In which we look in a little more detail at the (supposed) children of Samuel Boulding and his soon-to-be wife Mary Shepherd.

Four children baptised – whose were they?  And marriage to Mary Shepherd:           As noted in my previous post, Samuel Boulding had moved to the new development at Upper Craven Place, opposite Kensington Gardens, in about 1815.    Some mysteries ensue:

• I have found no mention of Elizabeth [nee Leach] Boulding after the record of her marriage with Samuel Boulding on 6 March 1796.  I have searched Marylebone and Westminster records for evidence of burial, but found nothing.
• Four children were christened at  St James’ Paddington, parents being ‘Samuel and Mary Boulding’.  They were:
  • 8 September 1816: Maria Boulding and Jane Boulding 
  • 9 September 1821: Charlotte Boulding
  • 17 August 1823 (born 24 June 1823): James Boulding
• But – oops! – we find the following post-hoc marriage on 24 July 1824: again at St Clement Danes, Samuel Boulding is a widower of St James Paddington (with a very shaky signature), Mary Shepherd, a spinster, of ‘this’ parish.  Witnesses M Boyle and Wm Boyle.

Samuel Boulding was buried on 29 July 1829 at St Mary’s Paddington Green, said in the burial register to be age 79.

Was he the father of the four children, christened as children of Samuel and Mary Boulding?  Was Mary Shepherd, whom he married after the births of the four children, their mother, or was their mother another Mary?  How can we know?

If, indeed, Samuel Boulding was 79 when he died, he would have been about 74 when he married Mary Shepherd, and in his late 60’s and early 70s when the four children, shown as his on the diagram above,  were born and baptised.

‘Strangers in blood’: Death duty registers.
Samuel Boulding’s Will, written in 1827 with a codicil in 1828, made provision for his wife – furniture etc, an annual allowance, wine, linen etc – and then charged his executors with the disposal of his properties in Beaumont Street, Sloane Square, and adjacent to his dwelling in Upper Craven Place (formerly Black Lion Lane), and overseeing the administration of funds to the four above-listed children, all minors at the time of his death.  Provision was made for the advance of up to £300 to son James, prior to his reaching the age of 21 (which would happen in 1844, a significant date).  In his Codicil, Samuel noted that if his wife were to re-marry, or to co-habit with another man, the residence in Upper Craven Place should pass to the four children.

Two events gave official recognition to the illegitimacy of the four children.  The first was at the time of the death of Jane Boulding in 1838 (see below).  The second is an annotation in the pages of the death duties register, which can be seen at The National Archives.  This register was begun at the time of death.  It summarised the provisions of the Will, and noted when various transactions were made in accordance with the Will’s provisions.  As late as July 3, 1898, the following note appears:

It has since the pay[men]t of the 1st duty, been discovered that the whole of the legatees & Res. Legatees were Strangers in blood to the tes[ta]tor & the difference of duty is now paid. [different pen and handwriting:] 3 July 1898.  [initials]

The Register page is littered with notes about considerable sums paid – many thousands of £s.  Where did Samuel get the funds for such wealth?

Jane Boulding: death of a ‘bastard’, intestate, 15 February 1838
Jane Boulding’s death certificate shows her death at age 27 [sic], Spinster, of Abscess on the Lungs.  Her address was 7 Winchester Row, and the death was reported by Philip Briggs, ‘father in law’ – the information which subsequently led to discovering the re-marriage of the widowed Mary [Shepherd] Boulding, although I have not conclusively identified her death.  (Apparently the term ‘father in law’ was sometimes used at the time to refer to ‘step-father’.)

Jane had died Intestate, and the document TS 17/59 at The National Archives reported the Administration of her effects: ‘Whereas Jane Boulding late of No. 7 Winchester Row, New Road, Paddington, in the County of Middlesex, spinster, a Bastard … died Intestate…

The Administration, sworn on 23 December 1841, showed estate under £1,500.  Jane did not appear to have profited much from her father’s fortune.

Maria Boulding (c. 1816 – 1897) married widower and father of three children, Daniel Newton Crouch (a Lawyer, born in Scotland) on 17 September 1840, at St Mary’s Church, Marylebone.  Her address was given as 7 Winchester Row, showing she was living with her mother and step father Philip Briggs.  The couple had three children, with no known surviving issue:

• Maria Charlotte Crouch (1842-1905)
• Henry Newton Crouch (1843-1868) married in 1867 to Clara Isabella Meymott, one un-named child born and died in 1867.  Clara re-married after Henry’s death a year later.
• Mary Christina Crouch (c. 1847-1937)

Charlotte Boulding (c. 1816 – ?1916) married widower Thomas Cole (a carriage and portable clock maker) on 23 October 1841, at the Parish Chapel, St Pancras.  Thomas Cole died in 1864. The couple had three children (two others appear in censuses, but they are the children of Thomas Cole’s previous marriage):

• Arthur Boulding Cole (1844-1926), watch and clockmaker.  He married (1) Elizabeth Emma Wilson in 1868.  They had six children and quite a few grandchildren.  His second marriage to Elizabeth Sarah Rideout produced two more children. The name Arthur Boulding Cole was to have on ongoing role in my family, as in America some years later, his first cousin once removed would be named Arthur Boulding Spence.
• Catherine Mary Cole (1847 – ?)
• Florence Eva Cole (1857-1929), according the the 1911 Census, an accountant and secretary, living in Putney.

Not ‘Backler’ Cousins!:  These folk are all my cousins, but as this is a ‘Backler’ blog, I will leave their histories here.  In my next post, I will explore the fate of the errant James Boulding’s deserted wife – Susannah Mary (nee Backler) Boulding.