Felix was the son of William Boultbee and
Frances Ann Appleyard. He was born August 13, 1796 at 78 Basinghall
Street, London. At the age of thirteen, he joined the East India
Company Mercantile Marine Service. In 1809 and 1812, he was a
Midshipman on the Haddart, on its voyages to India. In 1815, he was 5th Mate of the Cumberland, voyaging to Bombay and China. In 1818, he was 4th Mate of the Windsor.
Two of Felix's cousins were also in the Mercantile Marine Service,
Edward Francis Boultbee and Edward Moore Boultbee. All three men would
have left the Service when it ceased in 1833.
Felix married Mrs. Mary Nesbitt, née Samuel,
the widow of Captain William Nesbitt, at Clifford, Herefordshire on
January 31, 1823. Felix and Mary had one daughter, Mary Anne, and four sons, Alfred, Francis, William and Arthur.
When Mary Anne the eldest child was born, the family was living in the
Parish of Clifford in Herefordshire. In 1828, the family was at
Bittern Cottage near Southampton (Bitterne is a suburb at the east side
of Southampton today). By 1832, the family was living in Exeter, Devon.
After leaving the East India Company's
Mercantile Marine Service in 1833, Felix and Mary elected to emigrate
with their five children to Canada. The year of emigration was probably
1834, for on August 6, 1834 the local Member of Parliament, Mr. Clay,
wrote a letter to the Colonial Office recommending Felix (source:
National Archives of Canada), while in the following year Felix was
buying land in Canada.
Mary Nesbitt Boultbee died somewhere on the route to Canada. The event is described briefly in the book The Parish of St. John's Church, Ancaster by T.D.J. Farmer: Felix had the misfortune to lose his wife from typhus immediately after landing
(page 207). This may indicate that she is buried on Grosse Ile, the
quarantine island Grosse Ile, the quarantine island in the St. Lawrence
River 46 km downstream from Quebec City. All incoming ships had to stop
at the island, and families with typhus or cholera were not allowed to
proceed until approval was given by the doctors. There are several
thousand burials on the island, but very few records have survived.
Felix and his children moved on to Ancaster
Township, which is on the high land at the western end of Lake Ontario.
On July 16, 1835, he bought a farmhouse and 50 acres of land in Lot 36,
Concession 1 for £293/15/-. The land was partly cleared and in
cultivation. The Township was first settled in the 1790s, so that by the
time Felix arrived, he had neighbours within half a mile, and the
village of Ancaster about three miles to the south. To assist him with
the care of the children, he employed Elizabeth Templer as their nurse.
In 1836 or 1837, Felix became ill, and must have written to his
father requesting assistance from some member of the family. On April
10, 1837, he made his Will instructing his executors to communicate with
his father, Wm. Boultbee Esq. of Birmingham, and await his reply
concerning the care of the five children. In his Will he stated: I
give unto Elizabeth Templer for the sole and entire use of her child,
which she has, belonging unto me, the sum of Two Hundred Pounds. In
September 1837, Felix's youngest brother, Washington, arrived at
Ancaster from Birmingham to assist Felix with the running of the
household and the farm.
Felix died December 25, 1838, and was buried from St. John's
Church, Ancaster on December 28th, according to records in the registers
of the Church.
Washington was the executor of Felix's will, and probate was
granted March 5, 1840 (Wentworth County Will #407). In one of
Washington's petitions attached to the will, he states that Felix died the twenty fifth day of December last. This different year of death was queried with Alice Robertson, our family historian of Ancaster matters, and she replied: