Out of all the family lines connected to the Blacketts that we have encountered, that of the Mitford/Midford family is one of the most complex and enigmatic. The results of our research outlined below, and the conclusions we have drawn from them, inevitably rely in part on conjecture and we would welcome any further evidence to clarify the precise relationship. In the meantime our conclusions and the nature of the family relationships shown in the tree should be considered tentative and not entirely secure.

n 1733/4 Robert Richardson married Hannah Hopper in Medomsley, near Ebchester. Their son Robert Richardson married Ann Re(a)dshaw in St. Oswald, Durham City in 1777, where their youngest son, Blackett Richardson, was born in 1801 at Brome (sic) Hall. Blackett Richardson died in 1823 but the Christian name of Blackett was given to several members of the extended Richardson family over the 19th century, including (William) Blackett Richardson (1824-1895), who emigrated to New Zealand in 1859 and subsequently settled in New South Wales, Australia.

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.

This line can now be traced back to Richard Blackett, who died in 1590 in the hamlet of Urra, near Kirkby, Yorkshire, who married Maud. The couple had at least three children, including William, whose son, Richard Blackett, married Muriel (Miriall) Harrison in Ingleby Greenhow, Yorkshire in 1637. Their son, also Richard, married Anne Appleton in nearby Kirkby in Cleveland in 1672 where they had 10 children.

John Blackett (1783-1854) was born in Longwitton and baptised in Hartburn, not a great distance from the Blackett seat of Wallington, Northumberland. His parents were Michael Blackett and Mary Maslingham. His baptismal entry refers to him as “John illegitimate son of Michael Blackett and Mary Maslingham of Long Witton.” A Michael Blackett is also shown as the father of “William Blackett or Spearman”, who was born in Hartburn four years previously and whose mother was Isabel Spearman.

In 1841 Thomas Blackett (1840-1888) was living in North Shields with Jessie Blackett, aged 60, who was born in Scotland, Ann aged 20, Margaret aged 10 and Jessie aged 4. Thomas married Christen Aitchison (1840/41-1902) in 1862 and their family remained in North Shields before moving to Yorkshire and finally to West Hartlepool. In 1881 Thomas was living there, his occupation being shown as a carpenter and mastmaker.

In 1808 John Blackett married Ann Elliott in Portsea, Hampshire and at least three of their children were born in Portsea or neighbouring Portsmouth. Ann died in 1813 giving birth to their youngest son, John Elliott Blackett, and John senior then moved to Deptford, Kent, where he married Ann Wallis in 1817. John and Ann Wallis had at least 3 children born in Lewisham, Kent. There may have been connections with Co. Durham, however, as in 1839 John Elliott Blackett married Grace Scouler, who was born in Sunderland 1818/19, in the Stockton district of Co. Durham.

George Blackett (abt 1743-1830) married Margaret Young in 1789 at Greatham, a village between Billingham and Hartlepool in Co. Durham. Many of George’s descendants were still living in Greatham as recently as the end of the 19th century. It seems likely, however, that George’s eldest son, Robert (1790-1846) moved south into Yorkshire, where he married Sarah Johnson in Oswaldkirk in 1814. By the birth of their daughter Harriot in 1820 Robert and Sarah had moved north again to Wolviston, Co. Durham, about two miles from Greatham, and their son Johnson Blackett was born in Wolviston in 1823.

John Blackett (1777/8-1858) was a clerk in the Ordnance at Harwich, Essex in 1841 and 1851 and was employed by the Ordnance as a store keeper as far back as 1814. According to the 1851 census he was born in “Middlesex, City of London”. The City of London did not form part of Middlesex and it is not, therefore, clear whether John was born in the City of London itself (i.e. the “Square Mile”) or in the surrounding area. Prior to his death he moved to Ipswich, Suffolk and was buried there.

Joseph Byron Blackett (1824/25-1905), who married Caroline Mary Cutler in 1857, was a London physician and surgeon, as was his younger son, Edward (1870-1948). Although Joseph’s place of birth is shown in the censuses as Westminster, no baptismal record has been found. This is almost certainly because the family were Catholic, as Joseph’s elder brother, Charles (1822-1861), became a Catholic priest and his sister, Ellen, became a nun. Joseph’s eldest son, Joseph (1858-1936), also became a Roman Catholic priest.