William Blamire
Born13 April 1790
Died12 January 1862
NationalityEnglish
Education
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
Occupation(s)Landowner; Civil Servant; Politician.
Known for
Relatives

William Blamire (13 April 1790 – 12 January 1862)[1] was a British landowner, civil servant, and Whig politician.

Background and education

Blamire was born at The Oaks, Dalston, Carlisle, England, to a family that originated in Cumberland. He was the eldest son of the naval surgeon William Blamire,[2] and Jane, the third daughter of John Christian and sister of the politician John Christian Curwen.[2] The Cumberland poet Susanna Blamire was his aunt.[3] William was baptised in Dalston by the philosopher William Paley, the vicar there.[2] He was privately tutored at Carlisle, and subsequently, from 1805 to 1808, educated at Westminster School, and, from 1808 to 1811,[4] at Christ Church, Oxford, from which he graduated in 1811.[5]

Career

Blamire was a Cumberland farmer who served as High Sheriff of Cumberland in 1828.[6] He entered the British House of Commons in 1831 as MP for Cumberland,[6] as which he served until the constituency was abolished the following year, after which he stood successfully for the new constituency that replaced it, East Cumberland.[6] Blamire resigned as Member of Parliament in 1836, when, after the passing of the Tithe Commutation Act 1836 he was appointed the first Chief Tithe Commissioner.[7] The Commission reported in 1851 and triggered various new acts and reforms.[8] Blamire retired in 1860.[7]

Family

In 1834, Blamire married his cousin Dorothy.[9] She was the youngest daughter of John Taubman and the widow of Mark Wilks, who had governed Saint Helena during the time of Napoleon's exile there.[9] Blamire's wife died in 1857:[10] he survived her, for five years, until 1862.[11] Several months after his death, a prize in his name was endowed for achievements in agriculture.[12]

Notes

  1. Lonsdale (1867), p. 317
  2. 1 2 3 Urban (1862), p. 470
  3. Maycock (2003), p. 97
  4. Lonsdale (1867), p. 211
  5. Lonsdale (1867), p. 212
  6. 1 2 3 Walford (1860), p. 57
  7. 1 2 Urban (1862), p. 242
  8. Lonsdale (1867), p. 278
  9. 1 2 Burke (1862), p. 112
  10. Lonsdale (1867), p. 299
  11. Lonsdale (1867), p. 314
  12. Lonsdale (1867), p. 315

References

  • Burke, Sir Bernhard (1862). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. I. London: Harrison.
  • Walford, Edward (1860). The County Families of the United Kingdom. London: Robert Hardwicke.
  • Maycock, Christopher Hugh (2003). A Passionate Poet: Susanna Blamire, 1747–94. London: Hypatia Publications. ISBN 1-872229-42-5.
  • Sylvanus, Urban (1862). The Gentleman's Magazine. Vol. part I. London: John Henry and James Parker.
  • Lonsdale, Henry (1867). The Worthies of Cumberland. Vol. I. London: George Routledge and Sons.
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Blamire, William". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

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