventeenth holder of thebarony by writ of summons.Lord Darnley was succeeded in the Irish titles by his younger brother, the eighth Earl. A talented and successfulcricketerwho captainedMCC,he sat in theHouse of Lordsas anIrish representative peerfrom 1905 to 1927. On his death the titles passed to his only son, the ninth Earl. In 1937 he succeeded his first cousin The Lady Clifton (who died unmarried) in her ancient English barony by writ of summons being her heir-general, as eighteenthBaron Clifton of Leighton Bromswold.He was by his only son from his third marriage withRosemary, Dowager Countess of Darnley(néePotter,died 2005),[6]the eleventh Earl, who succeeded his half-brother (the only son from the first marriage of the ninth Earl), in 1980. As of 2017 the title is held by his only son, the twelfth earl, who succeeded his father in that year.
Several other members of the Bligh family have also attained distinction. Thomas Bligh (1654–1710), father of the first Earl, representedCounty Meathas its MP in the Irish Parliament and was sworn of theIrish Privy Council.Thomas Bligh,younger brother of the first Earl, was a general in the British Army and represented Athboy in the Irish House of Commons for sixty years.The Very ReverendRobert Bligh(c. 1704–1778), another brother of the first Earl, was an Anglican clergyman who becameDean of Elphin.[7]Generalthe Hon. Edward Bligh(1769–1840), second son of the third Earl, was ageneralin the British Army. The Hon. William Bligh (1775–1845), third son of the third Earl, was a colonel in the Army. The Hon.Sir John Bligh(1798–1872), fourth son of the fourth Earl, was a diplomat and served asEnvoy ExtraordinaryandMinister PlenipotentiarytoHanover.Susan Bligh, Countess of Darnley,the eleventh Earl's wife was appointedLord LieutenantofHerefordshirein 2008.[8][9]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/CobhamHall_Kent_1868.xcf/220px-CobhamHall_Kent_1868.xcf.png)
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Church_at_Cobham%2C_Kent.jpg/220px-Church_at_Cobham%2C_Kent.jpg)
The family seat isNetherwood ManoratThornbury, Herefordshire,nearTenbury Wells,Worcestershire.The former wasCobham Hall,nearGravesend,Kent,from the 18th century until 1957, and the family still retains some property in thevillage.
Earls of Darnley (First creation)
[edit]Earls of Darnley (Second creation)
[edit]Earls of Darnley (Third Creation)
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Earl_of_Darnley_COA.svg/220px-Earl_of_Darnley_COA.svg.png)
John Bligh, 1st Earl of Darnley (1687–1728)
[edit]John Bligh, 1st Earl of Darnley(1687–1728), who married, in 1713,Lady Theodosia Hyde.He was descended from a prominent Devon family via a cadet branch which had settled inCounty Meath,Ireland.Following his marriage in 1713 toTheodosia Hyde,10thBaroness Clifton(ofLeighton Bromswold), a descendant ofEsmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox, also 3rd Earl of Darnley,he was in 1725 created Earl of Darnley (a reference to his ancestors the Stewarts ofDarnleyof Cobham) in thePeerage of Ireland.He was the son of Thomas Bligh, the son of John Bligh of Plymouth (son of William Bligh, a prosperous Plymouth merchant), aCommissioner of Customs and Excisedespatched to Ireland in search of forfeited estates. He representedAthboyin theIrish House of Commonsfrom 1709 to 1721. In 1721 he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland asBaron Clifton of Rathmore,in the County of Meath.[2]In 1723 the Darnley title held by his wife's ancestors (which had become extinct on the death ofCharles Stewart, 6th Duke of Lennox and 6th Earl of Darnleyin 1672) was revived when he was createdViscount Darnley,ofAthboyin the County of Meath, in the Peerage of Ireland.[3]In 1725 Bligh was further honoured when he was advanced as Earl of Darnley, in the County of Meath, also in the Peerage of Ireland.[4]He 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.[10]
Edward Bligh, 2nd Earl of Darnley (1715–1747)
[edit]Edward Bligh, 2nd Earl of Darnley(1715–1747); second, and eldest surviving son of the 1st Earl. He had already succeeded his mother in 1722 as eleventhBaron Clifton of Leighton Bromswoldin thePeerage of England.He served as aLord of the BedchambertoFrederick, Prince of Wales,but died unmarried in 1747, aged 31.
John Bligh, 3rd Earl of Darnley (1719–1781)
[edit]John Bligh, 3rd Earl of Darnley(1719–1781); third son of the 1st Earl. He served as aMember of ParliamentforMaidstoneand in the Irish House of Commons for Athboy. He carried out various building works at Cobham, between 1768 and 1770 he added an extra floor to the west front, to the design of Sir William Chambers. Between 1771 and 1773 he added a 2-storey corridor to the north side of the central block and began building the east court (or "kitchen court" ) to match the two Tudor wings. He redecorated several rooms in the classical style. By his will he left instructions for the building of theDarnley Mausoluemwithin thedeer park,to house the embalmed corpses of his descendants, the "Hyde Vault" inWestminster Abbey(in the north ambulatory, near the steps leading up to Henry VII's Lady Chapel[11]) having become full. He required it to be in the form of a square building with a "prominent pyramid" and surrounded by a dry moat, possibly having been inspired by thePyramid of Cestius(12 BC) in Rome which he would have seen on hisgrand tourduring his youth. Although the work was duly completed in 1786, to the design of the architectJames Wyatt,it never received the approval of the localBishop of Rochesterto become a consecrated building and thus was never used for its intended purpose.
