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Rosalind Boultbee (1804 - 1874)

    Rosalind was the second daughter of William Boultbee and Frances Ann Appleyard. She was born September 1, 1804 at Clay Hill, Beckenham, Kent, England. This birth date is recorded in the family Bible of her parents, and also in the baptismal register of the Beckenham Parish Church.
     There is no record of her education, but there are two indications that it was adequate. In 1806, her father received a share of the large estate of his father Joseph and presumably had sufficient funds to educate his children, and from 1824 to 1849, she wrote several letters to her relatives, and the handwriting and grammar are of an educated person.
     Prior to 1824, the family leased a home in London. By 1824, they were living on a farm but the location is not given. By 1828, her father's address is Hay which may be the nearest village to the farm just mentioned. By 1832, the family was in Birmingham, and stayed there until about 1847.
     Rosalind wrote from Barnwell Rectory in 1837, the home of her cousin the Reverend Richard Moore Boultbee and his wife and seven children. Her letter was addressed to her brother Washington, just before he emigrated to Canada. It was an affectionate letter, but the key piece of advice was a request not to borrow money within the family, for it causes quarrelling and distrust between members of the family.
     In 1838, Rosalind was planning to travel to Canada to assist her younger brother Washington in the care of their older brother Boultbee:Felix Felix's five children. Her decision was noted in a letter to Washington Boultbee from his cousin Les J. Short in England.
     Dear Rosa [Rosalind] was in high spirits, I conclude you are aware of her plans for going out to you, but perhaps I am doing wrong in writing about it -- she says she feels it her duty to do all she can for the poor children, & I am sure she is so conscientious that she will act up to what she feels to be best.
     Rosalind arrived at Ancaster, Canada on July 6, 1840. She lived for two years at her brother's home, and in November 1842 purchased the farm and house across the road from her brother. The land was described as the south half of Lot 37 in the first concession of Ancaster Township. She paid £675 for the land, house, barn, stable, cattle shed, root house, sawmill, and cottage for a labourer. Presumably, the children would cross the road to visit her and sleep over whenever invited by Aunt Rosa.
     In 1845, Rosalind received a loan of £100 from her uncle, W. L. Appleyard at Bloomsbury Square in England. The purpose of the loan is not mentioned, but it may have been to return to England to visit her cousin the Reverend Richard Moore Boultbee once more. Richard's wife had died the previous year, and he was left with seven children to care for, and the return of Rosalind to his home seemed a very practical solution to his emergency.
     Rosalind wrote to her father in 1848 from the Rectory, and the letter is marked in her handwriting as from Miss Boultbee. Her property in Ancaster was sold the following year, the sellers being Boultbee:Richard Moore, Rev. Richard Moore Boultbee et ux [and wife]. They were married in 1848 at Bath according to the registers at the Public Record Office in London. They had no children of their own. For photos of Richard and Rosalind, see Chapter V.

    Rosalind, Richard and his children moved to Iver in Buckinghamshire in October of 1848, and began a new ministry for him at the chapel at Ditton Park. He was also involved with the construction of St. Margaret's Church in the Parish of Iver.
     In the late 1860s, they retired to Bath, and in April 1874 Richard died, and Rosalind died four months later. Their burials were in the Barnwell St. Andrew and All Saints Churchyard, alongside Richard's first wife, Mary Pegge. There is a stained glass window memorial to Rosalind in St. George's Church, Georgetown, Ontario, Canada.


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