John_Blacknall
John Blacknall (1583 – 21 August 1625) was a landowner and benefactor to Abingdon-on-Thames.
John Blacknall | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1583 |
| Died | 21 August 1625 |
He was born in 1583, son of William Jr. His grandfather William Sr. was a wealthy landowner and owner of the Abbey mills.[1] William Sr. had originally bought the Abbey land after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.[2]
He is believed to have been educated at John Roysse's Free School in Abingdon, (now Abingdon School) [3] and later studied at The Queen's College, Oxford.[4]
He was a barrister-at-law and qualified from Middle Temple but decided not to practice.[4] His grandfather died in 1585 and when his father died in 1613 he inherited the estate. He married a daughter of a gentry family (the Blagraves of Bulmershe) and had little interest in the business selling the mills but continued to acquire more land.[1]
It is believed that the Blacknall family (and possibly John) commissioned the Abingdon Monks' Map and Blacknall Map.[5]
He died of the plague on 21 August 1625 and has a Monument with effigies in St Nicolas Church, Abingdon.[4] By his will dated 9 August 1625 he bequeathed 40 shillings per annum for the schoolmaster of Abingdon School.[3] He left £16,000 (a fortune at the time) to his daughter Mary Blacknall.
- "The Blacknall family". Abingdon.gov.uk.
- "The Building". St Nicolas Church.
- Preston, Arthur Edwin (1929). St.Nicholas Abingdon and Other Papers, pre isbn. Oxford University Press. p. 341.
- Richardson, William H (1905). List of Some Distinguished Persons Educated at Abingdon School 1563-1855. Hughes Market Place (Abingdon). p. 4.