Major Peter Boulton, Citizen and gunsmith of London

What can we learn about Peter Boulton from his will, and from the wills of his brother Richard Boulton the elder, and his nephew Richard Boulton the younger?

We know that Peter was the brother of Richard Boulton senior and that they had a number of other siblings. These included a sister called Mary whose married name was Lewes and a brother Thomas, whose wife was named Bridget and who was the father of Richard Boulton junior and his brother William. They also appear to have had a sister who was married to Captain Richard Gosfreight and another who was married to a man with the surname Jemblin. It’s also likely that it was their sister Elizabeth who married Martin Markland, since the latter’s daughter Alice, who married surgeon William Biggleston, is described as their niece. Another niece named Hester or Esther Saunders married Thomas Crabb, and it’s possible that her mother was another Boulton sister. Finally, there was a niece whose surname was ‘Collibye’ (Coleby?), but the identity of her parents is also unknown.

As for Peter himself, we know from all three wills that his wife, certainly at the time these wills were written, bore the unusual name of Posthuma. By the time that Richard Boulton junior wrote his will in 1740, we know that they were living in Bath. However, we also know that Peter owned property in the parish of St Mary Axe in the City of London.

Peter’s will doesn’t suggest that he had any surviving children, and neither do the other two wills. However, since Peter and Posthuma had a granddaughter Mary who was married to Walter Gibbs, a Bath apothecary, they must have had at least one child who lived long enough to marry and to have a child themselves before he or she died. If we assume that Mary was at the very least 15 when she married Walter, and that she was already married in 1740, then she must have been born by 1725 at the very latest. This means that her father or mother, Peter Boulton’s son or daughter, was probably born in the early 1700s, at the very latest.

18th century flintlock pistols (via icollector.com)

In searching for further information about Peter Boulton, I came across the following in a statement by Samuel Hullock, a convicted murderer, from an Old Bailey trial of 1747:

After this I came to Major Peter Boulton, a Gunsmith in Tower-Street, and was turned over to him in October, 1717, whom I served to his Satisfaction the Remainder of my Time, and 3 Months over; having before I became his Servant scarce served a Year.

Since his brother and his nephew had military or naval ranks (both were captains), and since the family appears to have lived close to the Tower, I suspected that this might be ‘our’ Peter Boulton. My suspicions were confirmed when I came across the record of a marriage, on 26^th June 1691, at the church of St James, Westminster, between Peter Boulton of All Hallows Barking, London, a gun maker and a bachelor, aged about 26 (i.e. born in about 1665), and Elizabeth Bushwell, of ‘Flatbury’ [sic], in Worcestershire, a spinster of about 21 years of age, ‘at her own disposal, her parents dead’. We know that the Boultons had strong ties with the parish of All Hallows Barking, and in a recent post I reported my discovery that Thomas Saunders, the father of Hester who married Thomas Crabb, was from the hamlet of Moor near Fladbury. Four years before this marriage, in 1687, a young man named Edward Castle, son of Richard Castle of Churchill, Oxfordshire, was apprenticed to Peter Boulton, Citizen and gunmaker of London.

Part of Rocque’s 1746 map of London. Priest Alley is at bottom right, off Tower Street

I’ve found land tax records for Peter Boulton in the Tower Street area between 1703 and 1728. In 1703 and 1706 he was living in Black Raven Court: in the first record he was described as a captain, while in the second he was a major. From 1708 onwards, Major Peter Boulton lived in Priest Alley, where until 1717 his close neighbour was Martin Markland, who may have been married to Peter’s sister. After Markland’s death in 1717, the house was occupied by ‘Widow Markland’. From 1726, there was an additional tax payer living at the Markland house: William Biggleston, husband of the Marklands’ daughter Alice.

It seems likely that Major Peter Boulton, gunsmith, is the same person who retired to the city of Bath (perhaps after 1728, when the London tax records for him come to an end) and died there in 1743. Before then, he may have maintained property in Bath that served as a country retreat: papers from the City of London Sessions in 1715 note the absence of some members – magistrates? – commenting ‘that Sir Samuel Clarke is at Tunbridge, Mr Peter Boulton at the Bath’.

However, my certainty that I’d found the ‘right’ Peter Boulton was temporarily undermined when I discovered that, in 1723-4, Peter Boulton, son of Peter Boulton of All Hallows Barking, London, ‘gent’, matriculated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, aged 15. He gained his Bachelors degree in 1727 and his Masters in 1730. This Peter Boulton would have been born in about 1708. So which of these two men died in Bath in 1743? I think it was probably the father, since it’s unlikely that the younger Peter would have a married granddaughter (Mary Gibbs) by the time he was 35. But if this is ‘our’ Peter’s son, then he must have died before 1743, since the will of Peter Boulton of Bath makes no mention of him, or indeed of any other children. Could he have been the father of Mary who married Walter Gibbs?

Church of All Hallows Barking, London

My attempt to find a record of the baptism or marriage of the younger Peter Boulton brought me up against a rather impenetrable brick wall. It appears that the parish registers of All Hallows Barking, where the Boulton family seems to have lived in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, have not yet been digitised and can’t be consulted online. Frustratingly, they are only available on microfilm at the London Metropolitan Archives, which means I might need to make a visit to Clerkenwell.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to use wills and other archive material available online to try to piece together, as best I can, the story of the Boultons and their connection to my own ancestors.

