Peter Blackburn (MP) – Wikipedia

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Peter Blackburn (1811 – 20 May 1870)[1][2] was a British Conservative Party politician.

Family and early life[edit]

Blackburn was the son of Jamaica proprietor John Blackburn of Killearn and Rebecca Louise Gillies, and the brother of Scottish Law Lord Colin Blackburn and mathematician Hugh Blackburn.[3][4] In 1835, he married Jean Wedderburn, daughter of James Wedderburn and Isabella Clerk, and they had at least eight sons and five daughters, including: John (born 1843); James (1845–1892); Peter (born 1847); Andrew Cathcart (1851–1887); Colin George (1853–1888); Hugh (born 1855); Adam Gillies (1858–1891); Arthur Octavius (1862–1889); Isabella; Rebecca Marion (died 1914); Jean; Helen Agnes; and Mary.[5][6][2][7][8][9]

Blackburn started his career in the military as a cornet in the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards in 1830, before retiring as a lieutenant in 1837. He then became a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for Stirlingshire. In 1846, he became chairman of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway.[10][8][9]

Political career[edit]

A Liberal-Conservative, Blackburn was elected MP for Stirlingshire at a by-election in 1855, caused by the death of William Forbes. In 1859, he was appointed a junior Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, although with little enthusiasm. In correspondence between the-then Chancellor of the Exchequer Benjamin Disraeli and Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, sent in August 1858, Smith-Stanley said: “Blackburn would be a respectable appointment, but there is no particular reason for him.”[10][11][4]

He held the seat until 1865 when he was defeated by the Liberal John Erskine.[11] While being recognised as “shrewd, energetic and practical” in his role, his defeat was credited to impolite actions regarding the commercial treaty, the county franchise, and game laws.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Leigh Rayment’s Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with “S” (part 5)
  2. ^ a b “Peter Blackburn”. The Peerage. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  3. ^ Jones, Gareth H. (2004). “Blackburn, Colin, Baron Blackburn of Killearn”. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2510. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ a b “Peter Blackburn”. Legacies of British Slave-ownership. University College London. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  5. ^ Wedderburn, Alexander Dundas Ogilvy (1898). The Wedderburn book. A history of the Wedderburns in the counties of Berwick and Forfar, designed of Wedderburn, Kingennie, Easter Powrie, Blackness, Balindean and Gosford … 1296-1896. [With plates, including portraits, facsimiles and genealogical tables.]. p. 314. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  6. ^ Foster, Joseph (1886). The royal lineage of our noble and gentle families. Рипол Классик. pp. 50–51. ISBN 9785871806173. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  7. ^ “Peter Blackburn”. The Peerage. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  8. ^ a b c Nimmo, William; Gillespie, Robert (1880). “Titled and Untitled Aristocracy”. The History of Stirlingshire (3rd ed.). London: Hamilton Adams and Co. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  9. ^ a b Walford, Edward (1882). The county families of the United Kingdom. Рипол Классик. p. 55. ISBN 9785871943618.
  10. ^ a b Disraeli, Benjamin (1982). Gunn, John Alexander Wilson; Wiebe, Melvin George (eds.). Benjamin Disraeli Letters: 1857-1859 (Illustrated ed.). University of Toronto Press. p. 230. ISBN 9780802087287. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  11. ^ a b Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.

External links[edit]