REVEREND ARTHUR BOULTBEE
(1833 - 1890)
When he arrived at Georgetown, the old frame church was starting
to be run down, and in 1878 the Vestry requested him to visit members,
and see what they would pay towards the construction of a new church.
Apparently the answers were encouraging, for a beautiful stone building
was erected in that year, and is still standing, although enlarged and
altered. The architect was William Boultbee:William (b1832)
Boultbee, the brother of Boultbee:Arthur, Rev. Arthur. In the history of
the church written by Richard E. Ruggle, it is recorded
that it was opened on December 29, 1878, and the Reverend Arthur
Boultbee announced that of the $4,000 which it had cost, they had raised
$2,900 from the voluntary offerings of the people, without having had to
resource to bazaars, soirees, etc.
The financial strain at the church was hard, and on September 23,
1879, the wardens wrote to the members that they might not be able to pay
Mr. Boultbee. In the summer of 1880, Arthur resigned in poor
health. After supervising the building of two churches in eight years,
being missionary in five congregations, having nine children and a wife
to support, and losing his eldest child to diphtheria in that last year,
it is no wonder he felt the strain. He was appointed missionary to
the parish of Cayuga, Ontario Cayuga in July 1880.
There are four Stained-glass window memorials stained-glass window
memorials to Boultbees in St. George's Church, Georgetown, Ontario St. George's
Church, Georgetown: one to Boultbee:Mabel Mary Anne Mabel, Arthur's
eldest child who died in 1879, one to Boultbee:Mary Anne (b1826) Mary Anne,
Arthur's sister who died in 1859 in Newmarket, Ontario, one to Boultbee:Rosalind,
2nd wife of Rev. Richard Moore Boultbee Rosalind, Arthur's aunt who died
in 1874 in Bath, England, and one to Boultbee:Oswald Hoste Oswald Hoste,
Arthur's youngest son who drowned in a sailing accident in 1909.
Arthur stayed nine years in Cayuga. However, he is listed
in the 1881 Census as living in West York Township (now Toronto) with
Frank E. Turner:Frank Edwin Turner, age 43, an engineer (census
district 136, Division 5, page 10). Mr. Turner would be Frank Edwin
Turner, Turner:Maria Maria's brother born April 13, 1838, and baptised
May 16, 1838 along with Maria and their sister Turner:Mary Emma Mary Emma
at St. James' Cathedral, Toronto St. James' Cathedral, Toronto. In
the Census, Maria and seven children are listed as well. He was known
to have undergone surgery at about this time, and perhaps his brother-in-law
had offered his family lodging during Arthur's convalescence. From
1882 - 1884, Arthur is listed in the diocesan records as retired.
In 1889, Arthur was transferred to Grace Church, Waterdown, Ontario
Grace Church, Waterdown and St. John's Church, Nelson, Ontario St. John's
Church, Nelson, both about ten miles northeast of Ancaster, Ontario Ancaster.
He died the following year.
Arthur's granddaughter, Mrs. Alice Robertson, Alice
Robertson, gave a presentation on the life of Arthur to a group at Christ
Church Cathedral, Hamilton, Ontario Christ Church Cathedral, Hamilton,
Ontario, and it is from her notes that most of this version has been prepared.
The following paragraphs are the closing remarks in her presentation:
There is no record of the cause of his death or, indeed, of his
burial at Grace Church, but there is a stone cross in the cemetery
behind the church. The inscription on the cross reads:-
In memory of the Reverend Arthur Boultbee:Arthur, Rev. Boultbee
For a Short Time in France France
Of the Parish of Waterdown Parish Waterdown
Born at Forsam, Exeter, England, 15th August 1833
Died 5th August 1890
I do not know when or why he was in France, or why it was thought
sufficiently important to carve it in stone; is it, perhaps, that he died
there and that is why there is no record of the cause of his death and
place of burial? It remains a curious mystery.
After his death, his widow, Maria, moved to Berlin, now Kitchener,
Ontario Berlin (now Kitchener, Ontario) where a son was in the bank, and
she and her daughter Boultbee:Rosalind Katharine Alice Rosalind, my mother,
took in sewing. My mother married another banker and her widowed
mother came to live with them until her (Maria's) death on May 24, 1910
at Hamilton, when her name was added to the cross at Waterdown.