Modern English biography, volume 1 (of 4), A-H by Frederic Boase

170–85 (1881). BLEWITT, REGINALD JAMES (_2 son of Edward Blewitt of Llantarnam abbey, Monmouthshire who d. 8 March 1832 in 70 year_). _b._ 26 May 1799; ed. at Rugby; solicitor at 8 New square Lincoln’s Inn London 1821–27; M.P. for borough of Monmouth 24 July 1837 to March 1852; established the _Monmouthshire Merlin_ a liberal paper 1829, edited it 1829–32; manager of Monmouthshire bank which failed for a very large sum. _d._ The Priory, Putney 11 Sep. 1878. _Law Times lxv_, 405 (1878). BLIGH, SIR JOHN DUNCAN (_2 son of John Bligh, 4 Earl of Darnley 1767–1831_). _b._ London 11 Oct. 1798; ed. at Eton, and Ch. Ch. Ox., B.A. 1821, B.C.L. 1828, D.C.L. 1836; paid attaché in Paris 9 May 1828; sec. of legation at Florence 30 July 1829; sec. of embassy at The Hague 1 Nov. 1830; Min. plenipo. at The Hague 3 July 1832, at St. Petersburg 7 Sep. 1832, at Stockholm 28 Oct. 1835, and at Hanover 17 April 1838 to 14 June 1856 when he retired; C.B. 1 March 1851, K.C.B. 30 Sep. 1856. _d._ Sandgate, Kent 8 May 1872. BLIGHT, WILLIAM. Entered navy 9 May 1793; captain 22 July 1830; retired R.A. 27 Sep. 1855. _d._ Stonehouse, Plymouth 22 July 1862 aged 77. BLISS, HENRY (_4 son of Jonathan Bliss of New Brunswick_). _b._ New Brunswick; barrister I.T. 9 Feb. 1827, bencher 1850, reader 1863, treasurer 1864; Q.C. 1850; agent in England for Nova Scotia many years; author of _On colonial intercourse_ 1830; _Statistics of the trade, industry and resources of Canada_ 1833; _State trials, specimen of a new edition by N. T. Moile, pseud._ 1838; _Cicero, a drama by N. T. Moile_, 1847; _Robespierre, a tragedy_ 1854. _d._ Folkestone 31 July 1873 aged 76. BLISS, REV. PHILIP (_son of Rev. Philip Bliss 1742–1803 R. of Frampton Cotterell, Gloucs_). _b._ Chipping Sodbury, Gloucs. 21 Dec. 1787; ed. at Merchant Taylors’ 1797–1806 and St. John’s coll. Ox., scholar 1806, law fellow 1809, B.C.L. 1815, D.C.L. 1820; assistant librarian Bodleian library 1810, under librarian July 1822 to Dec. 1828; prepared the first 136 pages of the catalogue issued 1814; C. of Newington, Oxon. 1817 to Feb. 1830; registrar of the University 1824 to April 1853; chaplain at Studley Priory 1830–55; registrar of the University Court 1831; principal of St. Mary hall Ox. April 1848 to death; edited Bishop Earle’s _Microcosmography_ 1811; Anthony à Wood’s _Athenæ Oxonienses and Fasti 4 vols._ 1813–20; _Reliquiæ Hearnianæ the remains of Thomas Hearne 2 vols._ 1857, _2 ed._ 1869 and many other books. _d._ the Lodgings St. Mary Hall, Oxford 18 Nov. 1857. _Dict. of Nat. Biog. v_, 221–22 (1886). BLITZ, ANTONIO. _b._ Deal, Kent 21 June 1810; made his first appearance on the stage as a ventriloquist and conjurer at Hamburg Sep. 1823; performed in all the cities of North Europe; first appeared in England at Dover Dec. 1825, and in London at Coburg theatre, Lent 1828; sailed for New York 1 Aug. 1834; in 1870 there were 13 conjurers travelling in America under assumed name of Blitz. _d._ Philadelphia 28 Jany. 1877. _Fifty years in the magic circle by Signor Blitz_ (1871), _portrait_. BLOCHMANN, HENRY. _b._ Dresden 7 Jany. 1838; landed at Calcutta Sep. 