Erasmus Blackwood

If one were to compile a ledger of England's most infamous gentlemen, Erasmus Blackwood, the seventh Baron Blackwood, would surely occupy a position of particular distinction.

Born in the year of our Lord 1753 and departing this mortal coil in 1812, his fifty-nine years upon the earth left an indelible—and many would say regrettable—mark upon society.

"The vilest man in England," it was rumored that half the illegitimate children in the ton could trace their bloodline back to his lordship's bedchamber, though the true tally of his natural children remains a mystery. Lord Blackwood himself likely lost count somewhere between the ballrooms of Mayfair and the taverns of Covent Garden. His conquests ranged from genteel ladies of quality—married and otherwise—to serving girls who found themselves in the wrong darkened corridor.

However, despite two marriages, only three of his legitimate children survived to see adulthood.

Lord Blackwood's first wife gave him only one living child, William, the eighth Baron Blackwood and a near copy of his father in all ways. After five miserable years of marriage and several miscarriages, the first Lady Blackwood died in childbirth along with an infant daughter.

Erasmus's second wife, a young heiress barely out of the schoolroom when he married her less than six months after becoming a widower, produced a second son, Gabriel, who later became the ninth Baron Blackwood. She also graced the family with a daughter, Alicia. Her third child, a son named Arthur, lived only a year before both mother and son were taken by a fever.

Despite his numerous flaws, Erasmus Blackwood was no wastrel. He amassed an astonishing amount of wealth during his lifetime, adding to that of his forbears, and passed that wealth on to his legitimate sons and daughter. His illegitimate progeny received no support or recognition whatsoever.