The presentation of the final profits from the sale of ‘A History of the Blacketts’ took place on Friday 15 April 2016 at the ruins of the ancient Blackett home of Woodcroft, Weardale, County Durham (for details of the history of Woodcroft please click here).
IN MEMORY OF CUTHBERT BLACKETT (1889-1916)
My birth in 1942 was undoubtedly an accident. My dad was then 55 and my mum 45, and the only other child of their marriage was my brother Stanley (then a Spitfire pilot in the RAF), who was aged 21.
Written by Charles Wesley Blackett in 1925
My great-grandfather Blackett came from England with his family in the latter part of the eighteenth century or very early in the nineteenth and settled in Prince Edward Island.
Alexander Blackett, a mariner, was born around 1767 in Kennel, Angusshire, Scotland but had settled in Monkwearmouth by the time of his first marriage in 1794. He had at least eight children by his first wife, Ann Watson, and married twice again before dying in Monkwearmouth in 1852.
Theophania Blackett was grand,
when the locals walked over her land,
they made such a racket
that old Mrs.Blackett
thought "I know, I'll give them a hand".
"I'll build a new bridge 'cross the Tees.
If they don't go down on their knees,
and say thank you to me
for getting it free
I might just start charging them fees."
Written by Al Kirtley for the Sockburn Hall Project 2010
Mayland has been known by that name for many centuries, and is referred to as such in grants of land, dating back to before the 13th century, known as the Mayland Charters. [i]
It was described by Surtees as being a district in South Bedburn, consisting of farms known as Mayland, Mayland Hall, East Mayland and Mayland Lee, the latter being occupied in 1861 & 1871 by George Blackett, a farmer of 500 acres.
[i] South Bedburn, in the township of Hamsterley, Bishop Auckland, is situated in a pleasant location on the north side of the Bedburn Beck (Beda’s Beck), from which the name of the township is possibly derived. Bedburn Hall today was built circa 1900, by Fogg Elliot. Also in the locality stands Old Bedburn Hall, a Georgian farmhouse of an earlier date. The exact location of the structure known as Bedburn Hall in the 17th century is not clear.
According to Surtees, Bedburn Hall was converted to the purpose of a saw mill and was the property of J. Fogg Elliot [ii]
The following are some of the Blacketts convicted during the 18th/19th centuries:
1) William Blackett, born 1760, Buckinghamshire. Tried in Middlesex 1792 for stealing.
Verdict
Sentenced to 7yrs transportation; someone spoke favourably on his behalf and he was pardoned to serve as a soldier in the East India Company.
2) William Blackett, born 1793. Tried in Middlesex 1812 for assault.
Verdict
3 months imprisonment.
