William James Peake Mason, 1st Baron Blackford JP (11 November 1862 – 21 July 1947), known as Sir William Mason, Bt, between 1918 and 1935, was a British politician and public servant. Mason was the son of George Holt Mason, of Broadwater,

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, and Laura Mary, daughter of Charles John Moakes. He was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, in 1891.thepeerage.com William James Peake Mason, 1st Baron Blackford
/ref> In 1910 he unsuccessfully contested Finsbury East as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

in both general elections of that year. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was Chairman of Executive of the British Ambulance Committee and was created a Baronet in 1918 for "public and local services". Mason was also a Justice of the Peace for

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

and served as High Sheriff of Somerset in 1928. In 1935 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Blackford, of

Compton Pauncefoot Compton Pauncefoot is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated beside the A303 road, south west of Wincanton in the South Somerset district. The parish had a population of 139 in 2011. The civil parish also includes the villag ...

in the County of Somerset, for "political and public services in the County of Somerset". There is no record of him having ever spoken in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. Lord Blackford married Edith, daughter of Alexander Murray Affleck, in 1885. He died in July 1947, aged 84, and was succeeded in the baronetcy and barony by his son, Glyn. Lady Blackford died in May 1958.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackford 1862 births 1947 deaths 1 High sheriffs of Somerset Members of the Middle Temple Barons created by George V