Sir Valentine John Blake, 12th Baronet (23 June 1780 – January 1847) was an Irish

Repeal Association The Repeal Association was an Irish mass membership political movement set up by Daniel O'Connell in 1830 to campaign for a repeal of the Acts of Union of 1800 between Great Britain and Ireland. The Association's aim was to revert Ireland to ...

and

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician. Blake was the son of Sir John Blake, 11th Baronet and his first wife, and cousin, Eleanor née Lycnh. He was educated at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

and then admitted to

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in 1801. He first married, on 8 August 1803, Eliza Donellan, daughter of Joseph Donellan, and they had two sons and three daughters—including Sir Thomas Edward Blake, 13th Baronet (1805–1875) and John Francis Blake (1809–1888), before her death in 1836. After this, he remarried, on 8 April 1843, Julia Sophia MacDonnell, daughter of Robert MacDonnell, with whom he had one son, Valentine Charles Blake (born 1844). In an attempt to put family affairs in order, Blake was convinced to stand for election for Galway Borough at the 1812 general election. While he was defeated, the result was the next year overturned and Blake was then declared elected, professing to be "warmly attached to the government". During this period, he frequently voted in support of Catholic relief, including extending the franchise in his constituency to Catholics—although this was later stripped out of the bill. Despite his earlier assurances, Blake did not establish a working relationship with the government either at Westminster or Dublin, holding out for the entire patronage of Galway town in order to maintain his election prospects. In the end, Blake felt he was "cheated of his rights" and came to see

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

, who was then

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British Dublin Castle administration, administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretar ...

, as a Machiavellian figure. The next few years of his parliamentary career saw Blake unsuccessfully apply to be clerk of the hanaper, or another office. After several attempts, he reminded the prime minister of the "unrewarded services" of his ancestor,

Sir Walter Blake, 6th Baronet Sir Walter Blake, (bef. 1672–May 1748), 6th Bt., was a minor Irish aristocrat and politician from County Galway. Biography Blake was the son of Sir Thomas Blake and Maria French. In October 1686, Walter Blake succeeded to the title of 6th ...

, but

Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. Before becoming Prime Minister ...

was still unable to help him. Despite being often absent from parliament and declaring he would not attend unless it was necessary—including voting prematurely in defence of the Irish master of the rolls bill—he held the seat until 1820, when he was defeated. After also failing to win back the seat in 1830 and then as a Repeal Association candidate at a by-election in 1838, he was re-elected as a Repeal Association MP for the borough in 1841, and then held the seat until his death in 1847. He succeeded to the Baronetcy of Menlough in 1834 upon the death of his father. Upon his own death in 1847, the title was inherited by his son, Thomas.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Valentine John UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1841–1847 Irish Repeal Association MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Galway constituencies (1801–1922) Tory MPs (pre-1834) Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland 1780 births 1847 deaths