The will of Peter Boulton of Bath

In this post I’m sharing my transcription of a third will by a member of the Boulton family. A few days ago I wrote about the 1737 will of Richard Boulton the elder, of the parish of St Olave Hart Street in the City of London. This was followed by the will of his nephew, another Richard Boulton, who had retired to Perdiswell in Worcestershire, written in 1740 and proved in 1745. Today I’m reproducing a transcription of the brief last will and testament of Peter Boulton, signed and sealed in 1741 and proved in 1743.

Firstly, a brief reminder of my interest in the Boultons. In 1733 my 8 x great grandmother Alice Byne née Forrest appointed ‘Richard Boulton the Elder’ as overseer of her will (though in the event he would pre-decease her by a year). In his will of 1700, Alice’s uncle William Forrest of Badsey, Worcestershire, had referred to ‘my sister Alice Boulton’ and to ‘my cozen Alice Bolton daughter of Peter Bolton’. My research into the Boultons over the past few days has provided sufficient evidence to persuade me that this is indeed the ‘right’ family, and that my Forrest ancestors were related to them in some way that I’ve yet to discover.

Bath in the 18th century

We know from the will of Richard Boulton the elder that Peter Boulton was his brother. The unusually named Posthumous or Posthuma Boulton is described in that will as Richard’s sister, but the will of his nephew, the younger Richard, confirms that she was actually his sister-in-law – the wife of his brother Richard. That later will refers to ‘my Uncle and Aunt Peter and Posthuma Boulton of the City of Bath’. Richard Boulton the younger also leaves money to ‘Mrs. Mary Gibbs the Wife of Walter Gibbs of the City of Bath Apothecary’, whom Peter’s will reveals to be his granddaughter.

My transcription of Peter Boulton’s will follows, and in the next post I’ll report what I’ve managed to find out about its author:

I Peter Boulton of the City of Bath in the County of Somerset Gentleman do hereby make and ordain this my last will and Testament in manner following (that is to say) first all that my Messuage or Tenement with all appurts thereto belonging in the parish of St Mary Axe in the City of London I give and devise unto my granddaughter Mary Gibbs the wife of Walter Gibbs in the said City of Bath Apothecary her heirs and assigns forever Item I all my Goods and Chattels Rights and Credits whatsoever and wheresoever I give and bequeath unto my loving wife Posthuma Boulton whom I do hereby appoint whole and sole Executrix of this my will And I do hereby revoke all former wills by me at any time heretofore made and do declare this to be my last will and Testament In Witness whereof I the said Testator have to this my last will and Testament set my hand and seal this nineteenth day of October one thousand seven hundred forty and one Peter Boulton Signed sealed published and declared by the said Testator as and for his last will and Testament in the presence of us who at his request and in his sight have subscribed our hands as Witnesses hereto John Cogswell Richard Butt Saml. Purlewent. 

This Will was proved at London on the Ninth day of July in the year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and forty three before the Right Worshipfull John Bettesworth Doctor of Laws Master Keeper or Commissary of the prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully constituted By the Oath of Posthuma Boulton Widow the Relict of the deced and sole Executrix named in the said will To whom administration was granted of all and singular the Goods Chattels and Credits of the said deceased being first sworn duly to administer the same .

New information about the Boulton and Crabb families

In my continuing search for more information about the Boulton family, I’ve come across two interesting and useful pieces of information, though unfortunately I can no longer trace the sources. The first was the revelation that Henry Crabb, who is described in the will of Richard Boulton Junior as his cousin, was in fact his second cousin. The second was that Henry was christened in Stepney, rather than in the City of London.

Part of Rocque’s 1746 map of London, showing Lemon or Leman Street

Returning to the parish records, I found the baptism on 12^th September 1709, at the church of St Mary, Whitechapel, of Henry, son of Thomas and Hester Crab (sic) of Lemon Street. Lemon or Leman Street ran north to south between Ayliff Street and Rosemary Lane, close to Goodmans Fields. I haven’t yet found a christening record for Henry’s younger brother Richard. However, this new evidence is useful both in confirming their father’s name and in locating the Crabb family in time and place.

Armed with this new information, I then searched for the marriage of Thomas and Hester Crabb. I discovered that, on 12^th October 1708, at the church of St Paul, Benet’s Wharf in the City of London, Thomas Crabb of Whitechapel married Hester Saunders of All Hallows Barking. The date fits perfectly with the birth of Henry just under a year later, and Hester’s address matches what we know about other members of the extended Boulton family – indeed we know that Hester (or Esther, the two names are interchangeable) would be living in the parish of All Hallows in 1737, when she authenticated the memorandum to the will of Richard Boulton the elder.

More significantly, Hester Saunders is yet another name that occurs in the will of  William Forrest (brother of my 9 x great grandfather Thomas Forrest) which was written in 1700 – when, of course, Hester Saunders would still have been unmarried. William bequeaths ‘twenty shillings apiece’ to ‘William Grace and Hester children of Mr Thomas Saunders’.

In his will of 1737, Richard Boulton the elder mentions ‘my niece Hester Crab’ and ‘my nephews Henry Crabb and Richard Crabb’. I had assumed that his niece must be the sister of Henry and Richard. However, it now seems that his niece, Hester Crabb née Saunders, was Henry’s and Richard’s mother, and that these two men were therefore Richard Boulton senior’s great nephews. This means that it was probably Hester’s father Thomas Saunders who was married to a sister of Richard Boulton the elder. Perhaps her name was Grace, like their daughter?

