William Stewart Burdett Blackett died of wounds on this day in 1914
William Stewart Burdett Blackett was born 24 October 1873, the son of Commander Archibald Campbell Stewart Blackett R.N. and Clara Blanche Harriett (née Burdett).
He was also the nephew and heir of his uncle, Christopher Edward 'Kit' Blackett, the Laird of the Arbigland Estate in Dumfries. The estate had been home to the Blackett family and their forebears the Stewarts since 1852 when General William Stewart purchased the estate. General Stewart had served in the Coldstream Guards and also owned the St Fort estate in Fife. The estate then passed to his nephew Colonel Christopher Edward 'Kit' Blackett, who had served in the Sutherland Highlanders in the Crimean War where he was part of the ‘thin red line’ that held off the Russian Army at the Battle of Balaklava. He transferred to the Coldstream Guards while in the Crimea and took over Arbigland in 1872.
On his death in 1904, the estate passed to William. It is still in the Blackett family today.
William had two younger sisters. In 1881, the family lived at 14, Wellswood Place in Torquay. His father died the following year and, in 1891, the family was living in Dover with his mother's sister and three servants. His mother was described as "living on own means".
William was educated at Wellington and at Sandhurst and, in 1895, he joined the 3rd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards. In 1898, he was made lieutenant and, from 1899 to 1902, he served in the South African War.
He received the Queen's Medal with 3 clasps and the King's Medal with 2 clasps. In 1901, he was promoted Captain and, in 1903, he retired from the Army.
In 1904, on the death of his uncle, he inherited the Arbigland Estate in Scotland. He was described as a keen fisherman and cricketer, and was also fond of hunting and shooting. He was also a member of the Guards', Bachelors' and Army & Navy Clubs.
On 6 April 1907, he married Kathleen Prudence Eirene Bagenal from Staplestown in Ireland. The following year, they had their only child, Christopher William Stewart Blackett. In 1911, the family was living, with 9 servants, at Manton Grange in Oakham, Rutland.
In 1914, at the outbreak of war, he rejoined his old regiment, the Grenadier Guards, and was attached to the Leicestershire Yeomanry. He crossed to France and, on 20 November, he was wounded near Ypres.
He was removed to a French hospital in Poperinghe where, on 24 November 1914, he died from his wounds, age 41.
He is buried in the Poperinge Communal Cemetery.
William’s widow, Kathleen, legally changed her name to Blackett-Swiny following her 2nd marriage to Brig.-Gen. William Frederick Swiny in 1918.
She supervised the building of her dower house, “The House on the Shore”, in the grounds of the Arbigland Estate between 1934 and 1936, and lived there until her death in 1974.
Captain William Stewart Burdett Blackett, 3rd Bn Grenadier Guards, att. Leicestershire Yeomanry