Unknown - portrait of Edward Francis Boultbee

This miniature portrait is unsigned. The case has indistinct writing on the front, that appears to read "E F Boultbee b 1812 d 1897".

Research therefore suggests that the portrait is of Edward Francis Boultbee, born 29 April 1812 and died 1897. He was the son of John Boultbee and Maria Anne Croxall and he married Annette Erlam in 1866.

John Boultbee (1770-1837) had married Maria Anne Croxall (c1774-?) in 1804. John Boultbee being born at Baxterley, Warwickshire, the son of Joseph Boultbee and Catherine Dabbs.

Apart from John Boultbee, Joseph and Catherine had at least one other son, Charles Boultbee who was born on 31 Mar, 1783 also at Baxterley, Warwickshire.

The Rev Charles Boultbee (31 Mar 1783-1833) has links with another miniature in this collection, as in 1812 he married Laura Wynham, who was the eldest sister of the 4th Earl of Egremont. See Unknown - portrait of 4th Earl of Egremont

The Edward Boultbee of this miniature does not seem to appear in the census records. That, together with the uniform jacket that he is wearing, suggests he was in the merchant navy and absent from the country on the various census dates.

In the 1861 census, Annette Erlam is recorded as a 37 year old (thus born in 1824) widow, living with her five teenage children in Brompton Middlesex. However, in the 1851 census she give her age as 32, i.e. born in 1819 which seems more likely. At that time she says she was a visitor, and her children do not seem to appear in that census.

Apart from these references, it was difficult to locate any other relevant records.

However, I have since been advised in the very helpful comment attached, that he was educated at Repton School, which he entered in 1821.

He entered the East India Company's Mercantile Marine Service on 27th February, 1827, presumably as a Midshipman as was customary. He served for seven years and was discharged on 27th April, 1834, probably at the end of a long voyage to the East, the ship not returning home until after the Service ceased officially in 1833.

In 1855 he was commissioned a Captain in the 6th Yorkshire Militia Regiment, and promoted Major in 1872. He married, in 1866, Annette Erlam, a widow. There were no children.

See also the Boultbee Family History for his ancestry, where there is an enormous amount of information about the Boultbee family at www.boultbee.freeserve.co.uk 885