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land in 1702, where he lived in Northumberland
and Middlesex counties. FAMILY BACKGROUND.
FATHER: John Blakiston (1633-1701/2), of New-
castle, England; a barrister and judge of the Ad-
miralty Court; son of John Blakiston (1603-1650),
M.P. for Newcastle, England, from 1641 to 1650.
MOTHER: Phoebe, daughter of William Johnson, of
Kibblesworth, Durham, England. UNCLES: Nehe-
miah Blakiston (?-1693); Sir Nathaniel Johnson
(1645-1713), who was governor of the Leeward
Islands from 1686 to 1689 and governor of South
Carolina from 1703 to 1709. BROTHERS: William
(1665-1665); Robert (1673-?). SISTERS. Jane
(1668-1671); Sarah (1678-1680); and Margaret,
who married Maj. Edward Nott, of Kingston,
Surrey, England, the deputy governor of Virginia
from 1705 to 1706. MARRIED first, Thomasine (?-
1697), widow of Sir Timothy Thornhill, first bar-
onet of Barbados; daughter of Sir Robert Legard,
of Yorkshire, England, a master in Chancery.
MARRIED second, Mary. CHILDREN. SON: Nathan-
iel. DAUGHTER: Rachel. PRIVATE CAREER. EDUCA-
TION: literate. RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Anglican.
SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: a member of a
prominent English family that was well connected
in the colonial bureaucracy; arrived in Maryland
as governor. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: colonial
bureaucrat; member of the Merchant Adventurers'
Company of London, 1698. PUBLIC CAREER. PRO-
VINCIAL OFFICES: governor, 1698-1702; chancel-
lor, 1699-1702; agent for Maryland in England,
1702-1709, 1713-1721. OUT OF COLONY SERVICE:
lieutenant governor of Montserrat, 1689-1695;
agent for Virginia in England, 1706-1722; M.P.
for Mitchell, Cornwall, England, 1715-1722.
WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. ANNUAL INCOME: his
salary as governor of Maryland was at least
£1,700 per annum with an additional allowance of
£30 for rent; his salary as Maryland's agent in En-
gland was £120 per annum. WEALTH AT DEATH.
DIED: in 1722 in England; size of estate unknown.
BLAKISTON (BLACKISTON), NEHEMIAH
(?-1693). BORN: in England, probably in the New-
castle area; fourth son. IMMIGRATED: in 1668 as a
free adult from England. RESIDED: St. Mary's
County. FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER: John
Blakiston (1603-1650), of Northumberland, En-
gland, who was an M.P. for Newcastle, England,
from 1641 to 1650. UNCLE George Blakiston, who
immigrated in 1668 with his nephew. MARRIED in
1669 Elizabeth (?-1716), daughter of Thomas Ge-
rard (1608-1673). She subsequently married
Ralph Rymer and finally, Joshua Guibert (?-
1713). Her brothers were Thomas (?-1686); Justin-
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ian (?-1688); and John. Her sisters were Susannah,
who married first, Robert Slye (ca. 1628-1670/71),
and second, John Coode(ca. 1648-1708/9); Fran-
ces; Temperance; and Mary, who married Kenelm
Cheseldyne (1640-1708). CHILDREN. SON: John (?-
1724), who married Anne, daughter of Joshua
Guibert (?-1713). DAUGHTERS: Susanna, who mar-
ried first, Thomas Hatton, grandson of Thomas
Hatton (?-1654/55), and second, (first name un-
known) Attaway; Rebecca; and Mary, who mar-
ried Matthew Mason (ca. 1689-ca. 1728/29). PRI-
VATE CAREER. EDUCATION: literate. RELIGIOUS
AFFILIATION. Anglican. SOCIAL STATUS AND AC-
TIVITIES, younger son of a prominent English fam-
ily, which aided him in obtaining colonial patron-
age; soon after his arrival in the colony he married
into a prominent and controversial Maryland fam-
ily; Gent., by 1673. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE:
planter; attorney, admitted to the following
courts: Court of Chancery in the 1670s; Provincial
Court in 1677; St. Mary's County in 1677; Charles
County by 1678/69. Placeman. PUBLIC CAREER.
LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Associators' Convention,
St. Mary's County, 1689-1692 (speaker 4, 5, 6);
Grand Committee of Twenty, 1690-1692 (presi-
dent after August 1690); Upper House, 1692-
1693. OTHER PROVINCIAL OFFICES: surveyor and
comptroller general, 1682/83-1684/85; acting
king's attorney, 1684/85; collector of Patuxent,
1684/85-1685; collector of North Potomac, 1685-
1693; Council, 1691-1693; justice, Provincial
Court, 1691-1 693 (chief justice, 1691-1692); chan-
cellor and commissary general, 1692-1693. LOCAL
OFFICES: justice, St. Mary's County, 1689-1692
(quorum); coroner, 1689-1692; King and Queen
Parish Vestry, St. Mary's County, 1693. MILITARY
SERVICE, captain, 1689-1692; colonel, 1692-1693.
STANDS ON PUBLIC/PRIVATE ISSUES: as Customs
collector he was often at odds with the proprietary
establishment in the late 1680s and he registered
protests against the government in England; with
brothers-in-law John Coode(ca. 1648-1708/9) and
Kenelm Cheseldyne (1640-1708) he was a promi-
nent leader in the revolution of 1689, which over-
threw Lord Baltimore's government; he became
head of the interim government when Coode and
Cheseldyne left for England in the late summer of
1690; in 1692 he became chief confidant and ally
of the new royal governor Lionel Copley (1648-
1693), and fought unsuccessfully for control of the
government after Copley's death in the fall of
1693; he was involved in extensive conflicts with
Edward Randolph (1632-1703), surveyor general
of customs, in 1692-1693 over Blakiston's alleged
corruption and embezzlement of royal revenue, for
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