BLAKE, Robert (c.1525-92), of Bridgwater and Tuxwell, Som.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. c.1525, s. of Humphrey Blake of Overstowey. m. Margaret Symonds, at least 2s. suc. fa. to Tuxwell 1559.

Offices Held

Mayor, Bridgwater 1574-5, 1579-80, 1587-8.

Biography

Blake was an elderly man when first returned to Parliament. He was a member of the Bridgwater corporation for nearly 20 years, and owned an inn, the Three Crowns, though there is no evidence that he was an innkeeper by trade.

His will, made 11 Oct. 1592, was proved in the following year. He left property at Tuxwell and Radlett to his son William, and other lands to a second son Humphrey, who became the father of Admiral Robert Blake. A panel in St. Mary’s church, Bridgwater, records his charitable bequest of £240 ‘towards pious uses’, to be administered by the corporation for the relief of the poor and the repair of causeways in the parish.

Som. Wills (ser. 1), p. 59; S. G. Jarman, Bridgwater, 229, 269; C142/119/163, 214/176; HMC 3rd Rep. 310, 312; CSP Dom. 1581-90, p.700; PCC 76 Harrington.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: J.C.H.

Notes