John Blachford
born 1682, the fourth son of Captain
Robert Blachford and Elizabeth
(née Mann) of Sandhill
Manor, was baptised at Fordingbridge on 18th
April, 1684.
At the age of eighteen John
was sent to London, a long and tiresome journey
by coach, where he was probably met by relatives,
who we know ,were established in the trade and
commerce of the in the city.
The Worshipful Company
of Goldsmiths
In the apprenticeship register
of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths of the
City of London, this entry appears : "March
17th, 1700, Memorand that I, John Blachford,
son of Robert Blachford of
Fordingbridge in the County of Southampton,
Gent, Do put myself Apprentice to John Carlitch
citizen and Goldsmith of London, for the term
of seven years from this day". signed,
John Blachford.
John prospered in his profession
and gained his "freedom by service"
on the 16th March, 1710; a period much longer
than the seven years he envisaged. The Company
has no record that he ever registered a makers
mark at the Assay office, so probably he was
not a working goldsmith in his own right, but
became a retailer of precious metals.
At this time he lived in Silver Street
not far from Goldsmith's Hall
where the headquarters of the worshipful Company
still stands.
In 1744 he became Prime Warden
of the Goldsmith's Company, the most highly
respected position among the members of his
craft.
1743 - Alderman for the
Cripplegate ward of London
In the meantime John had
been taking an active interest in Civic affairs,
and on the 9th May, 1743 he was elected Alderman
for the Cripplegate ward of London. He served
as a Sheriff in 1745/46 and his name appeared
with those of the other Aldermen on the dedication
panel of John Rocque's map of London published
in 1746.
On the 18th of August 1746, John Blachford
was one of the Sheriffs present at
the executions of Lord Kilmarnock and Lord Balmerino
(a fact that appears to be out of keeping with
John's professed sympathies with the Jacobite
cause). The executions took place on Tower Hill,
and the instrument used was the axe.
John was not the only City
Alderman who favoured the Jacobites, and he
associated in particular with five others whose
names also appear in the dedication panel, and
who all became Lord Mayor (William Benn, Sir
Henry Marshall, Thomas Rawlinson, Robert Alsop,
and Edward Ironside).
Manor of Bowcombe, near
Carrisbrooke, Isle of Wight
In 1728 John Blachford
bought the Manor of Bowcombe
near Carrisbrooke in the Isle of Wight, and
in 1746 he and his friends named above assembled
at Bowcombe, and had their portraits painted
by Thomas Hudson (a well known artist of the
time) seated round a table drinking wine from
long stemmed Jacobite glasses; doubtless the
occasion included drinking of a toast to the
young pretender across the sea. The painting,
a very large one, which became known as Benns'
Club, was presented by John
to the Goldmsiths Company in 1752. It hangs
to this day just inside the main door of Goldsmiths
Hall in Foster Lane, where it fills one wall
of the entrance hall, and may be seen by any
visitor.
Bowcombe or Beaucombe;
the name means a pleasant valley, was the old
name of Carrisbrooke Parish. Bowcombe Manor
lies on the south east side of Bowcombe Down
amidst the range of hills to the west of the
Medina river. To the north east is Clatterford
pleasantly situated within the shadow of Carrisbrooke
Castle near Lukely Brook and the mill race.
Bowcombe Down, its sides covered with the trees
of Row-ridge and Monkham in the west, and Bowcombe
woods to the east, with its ancient road track
the site of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery
and Tumuli, is a magnificent walking
ground.
London 1749
To return to London - in 1749 Sir Samuel Pennant
became Lord Mayor. His name appears above John's
on John Rocque's commemoration list. One of
the Lord Mayor's duties was to preside over
the Court, sitting in the Sessions House, next
door to Newgate Prison over against Fleet Lane
in the Old Bailey. In earlier times trials had
been held in the Prison itself, but it was notoriously
an insanitary place and jail fever had carried
off many prisoners and Court officials,
In 1750 jail fever (now identified as typhus)
struck again, having been brought into court
by prisoners, and as a result the Lord Mayor,
two judges, an Alderman, an under sheriff, and
fifty or sixty court officials died. John
Blachford was made Lord Mayor for the
remainder of that year.
