BLACKETT, John Fenwick Burgoyne (1821-1856), of 10 Eaton Place, London, Mdx. and Wylam Hall, nr. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumb.

John Blackett, whose family had resided at Wylam, near Newcastle, since the 17th century, had a short-lived parliamentary career as an advanced Liberal. Studying classics at Christ Church, Oxford, Blackett was ‘an able and accomplished’ debater at the Union and, through his friendship with the positivist Richard Congreve, developed strong anti-Tractarian views.1Hardwicke’s Annual Biography (1857), 59-60. Although he studied for the bar after completing his degree, he was not called. Elected to a probatory fellowship at Merton in 1845, Ridley became a frequent contributor to the Globe, the Edinburgh Review and other periodicals, and upon his father’s death in January 1847, he inherited the family estate with its coal mine.2Gent. Mag., vol. 200, 1856, 646. In July 1852, after declaring his support for free trade, religious liberty and a ‘vigorous measure’ of parliamentary reform,3Newcastle Courant, 8 July 1852. he achieved what had ‘long been the object of his ambition’, and was returned for Newcastle at the top of the poll.4Hardwicke’s Annual Biography (1857), 59-60.

‘Regular and punctual in his attendence’, Blackett spoke frequently and candidly, and was a consistent critic of Aberdeen’s coalition government. On 4 Apr. 1853 he attacked what he perceived to be the ministry’s reluctance to carry out the recommendations of the 1852 Royal Commission on Oxford University, arguing that, without parliamentary intervention, the university would not reform itself, and complaining that ‘the cause of university reform was worse off than when [the Conservatives] were in power’. 5Hansard, 4 Apr. 1853, vol. 125, cc. 568-75. Gladstone, however, dismissed Blackett’s comments, warning him that his criticism ‘tended towards impeding the progress of educational reform’.6Hansard, 4 Apr. 1853, vol. 125, cc. 575-6. In the 1854 session, Blackett praised Lord John Russell for introducing the Oxford University bill, but criticised the clauses that retained ‘a heap of profane and idle oaths to insult morality and to perplex weak consciences’ and lamented the fact that it did nothing to allow the admission of dissenters.7Hansard, 7 Apr. 1854, vol. 132, cc. 694-704. His attempts to amend the bill, however, came to nothing. On 26 May, after again drawing the ire of Gladstone, Blackett withdrew an amendment that called for the ‘entire abrogation’ of promissory oaths, and his subsequent amendment of 19 June to make unlawful the administering of oaths on admission to any office in the university was defeated.8Hansard, 26 May 1854, vol. 133, cc. 1052-55; 19 June 1854, vol. 134, cc. 347-8. His initial scheme to reform income tax by limiting the discretionary powers of the commissioners was also personally rejected by Gladstone, and after withdrawing his threat to divide over the proposal, Blackett stated that ‘as a young member of the house, he was most unwilling to appear to act any way vexatiously’.9Hansard, 30 May 1853, vol. 127, cc. 810-11, 816.

A keen observer of colonial affairs, Blackett was a fierce critic of the East India Company, believing that ‘its continuance could only tend to retard progress, to foster nepotism, and to impede the elevation of the Indian races’.10Hansard, 9 June 1853, vol. 127, 1300-18. He staunchly opposed the 1853 government of India bill, consistently dividing in the minority, and attacked Edward Cardwell, the president of the board of trade, for withholding relevant information. 11Hansard, 24 June 1853, vol. 128, cc. 759-64; 8 July 1853, vol. 128, cc. 1433-6; 21 July 1853, vol. 129, cc. 559-60; 29 July 1853, vol. 129, cc. 1015-6; House of Commons Division Lists, 1853 sess., 8 July, 11 July, 15 July. He also urged the coalition to adopt a more aggressive foreign policy, cautioning the government against the continued Russian occupation of the Danubian provinces, and arguing that Britain should be willing to go to war and not be ‘swayed by dynastic sympathies’, a position which induced Richard Cobden to label him ‘bellicose’.12Hansard, 16 Aug. 1853, vol. 129, cc. 1796-8, 1805.

Blackett’s service on select committees included inquiries into metropolitan bridges and the conveyance of mails by railways,13PP 1854 (370), xiv. 5; PP 1854 (411), xi. 647. and he was later said to have been ‘worn out prematurely with hard work’.14Gent. Mag. 200 (1856), 646. A rare attender in 1855, he nevertheless remained a critic of the government, and in March 1855 wrote to congratulate Austen Henry Layard on eschewing office, stating ‘such an example of loyalty and self-respect has not been shown by Liberals for the last 20 years’.15BL Add. MSS, 38983, f. 86. Blackett also supported Layard’s Administrative Reform Association, though he attempted to warn Layard of the dangers of bringing forward a motion on the subject, which he feared would have little support.16BL Add. MSS, 38983, f. 306. His health deteriorating, he took the stewardship of the Manor of Northstead, 22 Jan. 1856, and retired to Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, where he died that April. His family estates and property passed to his younger brother, Edward Algernon Blackett, and his papers are located in the Northumberland record office.17Northumb. RO, Blackett (Wylam) MSS.