NEWSLETTER NO.3
The details below are in approximately chronological order of the lives of the people concerned, starting with the earliest.
John Boultbee, 3rd son of Thomas, The Rector of Brailsford.
JB's 1889 copy of the History recorded no more
information about him other than the year of his birth - 1731 - all
that either he, or TPB, had been able to find out. In 1994 it seemed
reasonable to speculate in the new edition that the discovery of a John
Boultbee, of Manchester, who had married twice, and had had four
children by his first wife, might be the Brailsford John. The strong
coincidence of family names given to the three elder children and the
likelihood that he had left home to make his way as a younger son forced
to take up a profession or trade, seemed to be significant but could
not, at that time, be taken further.
The next development came in 1996. Newsletter
No.1, of that year, recorded the further discovery that the John
Boultbee of Manchester was an apothecary, was also referred to as a
"druggist" in 1763, and that he apparently died in 1777. Though
interesting as a suitable occupation for our John, these details did not
materially help towards a more positive identification. There the
problem rested until 1999 when much more information was found by Dennis
Heathcote, to whom again we record thanks for another most valuable
contribution to our History.
Dennis found that this John was also described as
a "Chymist and Druggist", carrying on this profession from his shop at
16 Market Street Lane, Manchester, employing two apprentices. He made
his Will in 1776, the year he died (not 1777 as previously believed) and
after his death the business was taken over on the 23rd July, 1776, by
William Brown.
John's parish church was St. Anne's, where his
children were baptized. He was buried there 7th May, 1776, his second
wife following him on 29th September, 1776. (His first wife, Mary, was
also buried at St. Anne's on 22nd November, 1774).
We now have a little more information about the
children. Only Lucy, born in 1765, survived infancy, though we know no
more of her other than that she was alive at the time her father made
his Will. The elder son, Thomas, was born in 1764, not 1763, and died in
1767, Joseph was born and died in 1773, and Maria was born and died in
1774.
It is plain that John moved in highly respectable
social circles, named executors and witnesses to the Will included a
gentleman, a merchant, and two architects, all of whom are well
represented in the city archives.
We come now to the terms of the Will and the
crucial statement in it which must finally confirm John's parentage. He
leaves his estate equally between his wife Sarah and daughter Lucy in
trust until Lucy comes of age, the interest on capital to be used for
her upbringing and education. If, however Sarah and Lucy die then half
of bequests is to be divided equally between John's brother Thomas, and
John's sister, Sarah Turner.
In 1776, of the Rector of Brailsford's children,
Thomas the eldest son was 52 and living at Stordon Grange, and the
daughter Sarah had been married since 1749 to John Turner, she being the
eldest surviving sister to the best of our knowledge. The other brother
Joseph, though still alive, for reasons set out in the History had
become estranged from his family and it cannot therefore be too
surprising that no brother Joseph is mentioned in John's Will.
A completely different and otherwise unidentified
John Boultbee living in Manchester might conceivably have had a brother
named Thomas but is not really likely to have one of that name as well
as a sister referred to by her correct given and married names. This
evidence, combined with the family given names of the three elder
children - Thomas, for father and brother, Lucy for mother and Joseph
that of the other brother - must surely confirm that John, The "Chymist
and Druggist", was indeed the youngest son of the Rector of Brailsford.
The above are the presently known facts about
this fairly prosperous family but it was also a tragic one. John loses
his first wife and three infant children within a period of ten years.
Assuming Lucy survives after her father's death she is then left an
orphan of only eleven having lost both parents and her step-mother
within two years, as well as all her siblings, and she would probably
have only been able to remember the two youngest. In the absence of
anything more known about her perhaps she did survive to maturity and
was looked after by one of the executors there being sufficient to
support her from the money left in John's Will.
We may wonder why Manchester, far from home in
Derbyshire, and how and why did John become an apothecary there? The
following is put forward as a possible explanation, though it is only
guesswork.
As noted in the History, younger sons of gentry
were usually expected to make their own way and they were often
apprenticed to a trade, no shame or social stigma being attached. Indeed
some young men were deliberately apprenticed to London City Livery
Companies since these were considered eventually to lead to prestigious
and lucrative careers. However, in John's case it is possible that his
father applied for advice and help from the "Corporation of the Sons of
the Clergy" - still very much extant and flourishing in its charitable
work for widows and dependants of Anglican clergy in need of relief from
financial worries or other distress. This charity was initially founded
in 1655 to help clergy who had remained loyal to the Crown during the
Commonwealth, many of whom had been deprived of their livings and
consequently often destitute and with few prospects for any children.
After the Restoration it continued and was granted a Royal Charter in
1678 by King Charles II. Apprenticeship fees of £15 - 20 were paid by
the Corporation for clergy children, both boys and girls, and annual
accounts were published in the press of the day in the 18th century. No
record of an apprenticeship for John appears in the Corporation's
archives - if it had it would have been around 1745 when John would have
been 14 or 15 - but having been perhaps approached by the Rector, for
help in finding a position with a professional man, the Corporation
could have replied that they knew of an apothecary in Manchester in need
of a bright young man from a clerical family prepared to be diligent
towards gaining the necessary professional qualifications. That John
does not appear in the Corporation's archives could just mean that, in
fact, the Rector himself had paid the cost of John's indentures, not the
Corporation, having taken up their suggestion of the Manchester
position.
Robert Boultbee, 1763 - 1835
Reference to page 95 of the History will show
that he was buried at Kegworth, Leicestershire, in 1835, but with some
doubt about the wording on his gravestone as reported to JB in 1890 by
the Rector of Kegworth i.e. whether Robert himself was "of Stordon
Grange or that his parents were". Confirmation of either statement
would, of course, prove who Robert of the gravestone actually was.
A search for the stone by a Family member some
years ago was not successful and we now know why, thanks to an
investigation early in 1999 on our behalf by Margaret Whieldon, a family
connection. Margaret found that Kegworth churchyard had been levelled
and all gravestones not claimed were covered up with earth and grassed
over. However, the inscriptions on the buried stones had been copied and
these records are preserved in the village museum. The exact positions
of the stones including that of Robert, were recorded on a plan. The
inscription on his stone, which was of slate, read :-
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UNDERNEATH |
The details given to JB stated, and were repeated in the History in good faith by him, that Robert was buried on September 2nd, 1835. This must, in fact, have been a mistake by the Kegworth Rector, since it is clear from the inscription that the death date was September 19th and therefore Robert must have been buried on 21st or 22nd September.
The grave of Robert's second wife, Jane, who
died in 1857, must also be hidden under grass in the churchyard. JB was
also informed that she was buried there, the curate Peter Lilly
officiating.
John "The Rambler" Boultbee, 1799 - 1854
Some interesting letters of his have recently
been found which add to the story of his time in Western Australia at
the early Swan River settlement, now the area of the cities of Perth and
Fremantle, though they only illustrate further the difficulties of his
life there. The "Ephemina", on which he had sailed from Hobart,
Tasmania, arrived at Fremantle on October 9th, 1829. It would appear
that his job as coxswain on the Governor's boat must have been obtained
almost immediately although it only lasted a few months. By February,
1830, we find him writing to the Colonial Secretary's office in Perth
seeking a post as clerk, having been reduced to working as a labourer
for a Mr. Trigg, but this application had no success. Exactly a year
later he tries again for a clerical post in the Governor's office and is
again rebuffed. Transcripts of his letters follow, which have not
always been easy to decipher.
