| Robert Blake, born in 1598, was the eldest child of the large family of well-to-do Bridgwater merchant and landowner Humphrey Blake - both Robert's father and grandfather had been mayors of Bridgwater, and two of his younger brothers were later to fill that office.
A restless man, who loved Bridgwater but could never settle in it, Blake spent most of his life away from the town. His father sent him to get the education of a gentleman at Oxford University, first at St. Alban's Hall and then Wadham College, where he tried and failed to establish himself in an academic career.
Robert lived in Bridgwater for a time after his father's death in 1625. Then, for about ten years, he seems to have been absent from Bridgwater. He may have tried to establish a business in Dorchester - a merchant named Robert Blake was active there around 1629-30. He may have worked at Schiedam in Holland as overseas agent for the family business. Or he may have been living quietly as a Somerset country gentleman at Puriton.
In April 1640 King Charles I called his first parliament for eleven years and Robert Blake was elected as one of the members for Bridgwater. He was one of many MPs committed to cutting back the power of the king. However, the King soon dissolved the short parliament before Robert could make his mark. Blake was not re-elected to the parliament called in November 1640, supplanted by another candidate of higher social status. Up until 1642 Robert Blake's career had been a series of false starts. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Blake found his vocation. |
