Anthony Richard Blake (1786–1849), was an Irish

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, administrator and 'backstairs Viceroy of Ireland'. Blake, the second son of Martin Blake of Holly Park,

Athenry Athenry (; ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, which lies east of Galway city. Some of the attractions of the medieval town are its town wall, Athenry Castle, its priory and its 13th-century street-plan. The town is also well known by virt ...

, was a member of the Tribes of Galway. A granduncle was Anthony Blake,

Archbishop of Armagh The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...

. He was admitted to

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, London, on 13 May 1808. He became a

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of Charles Butler, collecting data on Irish catholic affairs for him during 1811-12, which led to Butler's recommending him to the catholic committee as press officer. In 1813 he was called to the Bar. In 1821 Blake travelled to Ireland in the cabinet of Lord Wellesley, being made Chief Remembrancer of the Exchequer of Ireland two years later (which made him the first catholic to hold the post since the

reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

). This position enabled him to retain ''"a unique importance as adviser to British ministers and as their link with catholic interests in Ireland."'' and, by Act of Parliament, brought him an annual income of £3,000 Irish pounds; In 1843 this sum was reduced by Act of Parliament to £2,000. On 24 June 1824, he was appointed to the

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''for inquiring into the nature and extent of the Instruction afforded by the several Institutions in Ireland established for the purpose of Education'' where he served with the other Commissioners:

Thomas Frankland Lewis Sir Thomas Frankland Lewis, 1st Baronet (14 May 1780 – 22 January 1855) was a British Poor Law Commissioner and moderate Tory (later Peelite) MP. Early life Lewis was the son of John Lewis and Anne Frankland, daughter of Sir Thomas Frankl ...

, John Leslie Foster, William Grant and James Glassford.A copy of the Report of the Commission is available at: http://eppi.dippam.ac.uk/documents/9883/eppi_pages/217631 (accessed 18/11/2012) He was on generally good terms with

Daniel O'Connell Daniel(I) O’Connell (; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilisation of Catholic Irelan ...

, though the latter was to accuse the government of using Blake as a token catholic. Blake's catholic enemies portrayed him as an ambitious

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, with interests inimical to the church. In 1828 he published ''"Thoughts upon the catholic question, by an Irish Roman Catholic"'' which analysed the Irish question and made a number of recommendations to the British government: * - make an agreement with the

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* - conciliate Irish catholic demands * - provide for the poor * - extend voter's franchise In 1831 he was a member of Lord Anglesey's 'inner conclave', and helped develop the scheme of national education, particularly encouraging teacher training. He served on the Poor Law Inquiry of 1833, serving on committees on tithes, education and mortmain. He also played a role in the establishment of the Queen's Colleges in the late 1840s, a deeply divisive issue among Irish Catholics. Upon his death in January 1849, he left a substantial bequest to the national education system.

References

* ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'', p. 580-81, Cambridge, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Anthony Richard Lawyers from County Galway Members of Lincoln's Inn Irish diplomats 19th-century Irish lawyers 1849 deaths Members of the Privy Council of Ireland 1786 births People from Athenry