Edward Bligh, 7th Earl of Darnley

Edward Henry Stuart Bligh, 7th Earl of Darnley (21 August 1851 – 31 October 1900), styled Lord Clifton until 1896, lord of the Manor of Cobham, Kent, was an English landowner and aristocrat who played first-class cricket for Kent and for other amateur sides in the 1870s.[1] He was born and died at the English home of the Earls of Darnley, Cobham Hall, at Cobham, near Gravesend in Kent.

"(Lord) Clifton"—as he often signed—was a well-known ornithologist.

Biography

Described as "having a fearsome temper and being profligate",[2] Bligh matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford on 8 June 1870.[3] In 1896, Bligh succeeded his father as the Earl of Darnley and "spent money like water", greatly reducing the wealth of the Darnleys.[2]

On 26 January 1899, he married Jemima Adeline Beatrice Blackwood (1880-1964),[4][5] daughter of Francis James Lindsay Blackwood (1849-1919), by whom he had one daughter: Elizabeth Bligh, 17th Baroness Clifton (1900–1937).[6]

Upon his death on 31 October 1900, he was succeeded as Earl of Darnley by his brother Ivo and as Baron Clifton by his infant daughter, Elizabeth.[6]

Ornithology

Edward Henry Stuart, Lord Clifton was elected MBOU, Member of the British Ornithologists' Union, in 1876.[7] As "(Lord) Clifton" for many years he wrote small contributions to The Zoologist, beginning in 1866. His first contribution was about the observation of an ortolan bunting on 10 April 1866, at Cobham.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Player Profile: Lord Clifton". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b Wynne-Thomas & Griffiths, p. 7.
  3. ^ s:Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715-1886/Bligh, Edward Henry Stuart, Lord Clifton.
  4. ^ Devon, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1920
  5. ^ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995
  6. ^ a b Burke, Sir Bernard; Burke, Ashworth P. (1914). Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. London: Harrison & Sons. p. 571.
  7. ^ See for instance: "British Ornithologists' Union". Ibis. 5. 1: v. 1883.
  8. ^ Clifton (1866). "Ortolan Bunting in Kent". The Zoologist. 2. 1 (June): 270.

Sources

Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Earl of Darnley
1896–1900 		Succeeded by
Peerage of England
Preceded by Baron Clifton
1896–1900 		Succeeded by