Edward Bligh, 5th Earl of Darnley

Arms of Bligh:Azure, a griffin segreant or armed and langued gules between three crescents argent

Edward Bligh, 5th Earl of Darnley,FRS(25 February 1795 – 12 February 1835), styledLord Cliftonuntil 1831,lordof theManor of Cobham, Kent,was a Britishpeerand politician.

Background

Darnley was the second but eldest surviving son ofJohn Bligh, 4th Earl of Darnley,and Elizabeth Brownlow, 3rd daughter of the Rt Hon.William Brownlow.He was educated atEton CollegeandChrist Church, Oxford,matriculating on 22 October 1812, where he took degrees ofBachelor of Arts(BA) in 1816, proceedingMaster of Arts(MA) in 1819.

Political career

Darnley was returned to the House of Commons representingCanterburyin 1818, a seat he held until 1830for theWhigParty.In 1831 he succeeded his father in the earldom and took his seat in theHouse of Lords.He also served asLord Lieutenant of County Meathbetween 1831 and 1835,and was elected aFellow of the Royal Societyin 1833.

Marriage and children

Engraving afterSir Thomas Lawrenceof The Hon. Emma Jane Parnell (later Countess of Darnley).

In 1825 he married the Hon. Emma Jane Parnell, a daughter ofHenry Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton,by whom he had three sons and two daughters:

• John Bligh, 6th Earl of Darnley(1827–1896)
• Rev. Hon.Edward Vesey Bligh(1829–1908)
• Lady Elizabeth Caroline Bligh (1830–1914), who married SirReginald Cust(1828–1912) on 13 December 1855 and had issue, including the courtier SirLionel Cust.She was a historian and genealogist, who (as "Lady Elizabeth Cust" ) was the author ofSome Account of theStuarts of Aubigny,in France,London, 1891 (her ancestors at Cobham Hall), and ofRecords of theCust familyof Pinchbeck, Stamford and Belton in Lincolnshire, 1479-1700,3 vols, 1898.
• Lady Emma Bess Bligh (1832–1917), marriedArthur Purey-Custon 6 June 1854 and had issue
• Rev.Henry Bligh(10 June 1834 – 4 March 1905), vicar ofSt James' Church, Hampton Hill1881–1893 andHoly Trinity Church, Fareham1893–1900, married first Emma Armytage (d. 27 December 1881) and second Anne Elizabeth Dobree Butler, and had issue by both

Darnley died oflockjawafter an axe injury when felling timber on his estate atCobham Hall,Kent, in February 1835, aged 39, and was buried atCobham.He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, John. Bligh's 'town library' was sold at auction by Wheatley in London on 20 July 1836 (and four following days); a copy of the catalogue is held at Cambridge University Library (shelfmark Munby.c.154(1)).

His wife,Emma, Dowager Countess of Darnley,died on 15 March 1884.

See also

• Earl of Darnley

External links

• Hansard1803–2005:contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Darnley
• "Hon. Emma Jane Parnell"atThe Peerage– portrait of Emma, Countess of Darnley