Baron Dufferin and Claneboye,[a] of Ballyleidy and Killyleagh in County Down, Northern Ireland, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 30 July 1800 for Dame Dorcas Blackwood, widow of Sir John Blackwood, 2nd Baronet, Member of the Irish Parliament for Killyleagh and Bangor, in return for support for the Union of Ireland and the United Kingdom.[1]

Quick Facts Barony of Dufferin and Claneboye, Creation date ...
Barony of Dufferin and Claneboye
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Azure a fess or in chief a crescent argent between two mullets of the second and in base a mascle of the third
Creation date30 July 1800[1][2]
Created byKing George III
PeeragePeerage of Ireland
First holderDorcas Blackwood, Lady Blackwood
Present holderJohn Blackwood, 11th Baron Dufferin and Claneboye
Heir apparentHon. Frances Blackwood
Remainder toHeirs male of the 1st baroness's body by her late husband, Sir James Blackwood[3]
StatusExtant
Former seat(s)Clandeboye Estate
MottoPer vias rectas ("By straight ways")[1]
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Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava

History

The peerage had been intended for Sir John in return for his support for the Union with the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Blackwood baronetcy, of Killyleagh in the County of Down, was created in the Baronetage of Ireland in 1763 for Robert Blackwood, the father of Sir John Blackwood. He was the son of John Blackwood and Ursula Hamilton, the daughter and co-heir of Robert Hamilton of Killyleagh, County Down. The Blackwood family, originally of Scottish descent, were prominent landowners in County Down and controlled the borough constituency of Killyleagh in the Irish Parliament. Lady Dufferin and Claneboye was the daughter of James Stevenson, son of Colonel Hans Stevenson and Anne Hamilton, daughter of James Hamilton, son of Archibald Hamilton, of Halcraig, Lanarkshire, brother of James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Claneboye. Her great-grandfather James Hamilton had become the sole heir of Lord Claneboye when the first Viscount's grandson, Henry Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Clanbrassil and 3rd Viscount Claneboye, died in 1675.[4]

Lady Dufferin and Claneboye was succeeded by her son, the second Baron, who had already succeeded his father as third Baronet. He represented Killyleagh in the Irish House of Commons and Helston and Aldeburgh in the British House of Commons and was also an Irish representative peer from 1820 to 1836. He was childless and was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Baron. The latter's grandson, the fifth Baron, was a prominent Liberal politician, diplomat and colonial administrator, and notably served as Governor General of Canada and Viceroy of India. In 1850, at the age of 23, he was created Baron Clandeboye, of Clandeboye in the County of Down, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, which gave him a seat in the House of Lords. In 1871 he was created Viscount Clandeboye, of Clandeboye in the County of Down, and Earl of Dufferin, in the County of Down, and in 1888 he was even further honoured when he was made Earl of Ava, in the Province of Burma, and Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, in the County of Down and in the Province of Burma. These titles were also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Lord Dufferin and Ava also assumed by royal licence the additional surname of Hamilton in 1862 and that of Temple (which was the maiden name of his father's mother) in 1872.[1]

His eldest son and heir apparent Archibald Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Earl of Ava, was killed at the Siege of Ladysmith during the Second Boer War while serving as a war correspondent. He was unmarried and the Marquess was therefore succeeded by the second son, the second Marquess. On his death, the titles passed to another brother, the third Marquess. He was a soldier and also served as Speaker of the Senate of Northern Ireland. Lord Dufferin and Ava died in an air crash and he was succeeded by his son, the fourth Marquess. He notably held office as Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies in the government of Neville Chamberlain.[1]

After his death in the Second World War, the titles were inherited by his six-year-old son, the fifth Marquess, later a well-known patron of arts. He was childless and on his death in 1988 the marquessate, earldoms, viscountcy and barony of Clandeboye (created in 1850) became extinct.[1] His widow, Lindy, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava lived at the Clandeboye Estate until her death on 26 October 2020.

The last Marquess was succeeded in the baronetcy and barony of Dufferin and Claneboye by his distant relative Sir Francis George Blackwood, 7th Baronet, of the Navy (see Blackwood baronets of the Navy (1814)), who became the tenth Baron. Since 1991, the titles have been held by the latter's son, the eleventh Baron. Like his father he lives in Australia.[1]

Holders

Blackwood baronets, of Killyleagh (1763)

Baron Dufferin and Claneboye (1800)

Earl of Dufferin (1871)

Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (1888)

Baron Dufferin and Claneboye (1800; reverted)

The heir apparent is the present holder's son, the Hon. Francis Senden Blackwood (b. 1979)

Family tree

Blackwood family tree: Marquesses of Dufferin and Ava, Barons Dufferin and Claneboye
and Blackwood baronets
Sir Robert Blackwood
1st Baronet, of Killyleagh
1694–1774
Sir John Blackwood
2nd Baronet, of Killyleagh
died 1799
Dorcas Blackwood
(née Stevenson)
Created 1800
1st Baroness Dufferin and Claneboye
1726–1807
James Stevenson Blackwood
3rd Baronet
Later
2nd Baron Dufferin and Claneboye
1755–1836
John Blackwood
1757–1833
Hans Blackwood
3rd Baron Dufferin and Claneboye
1758–1839
Price Blackwood
1760–1816
Sir Henry Blackwood
1st Baronet, of the Navy
1770–1832
Captain
Robert Temple Blackwood
1788–1815
Killed at the Battle of Waterloo
Price Blackwood
4th Baron Dufferin and Claneboye
1794–1841
Sir Henry Martin Blackwood
2nd Baronet, of the Navy
1801–1851
Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood
5th Baron Baron Dufferin and Claneboye
Created
1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
1826–1901
Sir Henry Blackwood
3rd Baronet, of the Navy
1828–1854
Sir Francis Blackwood
4th Baronet, of the Navy
1838–1924
Archibald James Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood
Styled
Earl of Ava
1863–1900
Killed in action, Boer War at Ladysmith, South Africa
Terence John Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood
2nd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
1866–1918
Lord
Ian Basil Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood
1870–1917
Killed in action, World War I
Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood
3rd Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
1875–1930
Henry Robert Temple Blackwood
1862–1910
Francis Edward Blackwood
1874–1906
Killed in action, Nigeria
Maurice Baldwin Raymond Blackwood
1882–1941
Died on active duty, WWII
Basil Sheridan Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood
4th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
1909–1945
Killed in action, WWII at Burma
Sir Henry Robert Temple Blackwood
5th Baronet, of the Navy
1896–1946
Sir Francis Elliot Temple Blackwood
6th Baronet, of the Navy
1901–1979
Francis George Blackwood
7th Baronet, of the Navy
Later
10th Baron Dufferin and Claneboye
(reverted)
1916–1991
Sheridan Frederick Terence Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood
5th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
1938–1988
All titles except the barony of Dufferin and Claneboye extinct
John Francis Blackwood
11th Baron Dufferin and Claneboye
Born 1944
Hon. Francis Senden Blackwood
Born 1979
Heir apparent

See also

Notes

  1. Although the place in Ulster in the north of Ireland is written Clandeboye, and so are the UK titles granted in 1850 and 1871, the Irish title granted in 1800 is Baron Dufferin and Claneboye with no 'd'. Both derive from the Gaelic Clann Aodha Buidhe; over the centuries the spelling has varied.

References

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