Blackwell was born in
Oxford,
England. He was the son of
Benjamin Henry Blackwell (18491924), founder of
Blackwell's bookshop in
Oxford, which went on to become the Blackwell family's
publishing and
bookshop empire, located on
Broad Street in central Oxford. The publishing arm is now part of
Wiley-Blackwell. He was educated at
Magdalen College School, Oxford and
Merton College, Oxford. He was the first person in his family to attend university. In 1913, he began working with his father at Blackwell's. Upon his father's death in 1924, he took over the company and remained working there for decades. He married Marion Christine Soans. Their daughter was Dame
Penelope Jessel. In 1979, he was awarded a
Doctorate of Civil Law honoris causa at the
Oxford Encaenia. Blackwell was a prosecution
witness in the 1966
private prosecution attempt to bar the book
Last Exit to Brooklyn from
UK publication. ==Family==