Wednesday 23rd May, 1750 At a court of Hustings
held at Guildhall for electing a Lord Mayor
for the remainder of this year in room of Sir
Samuel Pennant deceased, Sir John Barnard, father
of the City in the chair. John Blachford
and Francis Cockayne esq. were returned by the
common hall to the court of Aldermen, who chose
John Blachford esq. After this
the Lord Mayor elect entertained the court of
Aldermen at the Goldsmiths Hall where he keeps
his Mayoralty, and at eight o'clock in the evening
he was presented by the court of Aldermen to
the Lord Chancellor at Powis House, who approved
of their choice.
Lord Mayor of London - Friday
25th May 1750
Friday 25th May, 1750 The new Lord Mayor who
was sworn in at Westminster, to which he went
in the City Barge attended only by the Goldsmith
Barge. The ceremony was deliberately low key
in respect to the tragic death of his predecessor.
There were no formal property qualifications
for Lord Mayors at that time, but they were
almost without exception men of wealth, and
they were expected to hold property to the value
of at least £15,000. City Aldermen were
frequently connected with the aristocracy or
were bankers, directors of moneyed companies
or large holders of Government stock.
In February of 1739/40, John
had been elected a governor of the Foundling
Hospital recently established in Lamb's
Counduit fields by captain Thomas Coram as a
home for exposed and deserted children.
Governor of Saint Bartholomew's
Hospital
John became a governor of
Saint Bartholomew's Hospital,
and in the elected President's absence abroad,
was made temporary President on the 13th of
June, 1751. When the elected president died,
John was elected president of the hospital
on the 8th of February, 1754, and remained so
until his death.His name appears with others
inscribed on panels in the great hall of the
hospital as having donated £200 towards
the cost of new building carried out around
the middle of the century. Those giving £50
or more were made governors.
Monday the 14th July, 1755 A jury of Freemen
of the company of Goldsmiths of which Mr.
Alderman Blachford was foreman, met
at Goldsmiths hall to make an assay or trial
of the pix, or standard coin of the nation,
(coined in the Tower of London between 1750
and that day) and went from thence to Whitehall
to make their report to the Lord Chancellor
- on which occasion several Lords of the Council
and chief officers of the state were present.
The Lord Chancellor, having given an excellent
charge to the jury, withdrew with the rest of
the Lords. Upon the trail the jury found all
the coins in weight and fineness perfect standard
and reported them so accordingly.
Bowcombe, Northaw, Newshay,
Hartgrove and Sixpenny Handley
John Blachford held property
during his lifetime in London, Bowcombe in the
Isle of Wight, Northaw in Hertfordshire, and
the lease of a small holding called Newshay
in the Manor of Hartgrove near Sixpenny Handley
in Dorset. (From the manorial records of Hartgrove
Manor)
Copy holders of Newshay:
- First copyholder (25.4.1699-1709) Robert
Blachford of Sandhill
- Second copyholder (1709-1709) Daniel
Blachford of Wilton
- Third copyholder (1729-1759) John
Blachford (Alderman) of London
- Fourth copyholder (1753- ) John
Blachford (farmer) of Shaftesbury
Blachford Farm, Hartgrove,
Dorset
There is an old farm at Hartgrove (otherwise
Black Venn) in the Fontwell Magna parish,
once known as Blachford farm, recently renamed
to Blackberry Farm. Probably the farm of John
Blachford the farmer of Shaftesbury.
Northaw, Hertfordshire
The last years of John Blachford,
Goldsmith, and Lord Mayor of London were lived
at NORTHAW where he eventually passed peacefully
away.
Samuel Gregory, in his notes which are in
the Guild Hall Library, reported that in the
centre aisle towards the west end of Northaw
church in Hertfordshire was a flat grey stone
which he saw on the 26th of February, 1840,
bearing this inscription:-
"Here lie the remains of John Blachford
esq. Citizen and Goldsmith of London late Alderman
of Cripplegate Ward and President of St. Bartholomew's
Hospital who, having successively enjoyed the
supreme offices in that great City filled them
all with dignity and honour equalled by few,
excelled by none. He died in the Parish universally
lamented 27th September A.D. 1759 in the 77th
year of his age."
John Blachford's tombstone
can no longer be seen in the church at Northaw.
It may have been removed when the church was
damaged by fire, and rebuilt in 1881. Where
is it now, if it still exists, is not known. |
