What's New

Submitted by admin_jwood on Tue, 11/12/2019 - 13:53

Our first get-together for several years of the 3 Blacketteers at Pat’s house in Yorkshire, then Martin and Al were off to Amble, Northumberland for the evening, where Al gave a talk on the Blacketts. Great fun, very appreciative audience and met some really nice people. Apr 2024

Details of the Sir William Blackett Charity have been added to A philanthropic Blackett. Mar 2024

One of the Royal Navy's two aircraft carriers, HMS Prince of Wales, has a new commanding officer, Captain Will Blackett, as shown in Naval Blacketts. Feb 2024

The Blackett after whom Blackett Strait in the Solomon Islands is named has at last almost certainly been identified, as shown in Naval Blacketts. Feb 2024

Blackett's Retreat, Allendale has been added to Odds and Ends Jan 2024

John Paul Jones Rum, established in 2021 by Ollie Blackett, has been added to the Arbigland page. Jan 2024

Some visitors to the site may have noticed recently that links from articles to names in the tree have not been working. This was due to a change introduced by WebTrees, the program which we use. All links should by now be working again, but if you find one that is not please contact us. Oct 2023

A sketch of Esholt Hall (possibly 19th century) has been added to Esholt Hall in Blackett Properties. Sep 2023

The Blackett connection to the actress and singer Jane Birkin has been added to Blacketts of stage and screen. Jul 2023

More evidence has been discovered as to the location of Hole House, as shown in Bedburn and the Shipleys. Jul 2023

A correspondent in New South Wales, Australia has come into possession of a collection of family photos which appear to be of some of the children of William Blackett Twiddy, who died in Bungay, Suffolk in 1936.   This family forms part of the line that can be traced back to Peter Blackett of Norfolk, as shown in Blacketts of Norfolk in Can You Help Us? We believe that some years ago we were in contact with a descendant of the Twiddy family, but unfortunately all previous email records were lost when our website was destroyed some years ago through a power outage at our then server company. If you are related to this branch of the Twiddy/Blackett family please contact us and we will be happy to put you in touch with our correspondent who holds the photographs and who would be happy to pass them on.  Feb 2023

Piers Blackett, the son of Rupert Henry Blackett, and 1st cousin of Sir Hugh Blackett, has published, in conjunction with Anna Otis, Felicity: Art, War and Peace, covering the life of his mother, Felicity Mary Audley Blackett, nee Scudamore-Smith. The book recounts the fascinating story of her long and interesting life and is lavishly illustrated with many examples of her talent as an artist. Copies are available from most leading book retailers or from Amazon.com.  Jan 2023 

Gregg Finch's excellent book, The Blacketts: A Northern Dynasty's Rise, Crisis and Redemption, has been awarded the prestigious Business Archives Council's annual Wadsworth Prize for outstanding contribution to British business history. The book is now available in paperback, priced at £14.99 from the Tyne Bridge Publishing online shop or Amazon. Dec 2022

A family link to the author Charles Dickens has been added to Blacketts and literature. Oct 2022

The delivery of a new Royal Navy vessel, named the XV Patrick Blackett, has been added to A Nobel Prize for a Blackett. Jul 2022

A violent end for a Blackett has been added to Odds and ends. Jun 2022

The correct ancestry of William Blackett Haigh has now been established and traced back to Richard Blackett of Skircoat, Halifax, Yorkshire, as shown in his page in Can You Help Us? Jun 2022

A link to the UK Cabinet Member Jacob Rees-Mogg has been added to Blacketts in Politics. May 2022

The family of John William Blackett of Barbados has been added to West of the Pennines and Barbados in Can you help us? May 2022 

An early washing machine has been added to Odds and Ends. Apr 2022

Significant amendments/additions have been made to several branches of the London Blacketts in Can you help us? April 2022

A possible family for Martha Blackett of Halifax, Yorks. has ben added to her page in Can you help us? Mar 2022

The Blackett artefact unearthed in India, formerly thought to be a stone, how has now almost certainly been identified as a lead "pig" from a Blackett smelt mill, as shown in A Blackett artefact buried in India. Jan 2022

The descendants of John Blackett and Julia Bellas of Appleby, Westmorland, now form part of the Main Blackett tree due to a later marriage, as mentioned in West of the Pennines and Barbados. Jan 2022

Another engineering Blackett has been added to Odds and Ends. Dec 2021 

A tenuous family link between the Blacketts and the poet Lord Byron has been added to Blacketts and poetry. Dec 2021

