Lieutenant-Colonel John Blaquiere, 1st Baron de Blaquiere (15 May 1732 – 27 August 1812), was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and politician who served as the

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British Dublin Castle administration, administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretar ...

from 1772 to 1776.

Background

Blaquiere was the fifth son of Jean de Blaquiere, a French merchant who had emigrated to England in 1685, and his wife Marie Elizabeth de Varennes.

Career

Blaquiere at first served in the

, in the 18th Dragoons (later renumbered the 17th Dragoons), where he achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1771 Blaquiere was appointed Secretary of Legation at the British Embassy in Paris, a post he held until 1772. The latter year Lord Harcourt, the British Ambassador in Paris, was appointed

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...

, and Blaquiere joined him as

. He was admitted to the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

the same year and made a

Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

two years later. He was awarded an honorary LLD from Trinity College Dublin in 1773. Blaquiere was to remain Chief Secretary until 6 December 1776. He had been elected to the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

for Old Leighlin in 1773, a seat he held until 1783. After representing

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

for a few months in 1783, he sat than for Carlingford from 1783 to 1790, for Charleville from 1790 to 1798 and for

Newtownards Newtownards (; ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Newtow ...

from 1798 to the Act of Union in 1801. Blaquiere was created a Baronet, of Ardkill in the County of Londonderry, on 16 July 1784, and raised to the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

as Baron de Blaquiere, of Ardkill in the County of Londonderry, on 30 July 1800, for his support for the Act of Union. Lord de Blaquiere also sat as a Member of the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

for

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

from 1801 to 1802 and for Downton from 1802 to 1806. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1803.

Family

Lord de Blaquiere married Eleanor, daughter of Robert Dobson, in 1775. They had four sons, including Peter de Blaquière, and three daughters. Lord de Blaquiere died at Bray, County Wicklow, in August 1812, aged 80. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, John.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blaquiere, John De Blaquiere, 1st Baron 1732 births 1812 deaths 19th-century Irish people Politicians from County Wicklow 17th Lancers officers Barons in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George III English people of French descent Irish MPs 1769–1776 Irish MPs 1776–1783 Irish MPs 1783–1790 Irish MPs 1790–1797 Irish MPs 1798–1800 Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Blaquiere, John Blaquiere, John Blaquiere, John Blaquiere, John Hereditary peers elected to the House of Commons Fellows of the Royal Society Chief secretaries for Ireland Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Carlow constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Fermanagh constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Louth constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Cork constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Down constituencies