Nicholas Blundell (1669 – 1737), sometimes styled "of Crosby",

lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

Little Crosby Little Crosby is a small village in Merseyside, North West England. Despite being a suburb within 8 miles of Liverpool it has retained its rural character by, for example, opting not to have street lights. As part of Lancashire the village was a ...

, was an English landowner seated at Crosby Hall,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, and is best known for his

diaries Diaries may refer to: * the plural of diary *''Diaries: 1971-1976'', a 1981 documentary by Ed Pincus *'' Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years'', a 2006 book by Michael Palin *''OFW Diaries ''OFW Diaries'' is a Philippine television documentary ...

which provide first-hand insight into the life of 18th-century

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest ...

Family

Devoutly Catholic since the Middle Ages, the Blundells were among the leading

recusant Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...

prior to

Catholic Emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...

in the 19th century, and progenitors of various

cadet branch In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, title ...

es including the

Weld-Blundell family The Weld family are a cadet branch, arisen in 1843, of the English Welds of Lulworth. It is an old gentry family which claims descent from Eadric the Wild and is related to other Weld branches in several parts of the United Kingdom, notably fro ...

Life

The eldest son and heir of William Blundell, also known as "the Cavalier" (being a Knight of Malta) for his exploits during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

, Nicholas Blundell's

notebook A notebook (also known as a notepad, writing pad, drawing pad, or legal pad) is a book or stack of paper pages that are often ruled and used for purposes such as note-taking, journaling or other writing, drawing, or scrapbooking. History ...

was first published in 1880 by the Revd. T. E. Gibson. ''A Cavalier’s Note Book'' and was referenced by

Lady Antonia Fraser Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, (' Pakenham; born 27 August 1932) is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and pri ...

in her work on English 17th-century women, ''The Weaker Vessel'' (Phoenix Press, London, 2002 paperback, originally published 1984). Blundell married The Hon. Frances Langdale and had two daughters, the younger of whom, Frances (Mrs Henry Peppard), reassumed the

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

and

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

of Blundell by

Royal Licence Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

upon succeeding to the ancestral estates.''Burke's Landed Gentry'' (1837)
/ref> Nicholas Blundell's descendants through her remain seated at Crosby Hall, now in

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

Sources

Three volumes of ''Blundell's Diaries'' were produced by Frank Tyrer and J. J. Bagley and published by the Record Society of Lancashire & Cheshire between 1968 and 1972. * The great diurnal of Nicholas Blundell volume 1 : 1702-1711 (1968) * The great diurnal of Nicholas Blundell volume 2 : 1712-1719 (1970) * The great diurnal of Nicholas Blundell volume 3 : 1720-1728 (1972) * A volume Blundell’s diary & letter book 1702-1728 was published in 1952. Edited by Margaret Blundell (Liverpool University Press, Liverpool, 1952). * A secondary source is J. J. Bagley, ''Historical importance of Nicholas Blundell's diurnal'', 1972.

References

Bibliography

* Crosby, Alan G. (2004)
"Blundell, Nicholas (1669–1737)"
In ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Oxford: Oxford UP, n.p.

External links

* ''

Burke's Landed Gentry ''Burke's Landed Gentry'' (originally titled ''Burke's Commoners'') is a reference work listing families in Great Britain and Ireland who have owned rural estates of some size. The work has been in existence from the first half of the 19th cent ...