Background
He was born in Burwood in Victoria to blacksmith William Blanksby and Millicent Holmes.
He was born in Burwood in Victoria to blacksmith William Blanksby and Millicent Holmes.
He resigned from the ministry to unsuccessfully run for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1894. He ran again in 1895, without success, but later that year was appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council. He was generally considered a Free Trader, although one with Labor sympathies.
He resigned from the Council in 1901 in order to become Secretary to the Miners" Accident Relief Board, a position he held until 1920.
Blanksby died in Lakemba in 1924.