Sir Francis Douglas Blake, 1st Baronet, CB, DL (27 February 1856 – 5 February 1940) was Deputy Lieutenant of

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, Vice

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibilit ...

in 1920 and 1931, a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the s ...

, and a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

. The son of Francis Blake (1832–1861), the heir of Sir Francis Blake of Twizell Castle, on the death of his father he inherited substantial estates in

including Tillmouth House,

Twizell Castle Twizell Castle (also spelt Twizel) is a Grade II* listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument which stands on a bend of the River Till at Tillmouth Park, Northumberland, northern England. Below it, the medieval Twizell Bridge spans the ri ...

and Seghill. He was educated at

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

, and was admitted to the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

as a

Barrister-at-Law A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and g ...

. He was created a Baronet, of Tillmouth Park, in the

Baronetage of the United Kingdom Baronets are a rank in the British aristocracy. The current Baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier but existing Baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland, and Great Britain. Baronetage of England (1611–1705) King James ...

on 22 July 1907. He became chairman of the Northumberland Quarter Sessions. Later he was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

Liberal

for Berwick on Tweed 1916–1922, and was appointed

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregiv ...

in 1919. He was appointed

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

commanding of the Northumberland Royal Garrison Artillery (Militia) on 30 November 1901. That unit was disbanded in 1909. On 13 May 1925 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Tynemouth Heavy Brigade, Royal Artillery''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage,'' 100th Edn, London, 1953. He was sometime chairman of the

Northumberland County Council Northumberland County Council is a unitary authority in North East England. The population of the non-metropolitan unitary authority at the 2011 census was 316,028. History It was formed in 1889 as the council for the administrative county of ...

. Blake demolished the family house at Tillmouth and replaced it with a grand mansion in 1882 using in the process large quantities of masonry from the unfinished and abandoned project that was

. He married on 14 December 1886, Selina Colquhoun, daughter of James Cleland Burns of Glenlee,

Hamilton, South Lanarkshire Hamilton ( sco, Hamiltoun; gd, Baile Hamaltan ) is a large town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It serves as the main administrative centre of the South Lanarkshire council area. It sits south-east of Glasgow, south-west of Edinburgh and no ...

, and was succeeded in the Baronetcy by their son

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome * Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) Places *Rural ...

References

* Mosley, Charles, editor, ''Burke's Peerage & Baronetage'', 106th edition, Crans, Switzerland, 1999, p. 285,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Francis Douglas, 1st Baronet 1856 births 1940 deaths English barristers Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 Deputy Lieutenants of Northumberland Companions of the Order of the Bath Alumni of University College, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom English justices of the peace Members of the Inner Temple Liberal Party (UK) councillors