William Forrest’s will describes Thomas Saunders as ‘of Moore’. I’ve had great difficulty identifying this place, as searches for a place of that name in Worcestershire didn’t at first produce any results, nor could I find a will for Thomas. Then I came across a will for a completely different person that located him in Moore, in Fladbury, Worcestershire. A search of the map revealed that Fladbury was very close to Evesham, where another Boulton relative, John Jemblin, lived, and not far from William Forrest’s home in Badsey, and that (Upper and Lower) Moor are small settlements close by.

Fladbury church and mill (via bbc.co.uk/history/domesday)

I’ve found a reference at the National Archives to a Mr Thomas Sanders ‘gent’ of Moore in Fladbury, who seems to have been a non-juror after the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. Could this be the same man, and does this mean he was a Catholic? I’ve requested a copy of the relevant document, and in the meantime will continue to search for records of the Saunders, Crabb and Boulton families in London and Worcestershire.

Analysing the will of Captain Richard Boulton Junior

My last post included a transcription of the will of Captain Boulton Esquire Junior, a retired East India Company officer, who died in 1745. In this post I want to discuss what the will tells us about the extended Boulton family.

The East India Company, by Thomas Rowlandson (1808)

The will confirms that Bridget Boulton, described as a sister by Richard’s uncle, Richard Boulton of St Olave Hart Street, in his will of 1737, was in his fact his sister-in-law. This later will informs us that Bridget was the mother not only of Richard Boulton Junior but also of the William Boulton mentioned in the earlier will, meaning that they were brothers. We can also conclude that Bridget’s husband died before 1737, since she is described here as a widow, nor is he referred to in the earlier will.

As in other wills of this period, the loose usage of terms like ‘cousin’ can be confusing. Richard Boulton Junior uses this word to describe Richard Crabb and his brother Henry, both of whom later added the surname Boulton to their own, and also their mother Esther, who I believe was actually his aunt.

This will also confirms that Peter Boulton, uncle to the younger Richard and brother to the elder, was the husband of the Posthuma mentioned in the earlier will. Alice Biggleton and her husband William are also mentioned in both wills: in this later will we learn that William worked as a surgeon.

Eighteenth-century surgeon

The reference to Mrs Mary Lewes is curious. Richard Boulton had described her in his will as his sister, so I assume she must be the widow of a Mr Lewes and that her maiden name was Boulton. However, in this later will she is described as a spinster, which must surely be an error.

Richard leaves money to Walter and Mary Gibbs of Bath. From the will of Peter Boulton, which I’ll discuss in another post, we know that Mary was his granddaughter and that her husband Walter was an apothecary.

As for ‘my cousin John Jemblin of Evesham’: I find the Evesham connection interesting, mainly because William Forrest, the brother of my 9 x great grandfather Thomas Forrest, who mentions various members of the Boulton family in his own will, lived not far from Evesham in the village of Badsey. I believe I’ve found the will of John Jemblin’s father and will have more to say about this family in another post.

The late-18th century Perdiswell Hall, Worcester

A final note on Perdiswell, to which Richard Boulton Junior had retired by the time he wrote his will. This is an area to the north of the city of Worcester, the site of Perdiswell Hall. However, this Georgian house was not actually built until 1787, coincidentally (?) by another retired East India Company officer named Henry Wakeman, son of the mayor of Worcester. There seems to have been an earlier manor house on the site, but I haven’t been able to discover whether this was the home of Richard Boulton.

The will of Captain Richard Boulton Junior of Perdiswell, Worcestershire

Three years after the death of his uncle, Richard Boulton the elder, whose will of 1737 I discussed in the previous post, Captain Richard Boulton Junior of  the East India Company made his own last will and testament. It would be another five years after that before the will was proved: Richard Boulton the younger died in 1745, the year of the Jacobite uprising.

A ship of the East India Company at Blackwall

This second Boulton will is valuable in confirming some of the family relationships revealed in the earlier document, and it also extends our understanding of the Boultons in important ways. In this post, I’m sharing my transcription of the will, and I’ll discuss its implications in the next post. As before, I’ve retained the original spelling as far as possible and have highlighted in bold the named of individuals when first mentioned.

