| Honorific Prefix: | The Right Honourable |
| The Earl of Darnley | |
| Country: | Ireland |
| Fullname: | John Bligh |
| Birth Date: | 30 June 1767 |
| Birth Place: | Kingdom of Ireland |
| Death Place: | Cobham Hall, Kent, England |
| Family: | See: Bligh family |
| Club1: | MCC |
| Club2: | Kent |
| Year2: | 1790 - 1796 |
| Columns: | 1 |
| Column1: | First-class |
| Matches1: | 24 |
| Runs1: | 163 |
| Bat Avg1: | 3.79 |
| 100S/50S1: | 0/0 |
| Top Score1: | 21 |
| Deliveries1: | ? |
| Wickets1: | 18 |
| Bowl Avg1: | ? |
| Fivefor1: | 0 |
| Tenfor1: | 0 |
| Best Bowling1: | 3/? |
| Catches/Stumpings1: | 2/– |
| Date: | 2 January |
| Year: | 2022 |
| Source: | http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/535961.html CricInfo |
John Bligh, 4th Earl of Darnley (30 June 1767 – 17 March 1831), styled Lord Clifton until 1781, lord of the Manor of Cobham, Kent, was a British peer and cricketer.
He was the son of John Bligh, 3rd Earl of Darnley, and succeeded his father as earl on the latter's death in 1781. He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford on 16 November 1784. On 3 July 1793, he was made a DCL.[1]
He resided at Cobham Hall, near Gravesend in Kent, and was commissioned as Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the Chatham and Dartford Regiment of Local Militia in 1809.[2]
John Bligh was a noted amateur cricketer who made 27 known appearances in first-class cricket matches between 1789 and 1796. He and his brother, the Honourable (later General) Edward Bligh, were staunch supporters of Kent cricket.[3] The Bligh brothers, who originated from Athboy, County Meath, have been called "the first Irish first-class cricketers".[4]
On 26 August 1791, he married Elizabeth Brownlow (d. 22 December 1831), daughter of William Brownlow and his second wife Catherine Hall, by whom he had seven children:[5]
Lord Darnley died at Cobham Hall on 17 March 1831 and was succeeded in the earldom by his son Edward.[5]
Darnley Bay in the Northwest Territories, Canada was named for him by John Richardson.[6]