Robert Bligh Explained

Robert Bligh (1704 – 1778) was an Irish Anglican dean in the 18th century.^[1]

Early life

Bligh was the son of Thomas Bligh (1654–1710) and his wife Elizabeth Naper (d. 1737).^[2] Bligh's elder brothers were John Bligh, 1st Earl of Darnley and Lt.-Gen. Thomas Bligh, best known for his service during the Seven Years' War. Both of his elder brothers and his son served in the Irish House of Commons.^[3]

He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin.^[4]

Career

He was Dean of Elphin from 1768 until his death in 1778.^{[5] [6]}

Personal life

On 1 July 1742 in County Meath, he married Catherine (Kitty) Elliott (1714–55). Kitty, a daughter of Major-General Roger Elliott and Charlotte Elliot, was sister to Major-General Granville Elliott, and a widow of Charles Boyle (1710-), of Araglin Bridge, County Cork.^[2]

On 18 March 1759, he married secondly to Frances Winthrop (b. 1735) in London. Together, they were the parents of:^[2]

• Frances Theodosia Bligh (d. 1802), who married Robert Jocelyn, 2nd Earl of Roden.^[2]
• Thomas Cherburgh Bligh (–1830), who married Lady Theodosia Bligh, a daughter of Bligh's nephew, John Bligh, 3rd Earl of Darnley.^[7]
• Catherine Maria Bligh (d.), who married Hon. Hugh Howard, son of Ralph Howard, 1st Viscount Wicklow, in 1792.^[2]
• Robert Elphin Bligh, who died without issue.^[2]

Bligh died about 1778.

Notes and References

1. Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd, reprinted 2003 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
2. Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh. Burke's Irish Family Records. London, U.K.: Burkes Peerage Ltd, 1976.
3. Book: Collins . Arthur . Vol. 7: The peerage of England : containing a genealogical and historical account of all the peers of that kingdom, now existing, either by tenure, summons, or creation, their descents and collateral lines, their births, marriages and issues, famous actions both in war and peaces, religious and charitable donations, deaths, places of burial, monuments, epitaphs, and many valuable memoirs never before printed : also their paternal coats of arms, crests, supporters and mottoes, curiously engraved on copper-plates / collected from records, old wills, authentic manuscripts, our most approved historians, and other authorities, which are cited by Arthur Collins, esq. ; in eight volumes . 1779 . Printed for W. Strahan, J.F. and C. Rivington, J. Hinton, T. Payne, W. Owen, S. Crowder, T. Caslon, T. Longman, C. Rivington, C. Dilly, J. Robson, T. Lowndes, G. Robinson, T. Cadell, H.L. Gardner, W. Davis, J. Nichols, T. Evans, J. Bew, R. Baldwin, J. Almon, J. Murray, W. Fox, J. White, Fielding and Walker, T. Beecroft, J. Donaldson, M. Folingsby . 2 August 2021.
4. Alumni Dublinenses : a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860) George Dames Burtchaell/Thomas Ulick Sadleir p76: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935
5. "The Succession of the Prelates and Members of the Cathedral Bodies of Ireland. Fasti ecclesiae Hiberniae. Vol. 4, The Province of Connaght" Cotton, H p136 Dublin; Hodges and Smith; 1849
6. G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume III, page 72.
7. Web site: Jupp . P. J. . BLIGH, Thomas Cherburgh (?1761-1830), of Brittas, co. Meath. . www.historyofparliamentonline.org . . 3 August 2021.