John Bligh, 4th Earl of Darnley (1767–1831)
[edit]John Bligh, 4th Earl of Darnley(1767–1831); eldest son of the 3rd Earl. In 1828 he presented a claim asheir-generalto the dukedom of Lennox, but the House of Lords did not come to any decision on the matter. He was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son, the fifth Earl. He built a bridge connecting the north front to the terrace forming an entrance under a porte-cochere, to the design of James Wyatt. He added some Gothic details to the interior and added decorative detail to the hall. In 1817–18 he employed George and John Repton to effect some Tudor-style alterations.
Edward Bligh, 5th Earl of Darnley (1795–1835)
[edit]Edward Bligh, 5th Earl of Darnley(1795–1835); second, and eldest surviving son of the 4th Earl, who served as aMember of ParliamentforCanterburyand served asLord Lieutenant of County Meath.His daughter Lady Elizabeth Bligh (1830-1914) (wife of SirReginald Custand mother of the courtier SirLionel Cust) was a historian and genealogist, who (as "Lady Elizabeth Cust" ) was the author ofSome Account of theStuarts of Aubigny,in France,London, 1891, dedicated by permission to Queen Victoria and intended"to preserve from oblivion the gallant deeds of the Stewarts of Aubigny who commanded the Scots Guards and Scots Men-at-Arms in the great wars of France from the time of Charles VII to that of Henri IV".[12][page needed]She also wroteRecords of theCust familyof Pinchbeck, Stamford and Belton in Lincolnshire, 1479-1700, 3 vols, 1898.He died aged 39 oflockjawafter an axe injury when felling timber on the Cobham Hall estate and was buried at Cobham.
John Bligh, 6th Earl of Darnley (1827–1896)
[edit]John Stuart Bligh, 6th Earl of Darnley(1827–1896); eldest son of the 5th Earl, who in about 1840 altered the dining room, the last significant alteration until the house was converted into a school. In 1875[13]he paid for the restoration of the magnificent monument in Westminster Abbey ofLudovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond(1574–1624), Seigneur d'Aubigny, the childless uncle of James Stewart, 1st Duke of Richmond, 4th Duke of Lennox, the first Stewart owner of Cobham Hall. He served as adeputy lieutenantofKentfrom 1847 and in 1848 was commissioned a Captain in the Cobham Troop of theWest Kent Yeomanry. He was an administrator, then president ofKent MCC,playing one match for the 'Gentlemen of Kent' but starting a family association with the club.[14]
Edward Bligh, 7th Earl of Darnley (1851–1900)
[edit]Edward Henry Stuart Bligh, 7th Earl of Darnley(1851–1900); eldest son of the 6th Earl. As "Lord Clifton" he playedfirst-classcricketforKent1871-9 and "spent money like water",[15]greatly reducing the wealth of his family. On his death without male issue the barony of Clifford of Leighton Bromswold separated from the Irish titles when it devolved upon his only child and sole heiress, the ten-month-old Lady Elizabeth Bligh, who became the seventeenth holder of thebarony by writ of summons.He was succeeded in the Irish titles by his younger brother the 8th Earl.[16]
Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley (1859–1927)
[edit]Ivo Francis Walter Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley(1859–1927), younger brother of 7th Earl. A talented and successfulcricketer[17]who captainedthe English Test team,he met his Australian wifeFlorence Morphywhen touring Australia with theEnglish team in 1882–83.During theFirst World Warhe and his wife set aside the state apartments of Cobham Hall to accommodate 50 Australian officers.[18]After the War in the 1920s he let Cobham Hall and in 1925 sold the collection of paintings and the outlying estate and converted the eastern deer park into a golf course.[19] He sat in theHouse of Lordsas anIrish representative peerfrom 1905 to 1927. On his death in 1927 the titles passed to his only son, the ninth Earl.
Esme Bligh, 9th Earl of Darnley (1886–1955)
[edit]Esme Ivo Bligh, 9th Earl of Darnley(1886–1955), eldest son of the 8th Earl. In 1937[20]he succeeded his first cousinBaroness Clifton of Leighton Bromswold(who died unmarried) in her ancient English barony, being her heir-general, as 18th Baron Clifton of Leighton Bromswold.
