Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley
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Ivo Francis Walter Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley DL
, JP
(13 March 1859 – 10 April 1927), styled The Honourable Ivo Bligh until 1900, was a British cricket
er who captained the English team
in the first ever Test series against Australia with the Ashes
at stake in 1882/83. Later in life, he inherited the earldom of Darnley
and was elected an Irish representative peer
.
, the second son of John Bligh, 6th Earl of Darnley, by Lady Harriet Mary, daughter of Henry Pelham, 3rd Earl of Chichester. He was educated at Eton
and Trinity College, Cambridge
, graduating BA in 1882.
at The Oval
in 1882, that The Sporting Times
newspaper wrote a mock obituary to English cricket, noting that the body would be cremated and the ashes sent to Australia. The following winter's tour to Australia was billed as an attempt to reclaim the Ashes. Bligh's team was successful, winning the three-match Ashes series two-one, although a fourth game, not played for the Ashes, and hence a matter of great dispute, was lost.
A small terracotta urn was presented to the England captain Ivo Bligh by a group of Melbourne women after England's victory in the Test series. The urn is reputed to contain the ashes of a veil, ball, bail or, indeed, an old Aboriginal cricketer, symbolising "the ashes of English cricket". While the urn has come to symbolise the Ashes series, the term "The Ashes" pre-dates the existence of the urn. The urn is not used as the trophy for the Ashes series, and, whichever side "holds" the Ashes, the urn remains in the MCC Museum at Lord's. Since the 1998/99 Ashes series, a Waterford crystal trophy has been presented to the winners.
Bligh is commemorated by a poem inscribed on the side of the urn:
Bligh also played for Cambridge University
and Kent County Cricket Club
in a first-class cricket
career which lasted from 1877 to 1883. He was president of the Marylebone Cricket Club
in 1900 and of Kent County Cricket Club in 1892 and 1902.
and did not entitle him to an automatic seat in the House of Lords
. However, in March 1905 he was elected an Irish Representative Peer
. He was also a Deputy Lieutenant
and Justice of the Peace
for Kent.
, daughter of John Stephen Morphy, of Beechworth, Victoria
, Australia
in 1884. She had been a music teacher at Rupertswood
, where her future husband had stayed during his tour of Australia. They had two sons and a daughter. Darnley died at Shorne
, Kent
, in April 1927, aged 68, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, Esmé. The Countess of Darnley presented the urn to the House of Lords after her husband's death. She died in August 1944.
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
, JP
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
(13 March 1859 – 10 April 1927), styled The Honourable Ivo Bligh until 1900, was a British cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who captained the English team
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
in the first ever Test series against Australia with the Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
at stake in 1882/83. Later in life, he inherited the earldom of Darnley
Earl of Darnley
Earl of Darnley is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of Scotland and once in the Peerage of Ireland. The first creation in the Peerage of Scotland came in 1580 in favour of Esme Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox. He was created Duke of Lennox at the same time. See the latter...
and was elected an Irish representative peer
Representative peer
In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords...
.
Background and education
Bligh was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the second son of John Bligh, 6th Earl of Darnley, by Lady Harriet Mary, daughter of Henry Pelham, 3rd Earl of Chichester. He was educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, graduating BA in 1882.
Cricket career
Although the history of Test cricket between England and Australia dates from 1877, it was after an English team led by Monkey Hornby lost to the AustraliansAustralian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
in 1882, that The Sporting Times
The Sporting Times
The Sporting Times was a weekly British newspaper devoted chiefly to sport, and in particular to horse racing...
newspaper wrote a mock obituary to English cricket, noting that the body would be cremated and the ashes sent to Australia. The following winter's tour to Australia was billed as an attempt to reclaim the Ashes. Bligh's team was successful, winning the three-match Ashes series two-one, although a fourth game, not played for the Ashes, and hence a matter of great dispute, was lost.
A small terracotta urn was presented to the England captain Ivo Bligh by a group of Melbourne women after England's victory in the Test series. The urn is reputed to contain the ashes of a veil, ball, bail or, indeed, an old Aboriginal cricketer, symbolising "the ashes of English cricket". While the urn has come to symbolise the Ashes series, the term "The Ashes" pre-dates the existence of the urn. The urn is not used as the trophy for the Ashes series, and, whichever side "holds" the Ashes, the urn remains in the MCC Museum at Lord's. Since the 1998/99 Ashes series, a Waterford crystal trophy has been presented to the winners.
Bligh is commemorated by a poem inscribed on the side of the urn:
- When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;
- StuddsStudd brothersThe famous Studd brothers, Sir John Edward Kynaston, George and Charles , were Victorian gentleman cricketers; they were educated at Eton and Cambridge. They all represented Eton in the Eton v Harrow annual needle match and represented Cambridge at cricket...
, Steel, ReadWalter ReadWalter William Read was an English cricketer, who was a fluent right hand bat. An occasional bowler of lobs, he sometimes switched to quick overarm deliveries. He captained England in two Test matches, winning them both...
and TylecoteEdward TylecoteEdward Ferdinando Sutton Tylecote - cricketer....
return, return; - The welkin will ring loud,
- The great crowd will feel proud,
- Seeing BarlowDick BarlowRichard Gorton Barlow was a cricketer who played for Lancashire and England...
and BatesBilly BatesWillie Bates, known as Billy was an English all-round cricketer. Excellent with both bat and ball, Bates scored over 10,000 first-class runs, took more than 870 wickets and was always reliable in the field...
with the urn, the urn; - And the rest coming home with the urn.
Bligh also played for Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
and Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
in a first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
career which lasted from 1877 to 1883. He was president of the Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
in 1900 and of Kent County Cricket Club in 1892 and 1902.
Public offices
Bligh succeeded his elder brother in the earldom in 1900. This was an Irish peeragePeerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
and did not entitle him to an automatic seat in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. However, in March 1905 he was elected an Irish Representative Peer
Representative peer
In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords...
. He was also a Deputy Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
and Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
for Kent.
Personal life
Lord Darnley married Florence Rose MorphyFlorence Bligh, Countess of Darnley
Florence Rose Bligh , Countess of Darnley, DBE was the wife of Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley, son of John Stuart Bligh, 6th Earl of Darnley and Lady Harriet Mary Pelham, on 9 February 1884....
, daughter of John Stephen Morphy, of Beechworth, Victoria
Beechworth, Victoria
Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1884. She had been a music teacher at Rupertswood
Rupertswood
Rupertswood is a mansion and country estate located in Sunbury on the outskirts of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is well known as the birthplace of The Ashes, awarded to the winning team in cricket Test match series between Australia and England. Rupertswood is one of the largest houses...
, where her future husband had stayed during his tour of Australia. They had two sons and a daughter. Darnley died at Shorne
Shorne
Shorne is a village and civil parish in the Gravesham District of Kent, England. The parish is located to the south-east of Gravesend; the village is three miles from the town....
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, in April 1927, aged 68, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, Esmé. The Countess of Darnley presented the urn to the House of Lords after her husband's death. She died in August 1944.