(d. 1801); naval officer, midshipman 1758, lt. 1761, commdr. 1779, r.-adml. 1799; served in N.America, Russia and E.Indies.
1784 - 5 Leghorn (Aug. 1784), Naples (Apr. 1785), Leghorn ( - Aug.), Genoa, Naples (Sep.)
[1796 Milan, Verona (1 - 2 May)]
Blankett was a naval officer distinguished by the favours he received from the courts at Florence and Naples, and by his ability as a linguist (in French, Italian and Portuguese). In March 1784 he spent six weeks searching unsuccessfully for The Great Duchess of Tuscany which had been captured by pirates with Lady Astley's youngest son William and two English women on board (see Capt. William Blackett). In August 1784 Lady Knight wrote that 'he has had the great fortune of being a great favourite with the Emperor, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and the King and Queen of Naples. He is at present at Leghorn'.1 The King of Naples is said to have presented him with his portrait set in diamonds (DNB). In April 1785, when he was described as Captain of the Thetis, he was seeking permission to view manuscripts at Capodimonte.2 He was then to take the Neapolitan Court to Leghorn, after which the 10th Earl of Pembroke intended to sail with him to Gibraltar; in August Blankett took the Court from Leghorn to Genoa, and Pembroke sailed with him back to Naples in September; in October Blankett was chasing pirates in the seas round Malta.3
He was possibly the Captain John Blackett who subscribed to Mrs Barry's Maria, a Persian Slave in Leghorn in 1790, and possibly the 'Vice Ammiaglio Placher' in Milan and Verona in May 1796.4
1. Knight Letters, 128. 2. ASN e 683. 3. Pembroke Papers, 2:270, 281, 283. 4. ASV IS 771, 777.