In the Name of God Amen I Richard Boulton of Perdeswell in the County of Worcester Esquire being of sound and disposing Mind Memory and Understanding do make my last Will and Testament in manner following that is to say I desire to be buried privately without any pomp and I order and direct my just Debts and the Expense of my funeral to be paid and discharged as soon as may be Whereas my late Uncle Richard Boulton late of the parish of Saint Olave Hart Street in the City of London Esquire deceased by his last Will and Testament bearing date ninth day of April one thousand seven hundred and thirty seven – after writing that he had bought the Revertion of two Annuitys of fourteen pounds per Annum payable out of his Majesties Receipt of Exchequer one of which at the time of his making his Will was fallen in and the other was then and is still payable to a Lady in Scotland did will and direct that the fourteen pounds per Annum which was then fallen in should be paid from time to time as it should become due to his the Testators Nephew William Boulton my Brother during his natural Life and also that the other fourteen pounds per Annum Annuity when it should fall in should be also paid to the said William Boulton during his Life as by the said Will may appear Now I do hereby give and bequeath unto my honoured Mother Bridget Boulton Widow an Annuity by yearly sum of eighty six pounds for so long time of her Life and untill the fourteen pounds per Annum left by my said Uncle to my said Brother William Boulton and which at the time of making his Will was not fallen in shall fall in and become payable and from and after the time that the said fourteen pounds per Annum shall fall in and become payable I give her an Annuity or yearly sum of seventy two pounds during her natural Life such respective Annuitys to be paid to my said Mother by equal Quarterly payments without any Deduction upon Amount of Taxes or upon any other Amount whatsoever Item I do hereby give and bequeath unto my said Brother William Boulton from and after the death of my said Mother during his natural Life such Annuity or yearly sum of Money as with what he shall receive by virtue of the Will of my said late Uncle will make up the full and clear sum of sixty pounds which sum it is my Intent and meaning And I do order and direct shall be laid out and expended by my Executor after named for the use and Benefit of my said Brother in maintaining and providing for him but shall not be paid to him in money Item I give and Bequeath unto Mrs Mary Lewes of London spinster an Annuity or Yearly sum of ten pounds during her natural Life to be paid Quarterly clear of all Deductions whatsoever And I charge all my Estate Reall and Personal with the payment of the said several Annuities Item I give and bequeath unto my said Mother the sum of two hundred pounds of lawfull Money of Great Britain over and above the said respective Annuitys to be paid her immediately after my Decease Item I give and bequeath unto my Cosen Esther Crabb of Tower hill London Widow the sum of five hundred pounds and to my Cousin Captain Richard Crabb Son of the said Esther Crabb the like sum of give hundred pounds the said Legacies of two hundred pounds five hundred pounds and five hundred pounds to be paid within six Months after my Decease Item I give and bequeath unto my Uncle and Aunt Peter and Posthuma Boulton of the City of Bath ten Guineas a peice for Mourning and unto my Cousin Alice Biggleston Wife of William Biggleston Surgeon twenty Guineas for Mourning and to each of her Children that are now born or which shall be born before the time of my death and shall be then living the sum of ten Guineas and my Cousin John Jemblin of Evesham in the said County of Worcester twenty Guineas and to Mrs. Mary Gibbs the Wife of Walter Gibbs of the City of Bath Apothecary ten Guineas and to the before named Mary Lewes ten Guineas and to my friend William Cury (?) of London Salter ten Guineas such last mentioned Legacies to be paid immediately after my Decease Item I give and bequeath unto the persons who at the time of my Decease shall be living with me in the Capacitys of housekeeper and Butler twenty pounds apeice and to the person who shall be then my Gardner five pounds and to every other yearly servant who shall be living with me at my Death a years Wages and in Order that the several Annuitys herein before given may be effectually secured and punctually paid I do hereby direct my Executor herein after named to buy out so much of my personal Estate at Interest upon Government or other Good Securitys The Interest whereof shall be fully sufficient to pay the said Annuitys as the same shall become due and that he continue at Interest upon such Securities after the death of my said Mother a sufficient part of my Estate The Interest whereof shall be sufficient to pay my said Brother the Annuitys herein before given and directed to be laid out for his Use and Benefit so that the same may be effectually secured Provided always and my Wills is that if there shall not be of my personal Estate after payment of my Debts and the several Legacies before mentioned sufficient to layout on securities the Annual Interest or Produce whereof will pay the said Annuities to my said Mother and Brother and the said Mary Lewes respectively in such Case I impower and direct my Executor herein after named to lay out so much of the one thousand pounds before given to the said Esther Crabb and Richard Crabb as will be sufficient to make the Interest and produce of the Money to be laid out fully able to pay the said Annuities to my said Mother and Brother and Mary Lewes respectively and in that case my said two Legatees Esther Crabb and Richard Crabb must abate proportionally of the payment of their said Legacies at the time before mentioned and must wait for their respective Shares of what their said Legacies shall be so laid out till the Death of my Mother when I direct the same to be paid them and I do give and bequeath to such of my Relations and Friends as my Executor shall think fit each of them a Ring Item I Give Devise and Bequeath all my Mannors Messuages Lands Tenements and Hereditaments wheresoever the same shall be situate both Freehold and Copyhold and also all the rest residue and remainder of my Goods Chattels Money Securities for Money Debts Effects and Personal Estate unto my Cousin Henry Crabb Gentleman Son of the said Esther Crabb and to his Heirs Executors and Admintors to and for his and their own Use and Benefit forever And I do hereby name constitute and appoint the said Henry Crabb sole Executor of my Will and declare that my said Executor shall not be answerable or accountable for any Loss that may happen to my Estate in putting the same or any part thereof out at any Interest pursuant to the Directions herein before contained Lastly I do hereby revoke and make void all former and other Wills by me at any time heretofore made and do declare these presents only contained in five sheets of paper to be my last Will and Testament and none other or otherwise In Witness whereof I the said Richard Boulton the Testator have to each sheet of this my Will and to a Duplicate thereof set my Hand and Seal the twenty eighth day of February in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty and in the fourteenth year of the Reign of King George the second R. Boulton – signed sealed published and declared by the said Richard Boulton the Testator as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who have hereunto subscribed our Names as Witnesses in the presence of the said Testator and of each other John Combe Apothecary in Southampton Street Bloomsbury Square. Jono. Wendon Copthall Court Throgmorton Street John Edgar his Clerk.

This Will was proved at London the first day of March in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty five before the Worshipful George Hay Doctor of Laws and Surrogate of the right Worshipfull John Bettesworth also Doctor of Laws Master Keeper or Commissary of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully constituted by the Oath of Henry Crabb Boulton formerly Henry Crabb the sole Executor in the said Will named To whom Admincon was granted of all and singular the Goods Chattels and Credits of the said deceased being first sworn duly to administer the same.

Analysing the will of Richard Boulton Esquire

In the previous post I shared my transcription of the last will and testament of Richard Boulton of the parish of St Olave Hart Street, an early eighteenth-century gentleman associated with the East India Company, who I believe was related to my 8 x great grandmother Alice Byne née Forrest. In this post, I want to begin to tease out what we can learn from this will about Boulton, his family, and his connection to my ancestors.

Part of Rocque’s 1746 map of London, showing St Olave Hart Street and St Helen Bishopsgate

Richard Boulton’s will makes direct reference to four people described as his brothers or sisters. These are: Peter Boulton, Bridget Boulton, Posthumous Boulton and Mary Lewes. Obviously, Peter must be a blood brother of the will’s author, while Mary’s maiden name must have been Boulton before she married a Mr Lewes. However, I’ve discovered from other sources that both Bridget Boulton and the unusually named Posthumous or Posthuma Boulton were in fact Richard’s sisters-in-law rather than his blood relations. Bridget was the mother of Captain Richard Boulton Junior and William Boulton, both described in this will as its author’s nephews, so she must have been married to another of Richard’s brothers (who is not named here). Posthuma Boulton was the wife of the Peter Boulton mentioned in this will and whose own will of 1741, which I will discuss in another post, confirms her relationship to him.

In addition to these three siblings (Peter, Mary and the unnamed husband of Bridget), the will also points implicitly to the existence of others, in its reference to various nephews and nieces of the testator. For example, Richard Boulton mentions his niece Hester Crabb and his nephews Henry Crabb and Richard Crabb. We must assume that these were three siblings, the daughter of an unnamed Mr Crabb who must have married another sister of Richard’s. Esther or Hester Crabb, one of the two people who confirms the authenticity of the memorandum to the will, is said to be a widow. If Crabb was her married name then she can’t be the niece mentioned in the will, so I assume she must be these children’s mother and therefore a sister of Richard Boulton’s.

The will also mentions a niece named Mary Gosfreight, the daughter of Captain Richard Gosfreight, who must therefore be Richard Boulton’s brother-in law, married to another Boulton sister. Then there are references to a nephew named John Jamblen, who presumably was related to the Francis Jemblen who, with Esther Crabb, vouched for the memorandum to the will. John Jamblen’s father must have married yet another sister of Richard Boulton. Finally we read of a niece named Alice Bigglestone, husband of William Bigglestone. In theory, she could be the daughter of either a brother or sister of the will’s author, either one already named or an additional sibling.

It’s difficult to know where to begin unraveling the various interwoven threads of this extended family, but I’ll begin with the Crabbs, since researching them has also enlightened me about Richard Boulton himself and his connection with the East India Company. Looking for records of the Crabb family in the parish registers has proven to be a fruitless task so far. I’ve found no record of a marriage between Esther or Hester Boulton and anyone with the surname Crabb, nor have I found evidence of the births or baptisms of their children Henry, Richard and Hester. However, searches elsewhere on the internet have been more productive.

A record of the House of Commons, 1754 – 1790 has a substantial entry on Henry Crabb Boulton, who apparently followed the instruction in his uncle’s will and added the latter’s surname to his own, as did his brother Richard. The entry for Henry informs us that he was born in about 1709, and that his mother’s name was indeed Hester. He entered the office of the East India Company in 1727 and rose to become a director and eventually chairman of the company. Apparently Henry lived for a time in Crosby Square in the parish of St Helen Bishopsgate. His brother Richard also worked for the EIC for some 20 years. Henry served in Parliament as Member for Worcester for a number of years, dying in 1773. The same entry records that Henry’s cousin Richard Boulton – the Captain Richard Boulton Junior of their uncle’s will – also served with the East India Company, before retiring to Worcestershire a wealthy man (I’ll be discussing his will of 1740 in another post).

Part of Rocque’s 1746 map of London, showing churches of All Hallows Barking and St Dunstan-in-the-East

I’ve found a marriage allegation for Richard Crabb (Boulton) of the parish of All Hallows Barking, which suggests that he was born in about 1710. In 1738 he declared his intention to marry Francis Heames, aged 21, of the parish of St Peter-within-the-Tower. They appear to have had a son named Henry, who was christened in 1752 at the church of St Helen’s, Bishopsgate, and who attended Chigwell School in Essex before going up to Trinity College, Cambridge. Richard Crabb Boulton died in 1777.

Sir Charles Raymond (via http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/eicah/case-studies-2/valentines-mansion/valentines-east-india-company-owners-and-their-material-objects/)

The website of the Warwick University research project, East India Company at Home, 1757 – 1857, includes information about Sir Charles Raymond of Valentines in Essex, a former EIC captain, whose middle daughter Juliana married Henry Crabb Boulton, who was ‘the son of Richard Crabb who had sailed alongside Charles Raymond as a fellow captain and who also became a PMO.’ According to the website:

Richard’s brother Henry Crabb had served as a senior clerk with EIC and later became a director. Both brothers took the name Boulton from their cousin Richard Boulton who was connected to EIC for 40 years, and left property to Henry which later passed to his brother Richard.