To read a review by Allan Kirtley of Greg Finch's excellent book The Blacketts: A Northern Dynasty's Rise, Crisis and Redemption please click here. Dec 2021

Abbey Mill, Durham City has been added to Blackett properties. Nov 2021

A detailed examination of the circumstances surrounding the making of the first Sir William Blackett's fortune by Greg Finch has been added. Please see The ship that came home? Oct 2021

A Blackett stone buried in India has been added to Odds and Ends Aug 2021

Blackett port has been added to Odds and Ends. Aug 2021

Indirect links through marriage have been been discovered to President John F. Kennedy and to Fred Astaire as shown in Cavendish connections. July 2021

A tenuous link to the BBC television series "Peaky Blinders" has been added to Blacketts of stage and screen. May 2021

The article by Robert Blackett on DNA testing has been updated in Blackett DNA testing. Nov 2020

The tree is being added to continually and we have now entered a total of more than 70,000 entries. (We're hoping the Covid-19 pandemic is over before we reach 100,000!) Oct 2020

A link to the descendants of William Blacket Richardson has been added to the penultimate paragraph of Blackett Richardsons in Can You Help Us? Sep 2020

We unfortunately suffered a temporary problem with our messages service in the last week in August. If you sent us a message via our Contact Us facility between 24 and 31 August 2020 it will not have reached us so please resend it. We apologise for any inconvenience. Sep 2020

Possible reasons for the author Arthur Ransome naming one of his characters in Swallows and Amazons "Nancy Blackett" have been added to A Blackett female pirate . Aug 2020 

Matfen Hall, which was one of the few major houses still in the ownership of the Blackett family has now been sold, as outlined on the Matfen Hall page. Aug 2020

The link to the British radio, tv and film comic actor "Professor" Stanley Unwin has been added to Blacketts of stage and screen (please see penultimate paragraph). Aug 2020

We have been contacted by a man in the Netherlands who for many years has tended the war grave of a US soldier killed while helping to liberate his country during WWII. He was Jack Benny Blackett (1926-1945) of Springville, Utah, USA, a Private 1st Class in the 117th Infantry 30 Division, who was awarded the Bronze Star. He would very much like to get in touch with any of his family to learn more about his life, so if you have any knowledge of Jack Benny Blackett please contact us. Jul 2020 

An additional link to two UK Prime Ministers, Sir Robert Walpole and Spencer Perceval, has been added to their entries in Blackett family connections to Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom. Jun 2020

James Blackett/Blacketer/Blackadder of Stirling, Scotland has been added to Can You Help Us? Jun 2020

We had hoped by now to have reinstated at least some of the hundreds of images that were lost when the site crashed late last year but the Covid-19 lockdown has delayed this. However the tree is being added to all the time and several hundred additional names and details have been uploaded since the beginning of the year. May 2020

The connection by marriage to the Hollywood actor George Sanders has been added to Blacketts of stage and screen. May 2020 

The rebuilding of the site after the power outage at our former server company is continuing and all articles, the family trees and most links are now working. We have still, however, to locate and upload several hundred images, which were also lost. This will take some time. Dec 2019

An additional image (courtesy of Geoff Blackett) has been added to Beamish Hall in Blackett Properties. Oct 2019

The formerly separate trees of Thomas Blackett and Margaret Carter of Houghton-le-Spring and George Blackett of Greatham have now been linked through a later marriage to the Main Blackett Tree and form part of it. However, as the earliest Blackett in each tree has yet to be linked to the Main Tree (or any other) each tree still has its own entry (as above) in Can You Help Us?. Oct 2019

The family link between the Blacketts and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson (which is a blood link and not merely by marriage) has been added to Blackett Family Connections to Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom Sep 2019

A number of descendants of Robert William Blackett attended the funeral yesterday (17 Sep) of Elizabeth Hannah (‘Nancy’) Hetherington, nee Blackett, who died on 30 Aug 2019, just a few weeks before what would have been her 100th birthday. Nancy was a remarkable and well-liked and respected member of the family. She was buried at Lord Byron’s Walk Cemetery, Seaham, Co. Durham. Sep 2019

Two cuttings from newspapers regarding the engineering firm of R. Blackett Charlton Ltd. have been added to A Piping Hot Blackett (with thanks to Charlie MacCallam for supplying them). Sep 2019

Ian Stubbs’s photo collection of Blackett memorials and other images connected to the Blacketts has been added to Links. Jun 2019