1858; professor of mathematics at the Doveton college Calcutta 1862–65; M.A. Calcutta Univ. 1865; assistant professor of the Calcutta Madrassa 1865, principal 1875 to death; member of Asiatic Society of Bengal 6 April 1864, sec. 1868 to death; author of _The Prosody of the Persians_ 1872; _School geography of India_ 1873; _English and Urdu school dictionary Romanized_, _8 ed._ 1877; _The first geography, 17 ed._ 1879. _d._ Calcutta 13 July 1878. _Proc. of Asiatic Society of Bengal_ (1878) 164–67. BLOCKLEY, JOHN. _b._ 1801; Music publisher at 3 Argyll st. Regent st. London; composed many ballads, several of which were very popular namely the duet _List tis music stealing_ and the songs _Love not_ and _The Englishman_. _d._ 6 Park road, Haverstock hill, London 24 Dec. 1882. BLOIS, SIR CHARLES, 7 Baronet. _b._ Sway, Hants. 1794; lieut. col. East Suffolk militia 1844 to 1853; succeeded 20 Aug. 1850. _d._ Cockfield hall, Suffolk 12 June 1855. BLOMEFIELD, REV. SIR THOMAS EARDLEY WILMOT, 3 Baronet. _b._ Peamore near Exeter 3 Aug. 1820; succeeded 30 June 1858, V. of All Saint’s Pontefract 1859–72; master of Archbishop Holgate’s hospital near Hemsworth 1872 to death. _d._ Holgate lodge, Pontefract 21 Nov. 1878. BLOMEFIELD, SIR THOMAS WILLIAM, 2 Baronet. _b._ Arlington st. Piccadilly, London 24 March 1791; succeeded 24 Aug. 1822. _d._ Egremont lodge, Brighton 30 June 1858. BLOMFIELD, RIGHT REV. CHARLES JAMES (_eld. son of Charles Blomfield of Bury St. Edmunds, school master who d. 28 Sep. 1831 in 69 year_). _b._ Bury St. Edmunds 29 May 1786; ed. at Bury gr. sch. and Trin. coll. Cam.; scholar 1805, fellow Oct. 1809, Craven Univ. scholar 1806, 3 wrangler and Chancellor’s classical medallist 1808; B.A. 1808, M.A. 1811, B.D. 1818, D.D. 1820; R. of Dunton, Bucks. Dec. 1811; V. and R. of Great and Little Chesterford July 1817; R. of Tuddenham, Suffolk 1817; R. of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate May 1820; archdeacon of Colchester 15 Jany. 1822 to 4 June 1824; bishop of Chester 8 June 1824, consecrated in Whitehall chapel 20 June; bishop of London 15 Aug. 1828 to 30 Sep. 1856 when he resigned on a pension of £6000; P.C. 31 July 1828; admitted dean of chapels royal 12 Dec. 1828, enthroned in St. Paul’s cathedral 16 Jany. 1829; member of Ecclesiastical commission 1836 of which he was the moving spirit; published editions of _Prometheus Vinctus_ 1810, _Septem contra Thebas_ 1812, _Persæ_ 1814, _Choephoræ_ 1821; an edition of _Callimachus_ 1815 and of _Euripides_ 1821; wrote on classical subjects for _Edinburgh_ and _Quarterly Reviews_, and for the _Museum Criticum_ a journal established by himself and James Henry Monk 1813. _d._ Fulham palace 5 Aug. 1857. _A memoir of C. J. Blomfield edited by his son Alfred Blomfield, 2 ed._ 1864; _Rev. G. E. Biber’s Bishop Blomfield and his times_ 1857; _H. Martineau’s Biographical sketches, 4 ed._ (1876) 167–74; _I.L.N. xxiv_, 401 (1854), _portrait_. BLOOD, BINDON. _b._ Cranacher, Ireland; lived at 22 Queen st. Edinburgh 1829–42; an original member of the Abbotsford Club 20 March 1833; a great collector of books which were piled in great heaps in his garrets, cellars and warerooms like unsorted goods; known