Charles Blake Allnatt was a barrister and the maternal grandfather of Henry Salt. Born on 29 May 1792 at Wallingford, Berkshire, he was the eldest son of Charles Atherton Allnatt and Martha Blake.
On 17 February 1818, he married Elizabeth Sophia Möller at Wem, Shropshire. They had seven children, including their eldest daughter, Ellen Matilda Allnatt, who became Henry Salt’s mother.
Charles was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn and was called to the Bar on 7 February 1821. He practised as a barrister and conveyancer in Shrewsbury and published legal works, including A Practical Treatise on the Law of Partition, first published in 1820, which dealt with the division of jointly owned property. He also inherited land under his father’s will, although he is believed to have disposed of it in favour of his brother, John Joseph Allnatt.
The Allnatt family home was at 23 The Crescent, Shrewsbury, where Henry Salt spent much of his early childhood with his maternal grandparents. Charles was described as “shy,” “sensitive,” and “whimsical”—traits that Henry was said to have inherited from his grandfather.
Charles died at The Crescent on 17 January 1862, aged 69. His death was reported in the Reading Mercury, which described him as “of Lincoln’s Inn, barrister-at-law” and identified him as the eldest son of the late Charles Atherton Allnatt of Wallingford.