The Arms of Sir Ferguson Blakiston, Bt
Noel Cox
first published (Winter 2003) 87 New Zealand Armorist 6-7
Sir Ferguson Arthur John Blakiston, the ninth baronet Blakiston, of London, in the baronetage of Great Britain, was born in 1963. He succeeded to the title in 1977, on the death of his father. Sir Ferguson lives at 27a Chambers Street, PO Box 8165, Havelock North, in Hawke's Bay.
The Blakiston family, of Blakiston, in the county palatine of Durham, were prominent in the the north of England in the early seventeenth century.
George Blakiston, who was born in 1675, moved south and settled in London. His son Matthew was an eminent City merchant, active in civic government. He was elected Alderman of the Corporation of the City of London in 1750, served as Sheriff in 1753, and was Lord Mayor of London in 1760. He was knighted 1759, and, as was then customary, received a baronetcy after his retirement (1763).
The custom had then been established of bestowing baronetcies on two classes of office holders. Best known of these was the Lord Mayor of London, the first so honoured being Sir Richard Gurney, Bt, in 1641. These creations were intermittent, and did not become consistent until 1889. Thereafter, with a few exceptions, every Lord Mayor received a baronetcy on retirement.
The last creation was of Sir Ralph Perring, Bt, in 1962, and after 1964 no further creations of baronets were made, due to the advent of the Labour Government of Lord Wilson of Rievaulx, KG OBE FRS PC.
Although successor British Governments have also generally declined to advise Her Majesty The Queen to create any more baronets, in 1990 Major Sir Denis Thatcher, Bt MBE TD, husband of the retiring Prime Minister, was created a baronet in the Resignation Honours List.
The second category of office-holders who traditionally received a baronetcy were the Prime Minister's Parliamentary Private Secretary, until Sir Knox Cunningham, Bt, in 1963. The award of a baronetcy to these Members of Parliament were however not so regular as those to the Lord Mayor. The Prime Minister's Parliamentary Private Secretary are now commonly sworn as members of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council.
The armorial bearings of the Blakistons are Argent, two bars Gules, in chief three cocks of the last.
The crest is a cock Gules.
The motto is Doe well and doubt not.
There are no supporters.