(In one of those little ironies of family history, the 1851 census would find my 4 x great grandparents William and Mary Schofield of Barking, from another, poorer branch of my maternal family tree, living in Valentines Cottage on the Valentines estate, where William worked as a farm labourer.)

As with the Crabbs, I’ve found little evidence of the Gosfreight family in the parish registers. I’ve found no trace of Mary Gosfreight’s birth, and the only marriage I’ve come across for a Richard Gosfreight is not to a Boulton – but to Theodosia Bennett, in 1691, at St Botolph’s, Aldersgate. Of course, this might have been an earlier marriage, or Theodosia might have been married before. Or there could have been more than one Richard Gosfreight. There are various land tax records for Captain Richard Gosfreight in the 1730s and 1740s in the Tower district, and in Portsoken, Aldgate and Whitechapel. According to British History Online, Gosfreight was another East India Company employee and a partner with the Boultons in the ship building business at Blackwall Yard.

As for the Jamblen or Jemblen family, I’ve found a Francis Jamblen born to John and Mary Jamblen and christened at St Dunstan-in-the-East in November 1712, who could be the person who helped to authenticate Richard Boulton’s will twenty-five years later. I’ve yet to find any records for Richard Boulton’s sister Mary Lewes, nor any definite records for his niece ‘Collibye’, omitted from the original will by a lawyer’s error but mentioned in the memorandum.

Finally, we come to the Bigglestones, and here I think I’ve found some indication that I’m researching the ‘right’ Boulton family and that these people were in fact connected to my Forrest ancestors. On 26^th July 1725, a 24-year-old bachelor from the parish of All Hallows Barking named William Bigglestone declared his intention to marry Alice Markland, a spinster of the same age and of the same parish. This document immediately caught my attention,  since Markland is another of the surnames that occurs in the will of William Forrest, brother of my 9 x great grandfather Thomas Forrest. William bequeaths ‘to my cozen Elizabeth Markland twenty shillings to buy her a ring’. This reference is inserted, perhaps significantly, between bequests to ‘my sister Alice Boulton’ and ‘my cozen Alice Bolton daughter of Peter Bolton’.

I’ve tracked down the will of Martin Markland, a gentleman of the parish of All Saints Barking, who died in 1717 and who seems to have been one of the Commissioners of the Navy. The will seems to suggest that the Alice Markland who married William Bigglestone was his daughter. He also had a wife named Elizabeth, though it’s not certain that her maiden name was Boulton. I’ll discuss Martin Markland’s will in more detail some other time, but for now I just wanted to note this piece of evidence supporting my speculations about the Boulton-Forrest connection.

The will of Richard Boulton Esquire of St Olave, Hart Street (died 1737)

Yesterday I wrote about the Boulton family, whose name occurs in the wills of both my 8 x great grandmother Alice Byne née Forrest (died 1738) and her uncle William Forrest (died 1700). I speculated that ‘my Cousin Richard Boulton the Elder’, whom Alice appoints as overseer of her will, might be the person of that name who lived in the parish of St Olave, Hart Street, in the City of London, and who made his own will in 1737. In this post I’m sharing my transcription of that long and richly informative will, and in the next post I’ll discuss what it might tell us about the Boulton family and their possible connection with the Forrests.

Blackwall Yard (mentioned in Richard Boulton’s will) from the Thames, by Francis Holman (1729 – 1784)

 

The main body of Richard Boulton’s will is followed by a memorandum, a confirmatory note and an additional marginal note. As usual, I’ve retained the will’s original spelling and punctuation as far as possible. For ease of reference, I’ve also highlighted in bold the names of individuals when they first occur.

I Richard Boulton of the parish of St Olaves Hart Street in the City of London Esquire being of sound and disposing mind and memory do hereby revoke all Wills and Codicills by me at any time heretofore made and do make and declare this to be my last Will and Testament And first my mind and will is that all my just debts and my funeral expenses be paid and satisfied Then I give and bequeath to my Neice Hester Crabb the sume of five hundred pounds of Lawfull money of Great Britain Item I give and bequeath to my Nephews Henry Crabb and Richard Crabb the sum of one hundred pounds apeice of like Lawfull money Item I give and bequeath to my Niece Mary Gosfreight daughter of Captain Richard Gosfreight the sum of five hundred pounds of lawfull money Item I give and bequeath to my Nephew John Jamblen the sum of five hundred pounds of like Lawfull money Item I give and bequeath to my Sisters Mary Lewes Posthumous Boulton and Bridget Boulton ten Guineas apiece of like Lawfull money for Mourning Item I give to the hospital at poplar in Middlesex the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds of like Lawfull money in pursuance of a subscription for that purpose entred into by me among others of the East India Company And my mind and will is that the several sums for mourning to be paid imediately and the said other Gross sums within twelve months after my decease Whereas sometime since I bought the Reversion of two Annuities of fourteen pounds per annum payable out of his Majesties receipt of Exchequer one of which is fallen in and is now payable to me and the other is now received by a Lady in Scotland but on her death will also fall into me Now I do hereby will and direct that the said fourteen pounds per annum annuity that is already fallen in be paid from time to time as it shall become due to my Nephew William Boulton during his Natural Life and also that the other fourteen pounds per annum annuity when it shall fall in be also paid to my Nephew William Boulton in manner aforesaid during his Life Item I give to Captain Richard Gosfreight one of my Executors hereafter named for the trouble he may have in the Execution of my Will the sum of one hundred pounds of Lawfull money of Great Britain Item I give to Mr Henry Crabb one other of my Executors for the trouble he may have in the Execution of my Will the like sum of one hundred pounds of like Lawfull money over and above all other Legacies given him in and by my said Will Item I give devise and bequeath unto my Nephew Captain Richard Boulton Junior and to the said Richard Gosfreight and Henry Crabb and the Survivors and Survivor of them his Executors and Administrators All the rest residue and remainder of my ready moneys and Securities for money my Stock in the East India Company and every other Company my Stock Estate and Interest in Black Wall yard and all other my Reall and personal Estate of what nature or kind soever it be upon the trusts and to and for the Intents and purposes herein after mentioned that is to say In trust and to the Intent that they the said Richard Boulton Junior Richard Gosfreight and Henry Crabb or the survivors or survivor of them his Executors or Administrators shall and do during the Joynt Lives of my Niece Alice Bigglestone and William Bigglestone her husband pay the Interest and produce of five hundred pounds part of my personal Estate to my said Niece Alice Bigglestone for her Sole and Separate use and disposal and her receipt from time to time to be a sufficient discharge for the same and in case she shall happen to survive her said husband Then In trust to pay her the principal sum of five hundred pounds and so much of the Interest as shall be then unreceived to and for her own use but in case she dies in the Life time of her said husband the said five hundred pounds is to sink into the residuum of my Estate and the Devise and Bequest of my residuary Estate before mentioned is upon this further trust that they the said Richard Boulton Junior Richard Gosfreight and Henry Crabb or the Survivor and Survivors of them his Executors and Admintors shall and do thereout pay to my dear Brother Peter Boulton during the term of his Natural Life by equal Quarterly payments the sum of one hundred pounds per annum clear of all deductions and outgoings and to my Sister Mary Lewes during her natural Life by equall quarterly payments the sum of twenty pounds per annum Clear of all deductions and further that my said Executors or the Survivors or Survivor of them his Executors and Administrators do out of my said Estate as soon as conveniently they can after my death purchase Lands of Inheritance in fee simple to the Amount of Value of five hundred pounds per annum and after they shall have made such purchase my mind and will is and I do hereby direct and appoint that the same be settled in due form of Law To the use of my said Nephew Richard Boulton Junior for and during the term of his Natural Life without Impeachment of Wast And from and imediately after the Determination of that Estate To the use of Trustees to present the Contingent remainders as is usual in like cases and from and imediately after the death of my said Nephew Richard Boulton Then to the use of the first Son of his Body lawfully begotten and the Heirs Male of the Body of such first Son lawfully issuing And for default of such Issue To the use of the Second third fourth fifth and all and every other the Son and Sons of the Body of my said Nephew Richard Boulton lawfully begotten or to be begotten severally and successively one after another as they shall be in seniority of age and priority of Birth and of the severall Heirs Male of their several and respective Body and Bodies lawfully Issuing and the Elder of such Sons and the Heirs Male of his Body being always preferred before the younger and the Heirs Male of his Body Issuing And for default of such Issue To the use and behoof of my Nephew John Jamblin for and during the terme of his Natural Life without Impeachment of Wast and from and imediately after the Determination of that Estate To the use of Trustees to preserve contingent remainders as aforesaid And from and imediately after the death of my said Nephew John Jamblin To the use of the first Son of his Body lawfully begotten or to be begotten and the Heirs Male of the Body of such first Son lawfully issuing And for default of such Issue To the use of the second third fourth fifth and all and every other the Son and Sons of my said Nephew John Jamblin lawfully begotten or to be begotten severally and successively one after another as they shall be in Seniority of age and priority of Birth and of the several Heirs Male of their several and respective Body and Bodies Issuing the Elder of such Sons and the Heirs Male of his Body being always preferred and to take before the younger of such sons and Heirs Male of his Body Issuing And for default of such Issues To the use and behoof of my Nephew Henry Crabb for and during the term of his Natural Life without Impeachment of any manner of Waste and from and imediately after determination of that Estate To the use of Trustees to preserve Contingent remainders as aforesaid and from and imediately after the death of my said Nephew Henry Crabb Then to the use and behoof of the first son of his Body lawfully begotten or to be begotten and the Heirs Male of the Body of such first Son lawfully Issuing and for default of such Issue To the use and behoof of the second third fourth fifth and all and every other Son and Sons of the Body of my said Nephew Henry Crabb lawfully begotten or to be begotten severally and successively one after another as they shall be in seniority of age and priority of Birth and of the several Heirs Male of their several and respective Body and Bodies issuing The Elder of such Sons and the Heirs Male of his Body being always preferred before the younger of such sons and] the Heirs Male of his Body and for default of such issue To the use and behoof of my Nephew Richard Crabb for and during the term of his Natural  _______ without Impeachment of Wast and from and imediately after the determination of that Estate the use of Trustees to preserve the Contingent Remainders as aforesaid And from and imediately after the death of my said Nephew Richard Crabb Then to the use of the first son of his Body lawfully begotten or to be begotten and the heirs Male of the Body of such first son lawfully issuing and for default of such Issue To the use and behoof of the second third fourth fifth and all an every other the Son and Sons of my said Nephew Richard Crabb lawfully begotten or to be begotten severally and successively one after another as they shall be in seniority of age and priority of Birth and of the several Heirs Male of their several and respective Body and Bodies lawfully issuing The Elder of such sons and the Heirs Male of his Body being always preferred before the younger and the Heirs Male of his Body and for default of such Issue To the use and behoof of my own right Heirs for ever and to and for no other use intent or purpose whatsoever and Subject to the said Annuities and the purchase to be made as aforesaid In trust for my said Nephew Richard Boulton his Heirs Executors and Administrators to his and their own use provided nevertheless and my mind and will is that in case my residuary Estate should be any unforeseen accident happen to fall short or not be sufficient to purchase five hundred pounds a year then the same shall be invested in a purchase of so much as the same will extend to purchase which shall be settled upon the same trusts and subject to the same provisos and agreements as the said five hundred pounds a year is herein before directed to be settled anything herein contained to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding provided always and my mind and will is that untill such purchase of Lands can be found out the interest and produce of the money so set apart for such purchase shall goe as the Land when purchased is before directed to be settled provided also and I hereby direct and appoint that the said John Jamblin Henry Crabb and Richard Crabb and the Heirs Male of their respective Bodies as they respectively shall come into possession of the Estate directed to be purchased as aforesaid shall respectively take upon them the surname of Boulton and in default of so doing I will and appoint that the next Remainder may enter upon him so refusing and so from time to time as often as such case shall or may happen And also that neither of my Executors shall be charged or chargeable with or for any sum or sums of money but what shall actually come to their hands respectively nor with or for the Acts Receipts or Defaults one of another and further that they shall have power to Compound any doubtfull debts which shall  be owing to me for the most that can be gott for the same and that no more of the said doubtfull debt or debts shall be accounted to be part of my Estate than only so much as shall be actually received or come in upon such Composition and also that my Executors shall be indempnifyed satsifyed and allowed all Costs Charges and Disbursements which they or either of them shall pay lay out or be put into in or about the Execution of this my will And I make and appoint the said Richard Boulton Junior Richard Gosfreight and Henry Crabb Joynt Executors of this my last Will and Testament In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seale this ninth day of April in the year of Our Lord One thousand Seven hundred and thirty seven – Richd. Boulton – signed sealed published and declared by the above named Richard Boulton the Testator as and for his last Will and Testament in the presence of us who in his presence have Subscribed our Names as Witnesses. Wm. Allix  W.Wilcocks Wm. Smith of Lincolns Inn.

