Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 05.djvu/201

 contests. The sole polling-place was at Cockermouth, at one corner of the county, in the neighbourhood where the Lowther interest was strongest. It needed the personal enthusiasm which Blamire inspired to induce voters to incur the expense of so long a journey. But his yeoman friends rode in such an imposing cavalcade towards Cockermouth that Lord Lowther felt it better to retire on the third day's polling than to be ignominiously defeated.

In 1834 Blamire married his cousin, Dorothy Taubman. In parliament he showed great knowledge of matters concerning land tenures, and was useful on committees; but his reputation was made by a speech on the Tithe Commutation Bill, which was introduced by Lord John Russell in 1836. He was complimented by Sir Robert Peel on his consummate knowledge of the subject. His suggestions were listened to by the government, and the adoption of a seven years' average of the price of corn as the basis of commutation was the result of his practical experience in farming matters. When the bill became law, Blamire was appointed the chief commissioner for carrying it into effect. He resigned his seat in parliament and devoted himself exclusively to the adjustment of details which concerned every landowner and every clergyman in England. He had able colleagues in Colonel Wentworth Buller and Rev. R. Jones. The work was enormous in its extent, and beset with difficulties. First, the sum to be paid in lieu of tithe had to be fixed for each parish, then the rent-charge so fixed had to be apportioned on the different properties in the parish. There was need of strong common sense and great power of conciliation to carry out so complicated a process. The absence of proper maps was another difficulty, and the commissioners had frequently to investigate and decide upon the exact boundaries of parishes. It was owing to Blamire's suggestion while engaged in this work that the ordnance survey was undertaken in 1842, in accordance with the report of a committee of which Blamire was a chief member. The work of the tithe commission lasted from 1836 to 1851, when it was practically completed. Few reforms of such magnitude, involving so many interests, have given such universal satisfaction, and have stood the test of time so well. The work of the tithe commissioners has needed no amendment.

Blamire's energies, however, were not entirely absorbed by the work of tithe commutation. He was interested in all questions affecting land tenure, and his suggestions were of great use to Lords Lansdowne and Brougham in framing their ‘Copyhold Enfranchisement Act.’ When this act came into force in 1841, Blamire was made a commissioner for the purpose of carrying it out. At first the enfranchisement was voluntary, but the commissioners pressed that it should be made compulsory, which was practically done by the acts of 1852 and 1858. Moreover, Blamire was of great service to the government in preparing the ‘Commons Enclosure Act,’ passed in 1845, by means of which large tracts of waste land were divided and enclosed, so that they could be brought under cultivation. The evidence given by Blamire before the committee of the House of Commons on ‘Commonable Lands and Enclosure Acts’ (1843) is one of the most important sources of information concerning the tenure and incidents of commons. After the passing of the act it was felt that the tithe commissioners could not be saddled with any fresh duties; but Blamire's assistance was considered to be so necessary that he was requested to assume the post of enclosure commissioner without any salary. It was at his suggestion that the act embodied clauses allowing the exchange of lands of equal value by a simple process. In 1846 the scope of the labours of the enclosure commissioners was still further extended by an ‘Act authorising the Advance of Public Money to promote the Drainage and Improvement of Land in Great Britain.’

Besides attending to these important administrative measures Blamire was constantly consulted by ministers on all matters concerned with farming, such as the remedy for the potato blight, and the measures necessary to check the cattle plague. He prepared, in 1846, a Highway Act, which was postponed at the time; but his labours prepared the way for future legislation, and his principles practically prevail at present in regard to the administration of the highways. In all this work Blamire was unsparing of himself, and often was in his office till midnight. For months his horse was brought daily to the office door, in hopes that he might find time for a ride; but the horse was never used. His stalwart frame enabled him to endure much hard work; but in 1847 he was affected by paralysis of the right arm. He soon recovered, and worked as hard as before. His wife's death in 1857 took him back to Cumberland, where he had not visited his home for seventeen years. His last work was the completion of the Drainage Act by an ‘Outfall Bill,’ which was necessary to enable the drainage of low-lying and swampy ground. In the summer of 1860 his health entirely broke down. His mental and bodily powers slowly declined, and he died at Thackwood Nook on 12 Jan. 1862. Blamire is a conspicuous example of