The renowned Admiral Blake, a native of Bridgewater, and possessed of property in the neighbourhood, left behind him a numerous family of brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces, settled in the county of Somerset; to wit, his brothers Humphrey, William, George, Nicholas, Benjamin, and Alexander all survived him, as did also his sisters, Mrs. Bowdich, of Chard, and Mrs. Smith, of Cheapside, in London. His brother Samuel, killed in an early part of the Civil War, left two sons, Robert and Samuel, both of them honourably remembered in the will of their great uncle. Can any of your readers, acquainted with Somerset genealogies, give me any information which may enable me to make out the descent of the present families of Blake, in that county, from this stock?

There are at least two Blake houses now in existence, who are probably of the blood of the illustrious admiral; the Blakes of Bishop's Hall, near Taunton, of which William Blake, Esq., a magistrate for the county, is the head; and the Blakes of Venue House, Upton, near Wiveliscombe, the representative of which is Silas Wood Blake, son of Dr. William Blake, a bencher of the Inner Temple. These families possess many relics of the admiral—family papers, cabinets, portrait, and even estates; and that they are of his blood there are other reasons for believing; but, so far as I know, the line is not clearly traced back. In a funeral sermon spoken on the death of the grandfather of the present William Blake, Esq., of Bishop's Hall, I find it stated that—

"He was descended from pious and worthy ancestors; a collateral branch of the family of that virtuous man, great officer, and true patriot, Admiral Blake. His grandfather, the Rev. Malachi Blake, a Nonconformist minister, resided at Blogden, four miles from Taunton. This gentleman, by his pious labours, laid the foundation of the dissenting congregation at Wellington, in the county of Somerset. After the defeat of the Duke of Monmouth, to whose cause he had been friendly, he was obliged to flee from home, and went to London disguised in a lay-dress, with a tye-wig and a sword."

This minister had three sons, John, Malachi, and William; and it is from the last named that the Blakes of Bishop's Hall are descended. But who was the father of Malachi Blake himself? He was probably a son or grandson of one of the admiral's brothers—but of which?

Permit me to add to this Query another remark. I am engaged in writing a Life of Admiral Blake, and shall be extremely grateful to any of your correspondents who can and will direct me, either through the medium of your columns or by private communication, to any new sources of information respecting his character and career. A meagre pamphlet being the utmost that has yet been given to the memory of this great man, the entire story of his life has to be built up from the beginning. Fragments of papers, scraps of information, however slight, may therefore be of material value. A date or a name may contain an important clue, and will be thankfully acknowledged. Of course I do not wish to be referred to information contained in well-known collections, such as Thurloe, Rushworth, Whitelock, and the Parliamentary Histories, nor to the Deptford MSS. in the Tower, the Admiralty papers in the State Paper Office, or the Ashmole MSS. at Oxford. I am also acquainted, of course, with several papers in the national collection of MSS. at the British Museum throwing light on the subject; but while these MSS. remain in their present state, it would be very rash in any man to say what is not to be found in them. Should any one, in reading for his own purposes, stumble on a fact of importance for me in these MSS., I shall be grateful for a communication; but my appeal is rather made to the possessors of old family papers. There must, I think, be many letters—though he was a brief and abrupt correspondent—of the admiral's still existing in the archives of old Puritan families. These are the materials of history of which I am most in need.

Hepworth Dixon.

84. St. John's Wood Terrace.