Bligh was born in London, the second son of John Bligh, 6th Earl of Darnley, by Lady Harriet Mary, daughter of Henry Pelham, 3rd Earl of Chichester.
William Bligh | Ivo Karlović | Ivo Andrić | Ivo Watts-Russell | Ivo Banac | Ivo Puhonny | Ivo Perišin | Ivo Josipović | Ivo Bligh | Ivo Vinco | John Bligh, 4th Earl of Darnley | John Bligh, 3rd Earl of Darnley | Ivo Vojnović | Ivo Perović | Ivo of Kermartin | Ivo Niehe | Ivo Linna | Ivo Heuberger | Ivo Babuška | Tommy Ivo | Sandro Ivo Bartoli | John Duncan Bligh | Ivo Urbančič | Ivo Stourton | Ivo Siromahov | Ivo Sanader | Ivo Pilar | Ivo Pauwels (author) | Ivo Pauwels | Ivo Opstelten |
Bligh originally intended to tour Australia in 1882/3 with a team consisting only of Cambridge University cricketers.
At school he played both association football and cricket although not in their representative XIs, but he won in 1876 a game of Eton Fives with Ivo Bligh who was later famous as the captain of the England cricket team of "Ashes" fame.
It was presented to Ivo Bligh, the captain of the England cricket team, after a friendly match hosted at Rupertswood mansion in Sunbury, during the 1882–83 tour in Australia, as a personal gift, and after his death was presented to the Marylebone Cricket Club, which has it on display at Lord's cricket ground.