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Thomas was born about 1802, the son of Capt. Charles Blair and Charlotte Matilda Dawson, in Ensbury, Dorset.
He was admitted as a fellow to Pembroke College, Oxford, in the Michaelmas term of 1833. The whereabouts and occupation of Thomas Blair between his childhood home and his entry to Pembroke (at the age of 31) remain somewhat obscure, but a Thomas Blair, recorded as 'Commander of HCS Wm.Fairlie' married Matilda Pughe Mackenzie in Calcutta on 7 June 1830 (India Office Records: Vol.27, Page 83); her father, Charles Mackenzie is recorded as being 'in the Civil Service'. The marriage of Thomas and Matilda is also recorded in the Calcutta Magazine and Monthly Register (for 1930) published by S. Smith & Company, 1830. It would also appear from contemporary shipping registers that the owner of the ship, HCS Wm.Fairlie, of which Thomas Blair was commander between about 1826 and 1833, was none other that Joseph Hare - and it would seem a remarkable coincidence if there had been two men called Joseph Hare this close to Thomas! (Joseph Hare may have arrived at the Cape as a lieutenant in the army, he is later described as Assist. Adjutant-General of the Cape of Good Hope!) Thomas Blair is commonly believed to have served the church in Calcutta and Tasmania, but that appears to rest on the fact that he was ordained by the Bishops of Calcutta and Tasmania. While the church records at Lambeth Place confirm that Thomas was ordained deacon by the Bishop of Calcutta in 1839 and ordained a priest by the Bishop of Tasmania in 1843, it would seem more likely that he was ordained in Cape Town. |
The first bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town, Robert Gray, was ordained in
Westminster Abbey in 1847 and only arrived in the Cape in February 1848 (having shipped a complete household, including an
episcopal carriage, to the Cape).
Before that time the Anglican Church in the Cape fell under the bishopric of Calcutta so, if the
Bishop of Calcutta (Daniel Wilson was Bishop of Calcutta between 1832 and 1858) happened to be passing through the Cape
(the Suez canal was not opened until November 1869) - and it is recorded that the first Bishop of Tasmania, Francis Nixon,
happened to be passing through the Cape to take up his posting in 1843. It would seem that the marriage of Thomas and Fanny coincided very neatly with his ordination as deacon in 1839 and he is first recorded as 'officiating minister' at St.John's, Wynberg, on a marriage certificate dated 16 June 1840. St.John's Church, Wynberg, had been built and consecrated in 1834 by a group of evangelical Anglicans and was the centrepoint of controversy regarding the choice to remain evangelical - as opposed to the the Anglo-catholic stance of the Anglican diocese under Bishop Robert Gray. The matter was resolved in favour of St.John's which, under the ruling of Ordinance 6 of 1833 (known as the Wynberg English Church Ordinance) which allowed St.John's to pursue it's evangelical tradition - a tradition which continued into the twentieth century with the parish being known as 'The Parish of St John the Evangelist, Wynberg, in Association with the Church of the Province of South Africa'. He remained the "Officiating Minister" of St. Johns for the next fourteen years and the couple had six children there. |
| Charlotte | Born abt 1842 | Wynberg, Cape of Good Hope | |||
| Isabella | Born abt 1844 | Wynberg, Cape of Good Hope | |||
| Mary | Born abt 1848 | Wynberg, Cape of Good Hope | |||
| Augusta Michel | Born 22 Mar 1850 | Wynberg, Cape of Good Hope | |||
| Fanny Stewart | Born Oct 30 1851 | Wynberg, Cape of Good Hope | |||
| Horatio Douglas | Born 7 Feb 1854 | Wynberg, Cape of Good Hope | |||
| Dawson | Born abt 1855 | Dorset | |||
| Richard Walmesley | Born 7 Jan 1857 | Dorset | Married Ida Mabel Limouzin |
| Thomas Richard Arthur Blair |
b: abt 1802 Ensbury, Dorset son of Capt Charles Blair (1776-1854) and Charlotte Matilda Dawson (1778-1837) |
| Frances Catherine Hare |
b: abt 1820 Cape of Good Hope daughter of Capt. Joseph Hare (1772-1856) and Sally Bird (1793-1862) |
|
