In the last post I cleared up some of the confusion surrounding the two Captain Richard Boultons, uncle and nephew, who served with the East India Company in the early decades of the eighteenth century. As a footnote to that post, I’ve been searching for ‘Captain Richard Boulton’ in the land tax records and have found the following.
In 1715 a Captain Richard Boulton was living in the sixth precinct of Aldgate ward in the City of London. The name of his street isn’t given, but on the next page are the records for Blanch Appleton Court and Mark Lane, which were both close to Crutched Friars, where we know Richard senior lived. He lived alone, though he had four ‘estates’ (I’m not sure exactly what this means: does it mean that he owned four properties?) and was paying £5 4s in rent.
Part of Rocque’s 1746 map of London, showing part of Crutched Friars and surrounding area
In subsequent years Richard could be found at the same address, always living alone, but paying different amounts in rent, and owning differing numbers of ‘estates’. In 1720, he had 16 estates and was paying £7 16s rent. In 1723, 1724 and 1725, he had no estates and paid £5s 10s rent. In 1729, 10 estates and rent of £7 15s. In 1730 and 1731 his rent was back to £5 and 4s. In 1732 and 1733, Richard was said to have 15 estates and he paid £2 12s in rent. In 1734, 1735,1736 and 1737, no estates are mentioned and the rent is back to £5 4s.
The fact that these land tax records come to an end in 1737, the year when we know Richard Boulton senior died, confirms that the records refer to him and not his nephew and namesake. What’s more, the date when these records begin – 1715 – may give an indication of when Richard senior retired from active service at sea. We know that he was a director of the East India Company from 1718, and that he was active as a ship owner at Blackwall Yard in the 1720s.
