Blake, James

Submitted by edpope on

see Poland Street 19 to 44 in London Addresses dataset

James Blake 29 Poland St ratebooks 1796-7 / coincidence this was house next door to 28 where William Blake DNB 1757-1827 lived from 1785-90, and his brother James Blake was rated nearby at 28 Broad St (though ratebooks more often included it in Marshall St) from 1784 to 1807. William Blake's brother was generally supposed by Blake scholars to have remained a bachelor. James Blake = St James 22.11.1779 Mary Eaton botp by banns & James Blake = St James 9.8.1781 Ann Beconsall botp by banns. That register didn't note widowhood but the two James Blake signatures look very different. If the signature of William Blake's brother can be found in archives they could be compared. John Robert son of James Blake & Ann bapt St James 22.6.1782 (born 29.4.1782 ?), also John David son of James Blake & Ann bapt St Margaret Westminster 11.2.1787. John and Robert were the names of two other brothers of William Blake. If he was indeed a bachelor these marriages may have belonged to the James Blake who paid the rates at 29 Poland St for two years