Introduction

If you descend from a Blackett, the chances are that your distant ancestors once lived at Woodcroft Hall, situated between Stanhope and Frosterley in Weardale, County Durham. This was the seat of the Blackett family for several hundred years.

On 13 February 1777 Susanna Blackett was baptized at the Foundling Hospital in Guildford Street, Lond

Most people with the surname Blackett acquired it either by birth or by marriage.

It is well known that ‘the Mounties always get their man’, but the diligence and perseverance of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police doesn’t stop there.

A number of Blacketts and their descendants have been blacksmiths. Few, however, carried on the trade to such an advanced age as Walker Blackett who is believed to have been still working as a blacksmith and farmer in Witton Park, Co. Durham up to his death in 1938, just a few months before his 84th birthday.

On 17 October 2013 the Daily Telegraph reported that Phil Blackett, a sunglasses salesman, had been named the most prolific UK restaurant reviewer of 2012 on TripAdvisor after notching up 780 reviews of restaurants, takeaways and hotels, in 501 cities in 36 countries.

In his book “My Name is Blacket”, published in 1983, the late Nick Vine Hall describes a drapery and linen business being established at 31 West Smithfield in London by John Blackett (1747-1795).

When Sir William Blackett (1690-1728) married