Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/164

 132

NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. vn. FEB. ie, 1907.

of his estate, from which relationship has been inferred, but not proved. Nicholas Carlisle wrote a history of the Blands in 1826 ; and, from an original letter of his in my possession, it is clear that he got his information as to the Kerry branch from my maternal grandfather Francis Chris- topher Bland, of Derriquin, who may be presumed to have known about his own uncles. Judge Bland married twice. His first wife was Diana Kemeys, by whom he had a younger son, the Rev. James Bland (my great-grandfather, who inherited the estate), and an elder son, John, whom he disinherited because he gave up the army for the stage. The judge's second wife was Lucy Heaton, by whom he had (with several other sons and daughters) Francis, a com- missioned officer of a line regiment, who married Miss Philipps (daughter of a clergy- man), and was father of Mrs. Jordan. As to the truth of these statements there is no doubt whatever. John and Francis being half-brothers, Boaden was right in saying that John was Mrs. Jordan's uncle. But Judge Bland, finding that his son Francis had been married by a priest, without consent of parents, and that both husband and wife were under age, took proceedings, according to a law then in force in Ireland, to annul the marriage ; in this he succeeded, and Francis afterwards married a Miss Mahony as recorded in the pedigree. These facts are to be found in the Record Office, Dublin. Family pride, however, prevailed ; and, for obvious reasons, there is no mention of the frail Dora Jordan, or her mother, in Carlisle's book. But he states that this wild and eccentric John Bland had been a cornet of Bland's Dragoons before he took to the stage. These dragoons were those of General Humphry, who was probably, as I have said, a relative. They were both, therefore, at Dettingen and Fontenoy.

The death of John Bland in Edinburgh, aged 87, is noticed in Walker's Hibernian Magazine in 1808, in which it is stated that

"he was descended from an ancient Irish family and was at one time a cornet of horse, and carried the colours of his regiment at the memorable battle ot Dettingen.

The article goes on to say that he was

" very eccentric in his manners and opinions and phraseology, as well as in everything he ate, drank, or wore ; but, with all his peculiarities, he was an honest man, a kind husband, an indulgent parent, and a steady friend."

Incidentally it is mentioned that his wife's

name was Nancy. As to his having served under Honeywood against the Jacobites in 1745, I find (Gent. Mag., 1745, p. 625) that both Honeywood and General Bland were present at the engagement at Clifton, three miles from Penrith ; and if so, John Bland, as cornet, was present also. I find further (Gent. Mag., vol. xxxii. p. 93) that in 1752 General Humphry Bland was appointed Governor of Edinburgh Castle and captain of the foot regiments quartered there. This was probably about the date when John Bland threw up his commission and took to the Edinburgh stage, with which he was so many years connected. His wife, Nancy, may have been an actress. What I am most anxious to do is to trace his descendants, some of whom, according to Dibdin's ' Annals of the Edinburgh Stage, 7 were of the family of the celebrated actress Mrs. Glover. In The Ancestor, vol. viii. p. 52, Elizabeth Martha Bland, said to be a granddaughter of this John, is set down- as having married, when under age, Anthony Angelo in 1787. J. F. FULLER.

Brunswick Chambers, Dublin.

SIR JOHN BARNARD'S DESCENDANTS (10 S. vii. 90). His only son, John Barnard, was one of the Gentlemen of the Bedchamber to Frederick, Prince of Wales, and died un- married at St. James's, 13 July, 1773, leaving his sisters his coheirs (Gent. Mag.)* so that, as far as male issue is concerned, " this family was [not] further extended." Of these two sisters, (1) Sarah married in June, 1733, Sir Thomas Hankey, a well- known London banker (who died 3 July, 1770), and died 15 March, 1762, leaving numerous descendants ; (2) Jane married (as his second wife), 12 Sept., 1738, the Hon. Henry Temple, son and heir apparent of the first Viscount Palmerston, which Henry died vita patris, at East Sheen, 10 Aug., 1740, and was buried at Mortlake, Surrey. His widow, the said Jane, died there 28 Jan., 1789, leaving an only son, Henry, the second Viscount, who was father of the third and last Viscount (the celebrated Prime Minister) and of others. It may be mentioned that a good account of Alderman Barnard was given at 7 S. xii. 197 (5 Sept., 1891) by the late J. J. STOCKEN, who, however, seems to have been ignorant of the parentage of the Alderman's wife, which had been asked. She was Jane (bapt. 15 March, 1687/8, at St. Dunstan's- n-the-East), sister of Sir Robert Godschall, sometime (1741-2) Lord Mayor of London, dau. of John Godschall, of East Sheen,