17 Sept 1839 Thomas Richard Arthur Blair Frances Catherine Hare | St. John's Church, Wynberg, Cape Colony |
| Charlotte Blair |
b: abt 1842 Cape of Good Hope daughter of Thomas Richard Arthur Blair and Frances Catherine Hare |
| Isabella Blair |
b: abt 1844 Cape of Good Hope daughter of Thomas Richard Arthur Blair and Frances Catherine Hare |
| Mary Blair |
b: abt 1848 Cape of Good Hope daughter of Thomas Richard Arthur Blair and Frances Catherine Hare |
| Augusta Michel Blair |
b: 22 Mar 1850 c: 26 Apr 1850 Church of the Province of South Africa Cape of Good Hope daughter of Thomas Richard Arthur Blair and Frances Catherine Hare |
| Fanny Stewart Blair |
b: Oct 30 1851 c: 7 Dec 1851 Church of the Province of South Africa Cape of Good Hope daughter of Thomas Richard Arthur Blair and Frances Catherine Hare |
| Horatio Douglas Blair |
b: 7 Feb 1854 c: 28 Feb 1854 Church of the Province of South Africa Cape of Good Hope daughter of Thomas Richard Arthur Blair and Frances Catherine Hare |
| Dawson Blair |
b: abt 1855 Milborne, Dorset 1855 3Q Blandford 5a 237 daughter of Thomas Richard Arthur Blair and Frances Catherine Hare |
| Richard Walmesley Blair |
b: 7 Jan 1857 Milborne, Dorset 1857 1Q Sunderland 5a 265 son of Thomas Richard Arthur Blair and Frances Catherine Hare |
| 1861 Census | RG9-1331 | 8 April 1861 | Milborne St Andrew, Dorset | ||
| Parsonage | |||||
|
Rev. Thomas Blair Frances Catherine (Wife) Charlotte (Dau) Isabella (Dau) Mary (Dau) Augusta (Dau) Horatio (Son) Dawson (Son) Richard (Son) Plus 1 Servant |
Age 50 Age 38 Age 19 Age 17 Age 13 Age 11 Age 7 Age 5 Age 4 |
Vicar of the parish |
Exbury Cape of Good Hope Cape of Good Hope Cape of Good Hope Cape of Good Hope Cape of Good Hope Cape of Good Hope Milborne Milborne |
Dorset South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa Dorset Dorset |
abt 1802 abt 1820 abt 1842 abt 1844 abt 1848 22 Mar 1850 7 Feb 1854 abt 1856 7 Jan 1857 |
| Thomas Richard Arthur Blair | Died 25 Aug 1867, Age 65, Milborne, Dorset 1867 3Q Blandford 5a 143 |
| BLAIR, The Reverend Thomas Arthur Richard - Letters of Administration of the Personal estate and effects of the Reverend Thomas Arthur Richard Blair, late of Milborne, St Andrew, in the County of Dorset, Clerk, deceased, who died 25 August 1867, at Milborne, St. Andrew, aforesaid, were granted at the Principal Registry, to Fanny Blair, of Cleeve Cottage, Sion Hill, in the City of Bath, Widow, the Relict of the said deceased, she having been first sworn. Effects under £1,500. |
| 1871 Census | RG10-2495 | 3 April 1871 | Walcot, Lansdown, Somerset | ||
| Cleeve Cottage | |||||
|
Fanny Blair (Widow) Mary (Dau) Horatio (Son) Richard (Son) Manuel Hastings (Ward) Plus 2 Servants |
Age 47 Age 23 Age 17 Age 15 Age 2 Age 6 |
Annuitant Scholar Scholar Scholar |
Cape of Good Hope Cape of Good Hope Cape of Good Hope Milborne Norich |
South Africa South Africa South Africa Dorset Norfolk |
abt 1820 abt 1848 7 Feb 1854 7 Jan 1857 abt 1864 |
| 1881 Census | RG11-2443 | 4 April 1881 | Charlcombe, Somerset | ||
| Lansdown House | |||||
|
William Douglas Caroline (Wife) Frances C. Blair (SisLaw) Plus 3 Servants |
Age 74 Age 66 Age 58 |
Retired Madras Civil Servant Widow of Milborme Vicar |
Salisbury Wynberg Wynberg |
Durham Cape of Good Hope Cape of Good Hope |
abt 1806 abt 1814 abt 1820 |
| 1891 Census | RG12-1935 | 6 April 1891 | St Michael, Somerset | ||
| 7 Paragon | |||||
| Fanny C. Blair (Widow) | Age 68 | Private Means | Cape of Good Hope | South Africa | abt 1820 |
| 1901 Census | RG13-2343 | 1 April 1901 | Bath, Walcot, Somerset | ||
| 4 Brunswick Place | |||||
|
Frances C. Blair (Widow) Ida M. Blair (DawLaw) Margaret R. (GrDau)** Marjorie F. (GrDau) Plus 1 Servant |
Age 78 Age 25 Age 12 Age 2 |
Living on own means |
Cape of Good Hope Penge Buddon NWP Gya Bengal |
South Africa Middlesex India India |
abt 1820 18 May 1875 abt 1888 21 Apr 1898 |
| Frances Catherine (Hare) Blair | 1 Jan 1908, Age 84, 1908 1Q Bath 5c 407 |
| BLAIR, Frances Catherine - of 31 The Paragon, Bath, widow, Died 1 January 1908, Probate London, 7 February, to Reverend Charles Edward Benedict Barnewell, clerk. Effects £259 18s. 7d. |