William Blamire

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

William Blamire
Born	13 April 1790
Died	12 January 1862
Nationality	English
Education	Homeschooled Westminster School
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford
Occupation	Landowner; Civil Servant; Politician.
Known for	High Sheriff of Cumberland Member of Parliament; for Cumberland, and East Cumberland Chief Tithe Commissioner
Relatives	Susanna Blamire (Aunt) John Christian Curwen (Uncle)

Background and education

Blamire was born at The Oaks, Dalston, 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. Urban (1862), p. 470
3. Maycock (2003), p. 97
4. Lonsdale (1867), p. 211
5. Lonsdale (1867), p. 212
6. Walford (1860), p. 57
7. Urban (1862), p. 242
8. Lonsdale (1867), p. 278
9. 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. 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.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by William Blamire