George D'Arcy Boulton (May 20, 1759 – May 21, 1834) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

. He was a member of the

Family Compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in ...

, an oligarchic political and social group which dominated the government of the province.

Life and career

The second son of Henry Boulton (1732–1788) J.P., of

Moulton, Lincolnshire Moulton is a village in the civil parish of The Moultons, in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the B1537 road, east from the centre of Spalding and west from Holbeach. Moulton is the primary village of a ...

, by his third wife, Mary (1734–1779), the daughter of D'Arcy Preston of

Askham Bryan Askham Bryan is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of City of York in the north of England, south-west of York, west of Bishopthorpe, and close to Askham Richard and Copmanthorpe. According to the 2001 census the parish ha ...

Hall,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. He studied law at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

. After his business in England failed in 1793, he came to the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

valley of New York in 1797. Boulton later moved to Augusta Township in Upper Canada around 1802. In 1803, he was admitted to the bar. In 1804, he assumed the position of Solicitor General after the death of

Robert Isaac Dey Gray Robert Isaac Dey Gray (ca. 1772 – October 8, 1804) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Upper Canada. He was probably born in New York, but came to Canada with his parents (James Gray and Elizabeth Low) at the beginning of ...

on ; he was also elected to Gray's former seat in the

4th Parliament of Upper Canada The 4th Parliament of Upper Canada was opened 1 February 1805. Elections in Upper Canada had been held in May 1804. All sessions were held at Parliament Buildings of Upper Canada in York, Upper Canada. This parliament was dissolved 21 May ...

in a by-election. In 1807, he became a judge for the Court of King's Bench. In 1810, while sailing to England, he was taken prisoner by a French

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

. Boulton fought vigorously in the short-lived attempt to defend the ship and for his troubles he received a sabre slash across his forehead; he was kept at

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

and released in 1813. He was admitted to the English bar in the same year and secured the post of Attorney-General of Upper Canada in December 1814. Boulton and his family were considered to be part of the

, a clique of Upper Canada's elite who held great power in the province.

Marriage and children

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1782, he married Elizabeth Forster (whose elder sister married D'Arcy's elder brother), daughter and co-heiress of Chief Justice James Forster of the

Isle of Ely The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an administrative county. Etymology Its name has been said to mean "island of eels", a reference to the creatures th ...

Serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are wri ...

, by Susannah, daughter of Sir John Strange. He died at York (

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

) in 1834 at The Grange, the home of his son D'Arcy Boulton (1785–1846), Auditor-General of Upper Canada and brother-in-law of

Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto Sir John Beverley Robinson, 1st Baronet, (26 July 1791 – 31 January 1863) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Upper Canada. He was considered the leader of the Family Compact, a group of families which effectively controlled the ea ...

. He was the father of Henry John Boulton and

George Strange Boulton George Strange Boulton (September 11, 1797 – February 13, 1869) was a lawyer and political figure in Upper Canada. Life and career He was born near Albany, New York, in 1797, the son of D’Arcy Boulton, and came to Upper Canada with his fami ...

, among others, and the grandfather of

William Henry Boulton William Henry Boulton (April 19, 1812 – February 15, 1874) was a lawyer and political figure in Canada West. He served as Mayor of Toronto from 1845 to 1847, and in 1858. He was also a member of the Orange Order in Canada. Boulton died in ...

and D'Arcy Boulton (1825–1875).

Legacy

Boulton bequeathed property at what is now

Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original east ...

and McCaul Street for the creation of a public market in perpetuity. The property, which is still owned by the city, became St. Patrick's Market. Boulton's sold the north half of his Park Lot 13 to provide land for King's College (now the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

References

External links

"Boulton of Moulton" in ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain and Ireland enjoying territorial possessions or high official rank'' Volume II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boulton, DArcy 1759 births 1834 deaths English emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada 19th-century Canadian judges People from Leeds and Grenville United Counties People from South Holland (district) Treasurers of the Law Society of Upper Canada Upper Canada judges Attorneys-General of Upper Canada Immigrants to Upper Canada