Francis Nicholas Blundell (16 October 1880 – 28 October 1936) was a British Army officer, landowner and Conservative politician.
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Early life and career
Born at Crosby, his father Colonel Francis Nicholas Blundell (1853–1884) was a scion of the prominent Lancashire Roman Catholic land-owning family. His mother, Mary née Sweetman, of Killiney, County Dublin was an author who wrote a number of novels about country life under the pen name of M. E. Francis.
Blundell was educated at Stonyhurst College and the Oratory School, Birmingham, before going up to Merton College, Oxford (graduating BA in 1904).
Landowner and farmer
On the death of his uncle William Joseph Blundell (1851–1909), he inherited the Crosby Hall Estate. He thus became the owner of large landholdings, and involved himself in developing agriculture in the region. In 1912 he helped found the Lancashire Federation of Rural Friendly Societies enabling farm workers to take advantage of the National Insurance Act 1911. A member of the Lancashire Farmers Association (elected President, 1920), Blundell served as county representative on the National Farmers Union.