Mountjoy Blount
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Mountjoy Blount, 1st Earl of Newport (c. 1597 - February 12, 1666), the illegitimate son of Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire, inherited a large property by his father's will, and was a favourite with James I.
The family title was revived in his favour in 1618, when he was created Baron Mountjoy, of Mountjoy Fort, Co. Tyrone, in the peerage of Ireland; and Baron Mountjoy of Thurveston, Derbyshire, in the peerage of England. In 1628 he was further created Earl of Newport in the Isle of Wight. In the same year he was appointed to command, with the rank of rear-admiral, the expedition for the relief of Rochelle; in 1634 he was made master of the ordnance. He took the popular side at the beginning of the trouble between Charles I and the parliament, and was an eager opponent of Strafford.
When the Civil War broke out, however, Newport served in the royalist army, and took part in the second battle of Newbury in 1644. In January 1646 he was taken prisoner and confined in London on parole. He died at Oxford, leaving two surviving sons, who in turn succeeded to the earldom of Newport and barony of Mountjoy. Both titles became extinct on the death of Henry, the younger of these sons, in 1681.
Reference
- This entry incorporates public domain text originally from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica.