View source for John Bligh 1687-1728

__NOTITLE__
===[[name::John]] [[name::BLIGH]], 1st [[personal title::Earl of Darnley]] [[date of birth::1687]]-[[date of death::1728]]===
[[file:BlighJohn.JPG|thumb|John Bligh's bookplate (British Museum Franks Collection 2834)]]
====Biographical Note====
Son of [[family::Thomas Bligh]], a member of a family originally from [[location::Plymouth]] who moved to [[location::County Meath, Ireland]] during the 17th century to make their fortune. [[occupation::MP]] for [[location::Athboy]] in the Irish House of Commons, 1709-21, when he was made Baron Clifton in the peerage of Ireland, later becoming Viscount Darnley (1723), then the Earl of Darnley (1725). Through his marriage to [[family::Theodosia Hyde]], 10th Baroness Clifton (1695-1722) he acquired the estate of [[location::Cobham Hall, Kent]] which became a family seat thereafter.
[[file:BlighEdward.JPG|thumb|The bookplate of Edward Bligh, 2nd Earl of Darnley (British Museum Franks Collection 2833)]]
====Books====
The Franks catalogue ascribes an armorial bookplate for "The Honble. John Bligh Esqr. of the Kingdom of Ireland" (Franks 2834) to Bligh's son John, later 3rd Earl of Darnley (1719-81), but on stylistic grounds this looks too early, and earlier than the plate for his eldest son Edward the 2nd Earl (1715-47: Franks 2833). It therefore seems safer to attribute it to the 1st Earl. The extent of what presumably became a family library, over the generations, is not known.

====Sources====
<div id="sourcelist">
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_of_Darnley Earl of Darnley, Wikipedia].
*Gambier Howe, E. R. J. ''Franks bequest: catalogue of British and American book plates bequeathed to the ... British Museum''. London, 1903.
</div>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bligh, John}}
[[Category:Aristocracy]]
[[Category:Earls]]
[[Category:Bookplates and Labels]]
[[Category:Members of Parliament]]
[[Category:All Owners]]