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Perth 7th Feby, 1830
(addressed to P. Brown Esq. Colonial Secretary) Sir, Having understood that you were in want of a clerk in your Office, I have taken the liberty of writing to you to say that I should be happy to engage with you, provided the delay is tolerably reasonable. Thro' a series of adverse trials I have been reduced to the necessity of working as a common labourer with Mr. Trigg, with whom I have lived ever since I left the ship. I agreed with him only by the week, but as I have not been used to such an employment I should be glad to accept a situation in an office and have formerly been engaged in a similar capacity. I am at a loss for reference, unless I refer you to Mr. James, who can satisfy you as to my respectability. I can only say that I consider myself fully competent for anything of the sort, & am convinced I should give satisfaction. I have not mentioned my intended change to Mr. Trigg, but he now thinks I was dissatisfied, but I have not the least objection to your making any enquiries of him respecting me in such a manner as will not convey the most distant idea of my being about to leave him - but if I was certain of something better, I myself would immediately tell him that I had changed my views. For your information I will acquaint you with a brief account of myself since leaving home in 1821 [sic., 1823 in fact] in the Brig Woodlark which vessel I came passenger in, to Van Diemen's Land as a free settler, then I got robbed & being entirely disgusted with the state of society there, I left it & came here as a sailor in the Ephemina. Tomorrow morning, I will do myself the honour of waiting on your ..?.. office, & you will then be able to judge whether I should suit. I am Sir Your obedient and humble servt Jno. Boultbee |
| This letter, numbered A487, was received "Feby 7th 1830" and noted "John Boultbee - Application for a Situation" - all in clerkly copperplate hand. The second letter applied to the Governor's office, which we can be sure about because this high official was addressed as "Your Excellency" which term we find in John's letter. |
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Fremantle Feby 8th 1831
Sir, Having applied to Mr. Scott for the vacant situation as a clerk in the Harbour Master's office, I was requested to make the application to your Excellency. Mr. Scott at the same time expressing a wish that he had some person in that capacity. I hope that your Excellency will not consider me presumptious in thus again troubling you with a letter & I should feel extremely sorry if the application should be considered unreasonable (although I was once discharged from your Excellency's service) as I am not aware during the five months that I was under your command, that I ever committed myself. [NOTE. This is rather obscure but must refer to his service as coxswain on the Governor's boat]
I have the honour to be Sir Your Excellency's Most obedient servant Jno. Boultbee |
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This letter, numbered 7573, was received on February 8th, 1831, and action taken February 14th as follows :- |
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"Refer to Mr. Scott for information respecting this applicant and acquaint applicant that the situation is …..?….. filled up and therefore his application cannot be complied with." |
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Poor John, he would have been perfectly capable of such clerical work, having had plenty of experience in it in early life before he left England. After these disappointments he perforce took whatever work he could get - see page 106 of the History - which shows not only his desperation but his extraordinary will to survive. After his second unsuccessful try for a clerical post he was employed by the Surveyor General as a chainer for about two months in 1831, but this position did not work out as we see from the following two letters addressed to the Surveyor General. |
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1st April 1831 Perth
Sir, I find that my present salary does not cover my expenses by a great deal (altho' they are as moderate as possible) for after paying £3 per month for provisions, there only remains 30s. for the purchase of clothes etc. I have therefore been induced to accept an offer from a person at Fremantle of £6 a month which is considerably more to my advantage than my very low pay I have hitherto received. I have to request you to erase my name from your books and consider me no longer having any claims on your department from this date. John Boultbee |
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3rd April 1831 Fremantle
Sir, As I have requested McDonald to call for my month's wages & sign the receipt for the same in my name, I hope you will be so kind as to let him have the £3.19s (11s. being due to you) as soon as the monthly salaries are paid. John Boultbee |
Charles Royston Boultbee, 1861 - 1942, and his family
Records of families in Canada descended from
Charles Royston have now been much up-dated by Rodger Wartnaby Boultbee
of Spring Grove, Alberta.
He has written an excellent "History of the
Saskatchewan Boultbees" which he completed in 1998. This adds many
biographical details particularly for Charles Royston himself over and
above what was written in 1994 for Additional Chapter XVI for the
History (subsequently revised and re-issued at the same time as
Newsletter No.1, 1996). It includes the diary kept by Charles Royston of
his time in, and journeys to and from, New Zealand, which was briefly
mentioned in the History. Also included are many interesting family
reminiscences of life in the rural mid-west of Canada a hundred years
ago.
FOOTNOTE
Anyone with knowledge of Boultbee history who
happened to visit the recent exhibition at the Royal Academy, London, of
paintings by Sir Anthony Vandyck might have wondered whether the Sir
Robert Shirley, in a splendid painting showing him dressed in Persian
robes, was the founder of Staunton Harold Chapel. Most disappointingly
this is not so. This Sir Robert was born c. 1581 and died in 1628. (It
is possible that he was a brother of Sir Henry Shirley, 2nd Baronet, of
Staunton Harold Hall, who died in 1633, and Robert would have been
knighted because of his diplomatic post as Ambassador to the Shah of
Persia). He habitually wore the Persian robes in which he was painted in
Rome in 1622. However he did go so far as to doff his large and
elaborate turban when presented to King James I. He married a Persian
lady who survived him. Apparently there were several other portraits of
him, one of which later belonged to the Ferrers family. The above
details regarding Sir Robert were found in the 1897 edition of the
Dictionary of National Biography.
February, 2000