Sir Lambert Blackwell, 1st Baronet (died 1727) of Sprowston Hall, Norfolk, was an English diplomat and Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1708 to 1710. Blackwell was one of the younger of the seventeen children of Captain John Blackwell, of Mortlake, Surrey and his wife Elizabeth Smithsby, daughter of James Smithsby. His father was an active Parliamentary officer from 1650 to 1658, and in 1688 was

Governor of Pennsylvania A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. In 1697, Blackwell was made Knight Harbinger and Gentleman of the Privy Council, being Knighted on 18 May 1697. He married before February 1698 Elizabeth Herne, second daughter of Sir Joseph Herne, of London, Merchant, and his wife Elizabeth Frederick, daughter of Sir John Frederick,

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

from 1661 to 1662. From 1697 to 1705 Blackwell was British Ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and from 1697 to 1698 and from 1702 to 1705 he was British Ambassador to the Republic of Genoa. He was appointed as British Ambassador to the Republic of Venice in 1702. At the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs finally gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November ...

Blackwell was returned as Whig

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 of ...

for Wilton. He voted for the naturalization of the Palatines in 1709, and for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710. He did not stand at the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

but was useful to the Whigs as a financier. In the year 1710 to 1711, with a partner, he advanced £60,000 to the crown, and after the succession of George I he helped raise international loans. In 1715 he became a Governor of the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

in which he invested £13,000. He was created a

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on 16 July 1718. He bought extensive property in the East of Norfolk and became liable to sequestration under the 1721 South Sea Sufferers’ Act. Blackwell died on 27 October 1727. His widow died on 12 October 1729.

References

1727 deaths Ambassadors of Great Britain to the Republic of Venice Ambassadors to the Republic of Genoa Ambassadors to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain Year of birth missing 18th-century diplomats 17th-century English diplomats {{England-diplomat-stub