Boulge is a hamlet and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the East Suffolk district of

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, England. It is about north of

Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of ** Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

. The population remained only minimal at the 2011 Census and was included in the civil parish of

Debach Debach is a small village about four miles northwest of Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK. History At the time of the Domesday Book, 1086, it was called Debenbeis or Debeis, Depebecs, Debec or Debes and located in the Hundred of Wilford. The book lists t ...

. The place-name is French and probably means 'bag-shaped piece of land', rather than the 'rough overgrown land' previously assumed. Boulge parish church is the burial place of the local poet and writer Edward Fitzgerald, whose most famous work was his translation of ''

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam ''Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám'' is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian to English of a selection of quatrains (') attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), dubbed "the Astronomer-Poet of Persia". Alth ...

''. The Church of St Michael and All Angels is Grade II listed as are, separately, the Fitzgerald family mausoleum and Edward Fitzgerald's grave. There is a possible

Tournai font Tournai fonts are a type of baptismal font made from blue black limestone during the 12th and early 13th centuries in and around the Belgian town of Tournai by local masons. There are seven complete examples in England and a disputed number in ...

in the church.

Boulge Hall

Boulge Cottage in the surrounding park was built c.1800 for Mrs Eleanor Short. Known as the "Queen of Hell" on account of her furious temper, Mrs Short had inherited Boulge Hall in 1792 on the death of her second husband, William Whitby. She later married Henry Short (formerly Hassard) an ex-lieutenant-colonel in the

Royal Dragoons The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons) was a heavy cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1661 as the Tangier Horse. It served for three centuries and was in action during the First and the Second World Wars. It was amalgama ...

. John Fitzgerald bought Boulge Hall in 1801 for his daughter Mary and her new husband, John Purcell (later John Fitzgerald), Edward's parents. The purchase was on the understanding that the hall would remain in the possession of the previous owner until death, but Mrs Short did not die until 1831, when she was 84. The couple lived instead at nearby Bredfield House and eventually moved into Boulge Hall in 1835. Edward occupied a cottage in the grounds until the estate was inherited by his elder brother

John Purcell-Fitzgerald John Purcell-Fitzgerald (1803–1879) was an English lay preacher, and the elder brother of the poet Edward FitzGerald. He has been called "eccentric and religiously fanatical". Life He was born at Bredfield, Suffolk, the son and heir of John ...

in 1852. The hall was later purchased by Sir Robert Eaton White, 1st Baronet (1864–1940), Chairman of the Suffolk County Council, whose descendants held it until c.1950. It was demolished in 1955 owing to its general dereliction.

References

External links

Boulge ChurchPicture of Boulge Hall
Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Carlford Division, Suffolk {{Suffolk-geo-stub