as The Vampire and The Dragon. _d._ Ireland 1855. _Crombie’s Modern Athenians_ (1882) 11–14, _portrait_; _J. H. Burton’s The bookhunter, new ed._ (1882) 55–58. BLOOD, CLEMENTS. Lieutenant Bombay artillery 10 June 1821; major Bombay artillery 10 Nov. 1854; brigadier in command at Ahmednuggur 12 March 1855 to 18 Feb. 1858, and at Hyderabad 18 Feb. 1858 to 12 May 1859 when he retired with rank of M.G. _d._ Chiswick, Middlesex 10 April 1869 aged 63. BLOOD, RICHARD. Lieutenant 6 Bombay N.I. 20 April 1819, lieut. col. 1 European regiment 1 Nov. 1852 to 18 May 1858; M.G. 1 Dec. 1858. _d._ 6 Circus road, St. John’s Wood, London 8 July 1877 aged 74. BLOOMFIELD, JOHN ARTHUR DOUGLAS BLOOMFIELD, 2 Baron (_eld. child of Benjamin Bloomfield, 1 Baron Bloomfield 1768–1846_). _b._ 12 Nov. 1802; attaché at Vienna 16 Feb. 1818; envoy extraord. and min. plenipo. at St. Petersburgh 3 April 1844, at Berlin 28 April 1851, at Vienna 22 Nov. 1860 to 28 Oct. 1871 when he retired on a pension; succeeded 15 Aug. 1846; C.B. 27 April 1848, K.C.B. 1 March 1851, G.C.B. 3 Sep. 1858, P.C. 17 Dec. 1860; created Baron Bloomfield of Ciamhaltha in the United Kingdom 7 Aug. 1871. (_m._ 4 Sep. 1845 Georgiana 16 and youngest child of 1 Baron Ravensworth, she was _b._ 13 April 1822). _d._ Ciamhaltha, Newport, Tipperary 17 Aug. 1879. _Reminiscences of court and diplomatic life by Georgiana Baroness Bloomfield ii_, 310 (1883), _portrait_. BLOOMFIELD, HENRY KEANE. Ensign 59 Foot 30 Sep. 1813; lieut. col. 11 Foot 27 June 1845 to 1 April 1859 when placed on h.p.; colonel 64 Foot 20 Jany. 1867 to death; L.G. 13 Aug. 1868. _d._ 108 Jermyn st. Piccadilly, London 11 Feb. 1870 aged 72. BLOOMFIELD, SIR JOHN (_son of Patrick Bloomfield of Sligo_). _b._ 1793; ed. at Woolwich; 2 lieut. R.A. 28 April 1810, colonel 28 Nov. 1854, colonel commandant 5 April 1866 to death; aide-de-camp to the Queen 20 June 1854 to 25 Sep. 1859; inspector general of artillery 1 May 1859 to 30 June 1864; general 26 Nov. 1876; K.C.B. 13 March 1867, G.C.B. 24 May 1873. _d._ 108 Jermyn st. London 1 Aug. 1880. BLOOMFIELD, REV. SAMUEL THOMAS. Educ. at Sid. Sus. coll. Cam., B.A. 1808, M.A. 1811, D.D. 1829; V. of Bisbrooke, Rutland 1814 to death; hon. canon of Peterborough cath. 1854 to death; granted civil list pension of £200, 30 June 1846; author of _Recensio synoptica annotationis sacræ, being a critical digest of the most important annotations on the New Testament 8 vols._ 1826–28; _Translation of Thucydides 3 vols._ 1829; _The Greek Testament with English notes 2 vols._ 1832, _12 ed._ 1870; _A Greek and English lexicon to the New Testament_ 1840, _2 ed._ 1845. _d._ Hone house, Wandsworth common near London 28 Sep. 1869 aged 85. BLORE, EDWARD (_eld. son of Thomas Blore of Derby, topographer 1764–1818_). _b._ Derby 13 Sep. 1787; architect and artist; designed exterior of Abbotsford for Sir Walter Scott 1816; designed organ-screen and choir fittings of Peterborough cathedral; restored Glasgow cathedral and Merton college chapel; special architect to Wm. iv and Victoria; completed erection of Buckingham Palace for £100,000, 1837; architect at Westminster Abbey; declined honour of knighthood; F.S.A. 27 Nov. 