Memorandm. Whereas by mistake the Lawyer he having left out of my Niece Collibye in my draft I gave him for making my will a Legacy of one hundred pound I desire in case I make no Codicil that my Executors will pay her one hundred pound as a Legacy after my decease as other Legacies are paid – April the 12. 1737. Rd. Boulton.

24^th November 1737.

Appeared personally Hester Crabb of the parish of All Hallows Barking London widow and Francis Jemblin of Ingram Court Fenchurch Street London Gentleman and being sworn on the Holy Evangelists to depose the truth deposed as follows that they very well knew and were acquainted with Richard Boulton late of the parish of Saint Olaves Hart Street London Esq deceased and were also very well acquainted with his manner and Character of hand writing having often times seen him write and they having now viewed and perused the paper writing or Codicill of the said deceased hereunto annext beginning thus – Memorandm. Whereas by mistake the Lawyer – and ending thus – as other Legacies are paid – Aprill the 12. 1737 and Subscribed – Rd Boulton – they severally swear that they so verily believe the whole Body of Series of the said paper writing or Codicil and also the Subscription to the same to be all of the proper hand writing of the aid Richard Boulton Esq deceased. Hester Crabb  Francs. Jemblin. Same day The said Hester Crabb widow and Francis Jemblin were respectively sworn to the truth of the above Affidavit. Before me. J. Walker Surrogate presdent. Hen: Stevens N.P.

This Will was proved at London (with a Codicill annexed) before the Worshipfull Thomas Walker Doctor of Laws Surrogate of the Right Worshipfull John Bettesworth Doctor of Laws Master Keeper or Commissary of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully  constituted the twenty eighth day of November in the year of Our Lord One thousand seven hundred and thirty seven By the Oaths of Richard Boulton and Henry Crabb two of the Executors in the said Will named To whom Administration was granted of all and singular the Goods Chattells and Creditts of the said deceased being first sworn duly to Administer (Richard Gosfreight the other Executor first renouncing.

[Marginal note:]

On the 11^th day of March 1774 admon (with the Will and Codicil annexed) of the Goods Chattells and Credits of Richard Boulton late of the parish of Saint Olave Hart Street London Esquire deceased left unadmd. By Richard Boulton and Henry Crabb Boulton formerly Henry Crabb two of the Executors named in the said Will since respectively deceased was granted to Richard Boulton formerly Crabb Esquire the sole Executor of the Will of the said Henry Crabb Boulton formerly Henry Crabb deceased whilst living the surviving Executor he having been first sworn duly to administer Richard Gosfreight the other Executor named in this Will having formerly renounced the Execution thereof.