# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Blakey, Robert

​BLAKEY, ROBERT (1795–1878), miscellaneous writer and professor of logic and metaphysics at Queen's College, Belfast, was the son of a mechanic, and was born at Morpeth 18 May 1795. Losing his father when only nine months old, he was taken charge of by his grandmother. From his ninth to his thirteenth year he assisted his ​uncle in gardening, after which he was apprenticed to the fur trade at Alnwick. Much of his spare time was devoted to reading, and in the evenings he received private instruction from a schoolmaster in geometry, physical geography, and astronomy. At an early period he acquired a strong love of abstract speculation, and latterly this absorbed his chief interest. In 1815 he left Alnwick for Morpeth, and soon afterwards began to contribute to the 'Newcastle Magazine,' the 'Black Dwarf,' 'Cobbet's Register,' and the 'Durham Chronicle.' In 1831 he published a 'Treatise on the Divine and Human Wills,' and in 1833, in two volumes, a 'History of Moral Science.' In the beginning of 1838 he purchased the 'Newcastle Liberator,' which, in 1840, was amalgamated with the 'Champion,' a London weekly paper under the title of 'The Northern Liberator and Champion,' and published both at Newcastle and London. For the publication in his paper of an essay on the natural right of resistance to constituted authorities, he was prosecuted by the government, and bound over to keep the peace. Shortly afterwards he sold the paper at a considerable loss, and on the failure of an attempt to start in London a paper called 'The Politician,' he went to France with the resolution to devote 'all his time and energies to philosophical literature.' In order to obtain a more thorough knowledge of the scholastic and middle-age literature, he visited the principal libraries of Belgium. The earliest results of his studies were seen in 'Christian Hermits,' published in 1845. For some time he also, for a stipulated sum, assisted a gentleman in preparing a work on the 'History of Social and Political Philosophy from the time of Charlemagne to the French Revolution.' The work never appeared, but the line of research into which it led him was of great service; in the preparation of his History of Political Literature from the Earliest Times,' two volumes of which were published in 1855. Previous to this he had brought out his principal work, 'History of the Philosophy of Mind, embracing the opinions of all Writers on Mental Science from the Earliest Times to the Present Day,' four vols. 1848; and 'Historical Sketch of Logic from the Earliest Times to the Present Day,' 1851. In philosophical speculation he was an orthodox follower of the intuitive school, and his works are popular rather than profound, but they are characterised by close reasoning, clear and correct statement, and comprehensive knowledge. In 1848 he was appointed professor of logic and metaphysics in Queen's College, Belfast, and in 1860 he received a pension of 100l. from the civil list. The later years of his life were spent in London, where he died 26 Oct. 1878.
In addition to the more elaborate treatises above mentioned, Blakey was the author of a number of minor works, including, along with the Rev. Daniel Paterson, a 'Life of Dr. James Beattie,' the poet: 'Cottege Politics, or Letters on the New Poor Law Bill,' 1837; 'Temporal Benefits of Christianity,' 1849; 'Old Faces in New Masks,' 1859 ; and, under the pseudonym of Nathan Oliver, 'A few Remarkable Events in the Life of Rev. Josiah Thompson,' a fictitious biography intended to illustrate the evils and inconveniences of dissent. It is, however, by his books on angling that he will be remembered with pleasure and gratitude by the largest circle of readers. In early life he found opportunity to become a great proficient in the art, and it was his chief recreation till his infirmities made it no longer possible for him to follow it. In 1846 he published, under the pseudonym of Hackle Palmer, 'Hints on Angling, with suggestions for angling excursions in France and Belgium, to which are appended some brief notices of the English, Scotch, and Irish waters;' in 1853, 'The Angler's Complete Guide to the Rivers and Lakes of England;' in 1854 a similar work on Scotland; in the same year 'Angling, or How to angle and where to go;' in 1855, 'Historical Sketches of the Angling Literature of all Nations;' and in the same year 'The Angler's Song Book.' The knowledge he obtained in early life of the kindred branch of sport, through the liberality of the Duke of Northumberland of that day, who allowed any one who chose to shoot over a large extent of his property, he also turned to account by publishing,' in 1854, 'Shooting; a Manual of practical Information on this Branch of British Field Sports.'
[The Memoirs of Dr. Robert Blakey, edited by the Rev. H. Miller, and published in 1879, contain interesting remimscences of many of the most eminent persons of his time.]
T. F. H.