James Blount, 6th Baron Mountjoy

James Blount, 6th Baron Mountjoy, (c. 1533 – 1582) was an English peer.

Life

James Blount was born circa 1533 in Newport, Devon, the eldest son of Charles Blount, 5th Baron Mountjoy (1516–1544) and Ann Willoughby. He inherited his title on the death of his father. He was made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Queen Mary (29 September 1553); and was Lord Lieutenant of Dorset in 1559.^[1]

He was one of the commissioners who tried the Duke of Norfolk (1572), and spent the fortune of his family in the pursuit of alchemy. Sir William Cecil encouraged him in the manufacture of alum and copperas between 1566 and 1572.^[1]

Blount also had a reputation as a supporter of Protestantism, in line with that of his father and grandfather. Henry Bennet lauded him in 1561, mentioning also his patronage of Eliseus Bomelius, and the same year Jean Veron dedicated to him an anti-papal tract.^[2][3]

Family

He married on 17 May 1558 Catherine Leigh, daughter of Thomas Leigh of St. Oswalds. They had 5 children, William, Charles, Christopher, Ann and Edward.^[1]

On his death on 10 October 1582 in Hook, Dorset the title passed to his eldest son William Blount, 7th Baron Mountjoy.^[1]

References

1.  Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1886). "Blount, Charles (d.1545)". Dictionary of National Biography 5. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
2. Carley, James P. "Blount, Charles". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2682. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
3. Bennell, John. "Bomelius, Eliseus". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2811. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1886). "Blount, Charles (d.1545)". Dictionary of National Biography 5. London: Smith, Elder & Co.