Archives and local studies

The family name of the Earls of Darnley is Bligh and it originated from villages on the border between Cornwall and Devon. The earliest traceable family member was Robert Bligh of Lanrake in Cornwall, who died in 1554. It was a family of lesser gentry, owners of modest estates.

The Blighs who became resident at Cobham Hall were descended from John Bligh, who was born in 1616. John became a citizen of London, where he enrolled in the Worshipful Company of Salters. After this he became involved with the forfeited Irish estates after the Irish rebellion of 1641, which was linked to the English Civil War. He acquired his estates in County Meath in Ireland from Cromwell’s government in 1654. It is estimated that the Bligh lands in County Meath exceeded 25,000 acres.

It was under John Bligh's only son Thomas, who was born in 1654 in Dublin, that the family began to build up lands and titles. During his lifetime the Bligh lands in County Meath were consolidated into the Manor of Athboy by a grant made in Chancery. Thomas also married Elizabeth Napier, whose family had a claim on the title of the Dukedom of Lennox. The Bligh family's attempts to claim this title ran into the 20th century. Thomas and Elizabeth had nine children and it was John Bligh, their eldest child (1687-1728), who brought the titles to the family. He was created Baron Clifton of Rathmore in 1721, Viscount of Darnley in 1723 and finally was awarded the Earldom of Darnley in 1725.

In 1713 he married Theodosia Hyde, the sole heir of Edward Earl of Clarendon and of Catherine O'Brien, only daughter and heir of Lady Catherine Stuart who was the sister of Charles, Duke of Lennox. It was the through this marriage that the Blighs inherited Cobham Hall and became large landowners in both Kent and Ireland.

The images below are from the Darnley Archive and the Local Studies collections. To see the originals, contact Medway Archives And Local Studies Centre.

Select an image for a larger version

Left. Genealogical chart of the Dukes of Lennox and Richmond of Cobham Hall and the Earls of Darnley. Courtesy of Cobham Hall School. Copies are available from the shop at Cobham Hall. Right. Engraving of John Bligh 1st Earl of Darnley. From the original picture by T. Phillips Esq. RA in his Lordship’s own possession. Drawn by J.Wright and engraved by H. Meyer, 1816. [U565_F067].

Portraits of Edward and Emma, 5th Earl and Countess of Darnley, from a miniature. Probably 19th century. [U565_F182].

Left. Photo of fragments of a monument to Edward Bligh, 5th. Earl of Darnley, Cobham Hall, who died after contracting tetanus after he accidently chopped his toe while using an axe on the estate. Photographer: E.H. Couchman, 4 April 1984. [DE402_23_p.12 (U)]. Right. Photo of Esme Bligh, 9th Earl of Darnley, at his coming of age, 1907. [U565_F456].

Left. One of many letters to Ivo and Florence, 8th Earl and Countess of Darnley, from their son Noel Bligh (pictured right) with news from the trenches in France and Belgium. Some are stamped "passed by censor". 1914-1918.  [U565_F395].

The Australian Prime Minister, Mr Hughes, during his visit to Cobham Hall, with the 8th Earl and Countess of Darnley, officers and nursing staff outside Cobham Hall. Lady Darnley was Australian and Cobham Hall was used as a convalescent hospital for British and Australian officers during the First World War. 1918. [U565_H078].

Rochester Pageant, June 1931. Postcard photograph of Esme Ivo Bligh, 9th. Earl of Darnley, in the part of Robert Devereux, Lord Leicester and his wife, Lady Nancy Darnley, in the part of Queen Elizabeth I, both in period costume, set in Rochester Castle gardens or inner bailey. From a scene in episode 6, the visit of Queen Elizabeth I to Richard Watts of Satis House, Boley Hill, Rochester in 1573. Couchman Collection [DE402_8_p.16(U)].

Left. Florence 8th Countess of Darnley opening a fete at Rochester. September 1916. [Local Studies Photograph Collection]. Right. Florence 8th Countess of Darnley in the early 20th century. [U565_F340].

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