1823; D.C.L. Oxford 1834; F.R.S. 10 June 1841; a founder of Royal Archæological Institute Dec. 1843; author of _The monumental remains of noble and eminent persons comprising the sepulchral antiquities of Great Britain_ 1825. _d._ 4 Manchester sq. London 4 Sep. 1879. _Proc. of Soc. of Antiq. viii_, 347–52 (1881); _I.L.N. lxxv_, 280 (1879), _portrait_. BLORE, REV. EDWARD WILLIAM (_elder son of the preceding_). _b._ London 24 Jany. 1828; ed. at Eton 1842–47, member of the cricket eleven; began residence at Trin. coll. Cam. Oct. 1847, scholar 1849, fellow Oct. 1853; in the Cambridge eleven 1848–51; 37 wrangler 1851, B.A. 1851; assistant tutor of his college 1857, tutor 1862, senior tutor 1868–75, senior dean 1860–66; prime mover in restoration of Trin. coll. chapel, only important building in England founded by Queen Mary. _d._ Trinity college, Cambridge 24 June 1885. _The little journal i_, 77–88 (1884). BLORE, ROBERT. Manufacturer of small porcelain biscuit figures in Bridge gate, Derby 1830; very clever in making pastes and glazes; an assistant at Mason’s factory at Lane Delph; superintended a pot-works at Middlesbrough until his death. _d._ about 1866. BLOUNT, SIR EDWARD, 8 Baronet. _b._ Mawley hall, Cleobury Mortimer, Salop 3 March 1795; succeeded 31 Oct. 1803; sheriff of Worcestershire 1835. _d._ Mawley hall 28 April 1881. BLOXAM, REV. ANDREW (_4 son of Rev. Richard Rouse Bloxam, assistant master of Rugby school 38 years who d. 28 March 1840_). _b._ Rugby 22 Sep. 1801; ed. at Rugby 1808–20 and Worcester coll. Ox., B.A. 1824, M.A. 1827; fellow of his college; naturalist on board the Blonde frigate (which conveyed bodies of King and Queen of Sandwich Islands to their native land) 1824–26; P.C. of Twycross, Leics. 1839–71; R. of Harborough Magna 1871 to death; wrote on conchology, ornithology and plants; author of _A guide to Bradgate park with natural history of Charnwood Forest_ 1829. _d._ Harborough Magna 2 Feb. 1878. _Midland Naturalist_, _April 1878 pp._ 88–90. NOTE.—A water-colour drawing by Turner in the National Gallery represents A. Bloxam and his five brothers attending the funeral of their uncle Sir T. Lawrence, R.A. BLOXAM, CHARLES JOHN. Admitted solicitor Trinity term 1821; practised in London to death, probably oldest solicitor in practice on the rolls; senior member of court of Clothworkers’ Company, served as master when the new hall was opened by Prince Albert 27 March 1860. _d._ 16 Bedford place, Russell sq. London 25 Feb. 1885 in 85 year. BLOXAM, REV. RICHARD ROWLAND (_elder brother of Rev. A. Bloxam_). _b._ Jany. 1798; ed. at Rugby and Worcester coll. Ox., B.A. 1819; master of Guilsborough gr. sch. 1821–24; chaplain of Pembroke dockyard 1845; domestic chaplain to Earl Ferrers 1848; R. of Harlaston, Tamworth 1850 to death; author of _A voyage to the Sandwich Islands in H.M.S. Blonde_. _d._ Leamington 23 Jany. 1877. BLOXAM, THOMAS. _b._ London 1836; ed. at city of London school and King’s college; chemist to Industrial museum of Scotland 1860 to date when office was abolished; lecturer on chemistry at St. George’s hospital London; lecturer in experimental and natural science at Cheltenham college 1862 to death; F.C.S. 1859, F.G.S.