William Blakeney, 1st Baron Blakeney
Encyclopedia
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(1672 – 10 September 1761) was an Irish
Kingdom of Ireland
The Kingdom of Ireland refers to the country of Ireland in the period between the proclamation of Henry VIII as King of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 and the Act of Union in 1800. It replaced the Lordship of Ireland, which had been created in 1171...
soldier known for his unsuccessful defence
Siege of Minorca
The Siege of Fort St Philip took place in 1756 during the Seven Years War.- Siege :...
of the Spanish island of Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
following the Battle of Minorca
Battle of Minorca
The Battle of Minorca was a naval battle between French and British fleets. It was the opening sea battle of the Seven Years' War in the European theatre. Shortly after Great Britain declared war on the House of Bourbon, their squadrons met off the Mediterranean island of Minorca. The fight...
in 1756.
Early life
Blakeney was born born at Mount Blakeney in LimerickLimerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
, the son of William Blakeley, member of the Irish House of Commons
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
for Kilmallock
Kilmallock (Parliament of Ireland constituency)
Kilmallock was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons until 1800.-History:In the Patriot Parliament of 1689 summoned by King James II, Kilmallock was represented with two members.-1689–1801:...
, and Elizabeth, daughter of Cornet Henry Bowerman. Destined by his father for politics, he soon showed a decided preference for a military career, and at the age of eighteen headed the tenants in defending the Blakeney estate against the Rapparee
Rapparee
Rapparees were Irish guerrilla fighters who operated on the Jacobite side during the 1690s Williamite war in Ireland. Subsequently the name was also given to bandits and highwaymen in Ireland - many former guerrillas having turned to crime after the war was over...
s. As a volunteer he went to the war in Flanders
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
, and at the Siege of Venlo
Siege of Venlo
*Siege of Venlo *Siege of Venlo *Siege of Venlo *Siege of Venlo *Siege of Venlo *Siege of Venlo *Siege of Venlo *Siege of Venlo *Siege of Venlo *Siege of Venlo *Siege of Venlo...
in 1702 won his commission. He served as a subaltern
Subaltern (rank)
A subaltern is a chiefly British military term for a junior officer. Literally meaning "subordinate," subaltern is used to describe commissioned officers below the rank of captain and generally comprises the various grades of lieutenant. In the British Army the senior subaltern rank was...
throughout Marlborough
Duke of Marlborough
Duke of Marlborough , is a hereditary title in the Peerage of England. The first holder of the title was John Churchill , the noted English general, and indeed an unqualified reference to the Duke of Marlborough in a historical text will almost certainly refer to him.-History:The dukedom was...
's campaigns, and is said to have been the first to drill troops by signal of drum or colour. Between 1725 and 1757, he represented Kilmallock
Kilmallock (Parliament of Ireland constituency)
Kilmallock was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons until 1800.-History:In the Patriot Parliament of 1689 summoned by King James II, Kilmallock was represented with two members.-1689–1801:...
in the Irish House of Commons
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
.
For many years after the peace of Utrecht he served unnoticed, and was sixty-five years of age before he became a colonel. This neglect, which was said to be due to the hostility of Lord Verney
Ralph Verney, 1st Earl Verney
Ralph Verney, 1st Earl Verney , styled The Honourable from 1703 to 1717 and subsequently known as The Viscount Fermanagh until 1742, was an Irish peer and Tory politician.-Background:...
, ceased when the Duke of Richmond
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox, 1st Duke of Aubigny was the illegitimate son of Charles II of England and his mistress Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth....
was appointed colonel of Blakeney's regiment, and thenceforward his advance was rapid. Brigadier-general in the Cartagena
Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
expedition of 1741, and major-general a little later, he distinguished himself by his gallant and successful defence of Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
against the Highlanders in 1745. Two years later George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
made him lieutenant-general and lieutenant-governor of Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
.
Fall of Minorca
The governor of that island never set foot in it, and Blakeney was left in command for ten years. In 1756 the Seven Years' WarSeven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
was preluded by a swift descent of the French on Minorca. Fifteen thousand troops under marshal the duc de Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu et de Fronsac was a French clergyman, noble, and statesman.Consecrated as a bishop in 1608, he later entered politics, becoming a Secretary of State in 1616. Richelieu soon rose in both the Catholic Church and the French government, becoming a...
, escorted by a strong squadron under the marquis de la Gallisonnière, landed on the island on 18 April, and at once began the Siege of Fort St. Philip (1756), where Blakeney commanded at most some 2000 soldiers and workmen. The defence, in spite of crumbling walls and rotted gun platforms, had already lasted a month when a British fleet under vice-admiral the Hon. John Byng
John Byng
Admiral John Byng was a Royal Navy officer. After joining the navy at the age of thirteen he participated at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718. Over the next thirty years he built up a reputation as a solid naval officer and received promotion to Vice-Admiral in 1747...
appeared. La Gallisonnière and Byng fought, on 20 May, an indecisive battle. Byng left Blakeney to his fate since his fleet received losses of over 400 men. Damaged ships necessitated that Byng sail for the nearest port repair facilities in the Mediterranean, that being Gibraltar, where Byng hoped to repair his fleet for a return.
A second expedition subsequently appeared off Minorca, but it was then too late, for after a heroic resistance of seventy-one days the old general had been compelled to surrender the fort to Richelieu (18 April – 28 June 1756). Only the ruined fortifications were the prize of the victors. Blakeney and his little garrison were transported to Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
with absolute liberty to serve again. Byng was tried and executed; Blakeney, on his return to England, found himself the hero of the nation.
Later life
Rewards came freely to the veteran. He was made a ColonelColonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot
27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot
The 27th Regiment of Foot was an Irish infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1689 and amalgamated into The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in 1881.- History :...
, a Knight Companion of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, and Baron Blakeney of Castle Blakeney in the County of Galway, in the Irish peerage
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
. A little later John Van Nost the Younger's statue of him was erected in Dublin (on the site of today's Spire of Dublin
Spire of Dublin
The Spire of Dublin, officially titled the Monument of Light is a large, stainless steel, pin-like monument in height, located on the site of the former Nelson's Pillar on O'Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland.-Details:...
), and his popularity continued unabated for the short remainder of his life. He died unmarried on 10 September 1761, and was buried in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
. The barony became extinct on his death. See Memoirs of General William Blakeney (1757).