Peter Bligh, 10th Earl of Darnley (1915–1980)
[edit]Peter Stuart Bligh, 10th Earl of Darnley(1915–1980) eldest son of the 9th Earl. In 1959 following the death of his father and facing heavy inheritance tax demands, he sold the house, gardens and part of the park to the "Land Fund", which sold them on in 1963 to the Westwood Educational Trust Limited (a charity in the form of a private company limited by guarantee without share capital, formed in 1961[21]) which established and operates the school which still occupies the site today. In 1968 the 10th Earl resided nearby at Puckle Hill, Shorne, near Gravesend, Kent,[22]"a large, robust Arts and Crafts house constructed in 1923".[23]
Adam Bligh, 11th Earl of Darnley (1941–2017)
[edit]Adam Bligh, 11th Earl of Darnley(1941–2017), half-brother and heir of the 10th Earl (2nd son of the 9th Earl by his 3rd wife). In 1968 he resided at Meadow House in Cobham.[22]In 1985 he founded the "Cobham Hall Heritage Trust" with the aim of "protecting the gardens, grounds and garden buildings of the Cobham Hall estate and to educating the public in their historical significance".[24]From 1991 he served as vice-chairman of the governors of Cobham Hall School, where his sister Lady Harriet was educated.[25]He moved to Herefordshire with his family in October 1984 to farm the Netherwood Estate.[26]He was chairman of the Herefordshire Historic Churches Trust, theHereford CathedralPerpetual Trust, as well as chair of Governors of Hereford Cathedral School.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Netherwood_-_geograph.org.uk_-_482340.jpg/220px-Netherwood_-_geograph.org.uk_-_482340.jpg)
Ivo Bligh, 12th Earl of Darnley (1968–)
[edit]Ivo Donald Bligh, 12th Earl of Darnley (born 17 April 1968) is the son of the 11th Earl and his wife Susan Elaine Anderson. Formally styled as Lord Clifton of Rathmore from 1980, he was educated atMarlborough Collegeand theUniversity of Edinburgh.[27]
On 18 June 2017 he succeeded as Baron Clifton (E., 1608), Earl of Darnley (I., 1725), Viscount Darnley of Athboy (I., 1723), and Baron Clifton of Rathmore (I., 1721).[27]
On 13 September 1997, he married Peta Martine Beard, daughter of A. Robert Beard,[27]and they have three sons. Theheir apparentis their eldest son Harry Robert Stuart Bligh, Lord Clifton (b. 1999).
References
[edit]- ^Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.322
- ^ab"No. 5977".The London Gazette.29 July 1721. p. 2.
- ^ab"No. 6135".The London Gazette.2 February 1723. p. 4.
- ^ab"No. 6378".The London Gazette.1 June 1725. p. 2.
- ^"House of Lords Journal Volume 62: 5 March 1830 Pages 54-61 Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 62, 1830. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, [n.d.]".British History Online.Retrieved19 August2020.
- ^Lawrence Booth (cricket writer)."Light at the end of the tunnel, a victory for the class system, and gambling always pays".theguardian.Retrieved23 December2002.
- ^"BLIGH, Thomas Cherburgh (?1761-1830), of Brittas, co. Meath".historyofparliamentonline.org.
- ^"Lord-Lieutenant for Herefordshire". Downing Street website. 22 October 2008
- ^"Countess of Darnley, CStJ bio".Archived fromthe originalon 21 December 2014.Retrieved21 December2014.
- ^"Edward Hyde & family".wesminster-abbey.org.
- ^"John Bligh, Earl of Darnley".Westminster Abbey.Retrieved23 February2020.
- ^Lady Elizabeth Cust (1891).Stuarts of Aubigny– via archive.org.
- ^"Ludovic, Frances & Esme Stuart".Westminster Abbey.Retrieved23 February2020.
- ^"Earl of Darnley player profile".espncricinfo.
- ^Wynne-Thomas, P.& Griffiths, P. (2002)Ivo Bligh, Famous Cricketers Series– No. 67, ACS Publications: Nottingham, po.7
- ^"Lord Clifton profile".espncricinfo.
- ^"Ivo Bligh, player profile, biography".espncricinfo.
- ^"Personal".Argus:6. 1 March 1917.
- ^Historic England."Cobham Hall, Cuxton (1000182)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved23 February2020.
- ^"Medway gov".cityark.medway.gov.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 21 December 2014.Retrieved23 February2020.
- ^"COBHAM HALL".Overview (free company information from Companies House).Retrieved23 February2020.
- ^abMontague-Smith, P.W. (ed.), Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, Kelly's Directories Ltd, Kingston-upon-Thames, 1968, p.322
- ^"Anite Public docs"(PDF).docs.gravesham.gov.uk.
- ^"Lord Darnley - News Blog".Cobham Hall.Archived fromthe originalon 20 February 2020.Retrieved23 February2020.
- ^Kidd, Charles,Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage2015 Edition, London, 2015, pp.320-1
- ^Lord Darnley, tireless supporter of Hereford Cathedral, has died aged 75,Hereford Times, 21 June 2017
- ^abcBurke's Peerage,volume 1, 2003, page 1032
External links
[edit]- Hesilrige, Arthur G. M. (1921).Debrett's Peerage and Titles of courtesy.London:Dean & Son.p. 263.
- Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Esme Ivo Bligh, 9th Earl of Darnley
- Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Peter Stuart Bligh, 10th Earl of Darnley
- Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by Adam Ivo Stuart Bligh, 11th Earl of Darnley
- burkespeerage