In 1703 John Blackett married Dorothy Applegarth in Richmond, Yorkshire. Four of their children were born in the village of Kirkby Ravensworth, a few miles to the north of Richmond.
John is now believed to have been born in Gayles, near Kirkby Ravensworth, in 1676, the son of Richard Blackett, who in turn is believed to be the son of Robert Blackett, who died in Gayles, near Kirkby Ravensworth in 1629/30.
It was from the John Blackett/Dorothy Applegarth branch that John Blackett (1769-1848) moved to London, later to be joined there by his younger brother Joseph (see Blacketts and poetry). Although most of John’s children remained in London, his youngest son, Ebenezer Edward Blackett (1821-1905), emigrated to South Australia, where he married Matilda Puddy (1829-1897) in 1852. Their son, Rev. John Blacket (1856-1935), became a Methodist minister and well known author (see Blacketts and Literature). A further branch, the family of Thomas Crosby Blackett (1829-1905) emigrated to New Zealand.
John Blackett, who died at Melsonby In 1668 is now believed to be the nephew of Robert Blackett, who died in 1629/30 at Gayles. In his will Robert refers to his two children, Richard and Anne, therefore presumably ruling out John as a third child. The two hamlets are, however, only four miles apart, and their proximity plus the occurrence of the name Richard in both families suggest that they were closely related. It is also possible that this branch moved from Staindrop, Co. Durham, which is less than 10 miles north of Melsonby. In the absence of further evidence, however, John is shown as the son of an unknown brother of Robert Blackett, both of them being sons of another Unknown Blackett. For a descendancy chart of this Unknown Blackett please click here. These early relationships should, however, be treated with care.