Richard Lockwood Boulton
Born 1832 (Presumed)
Died 23 January 1905
Active: 1851 - 1893
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, architectural sculptor, stonemason
Born in Thornton Dale, Yorkshire and baptised on 1 December 1832. His father was Richard Boulton (born c.1796 in Yorkshire), a mason. Richard's older brother, William Boulton (also born Thornton Dale, Yorkshire c.1822), was a sculptor who in 1851 was a master employing 19 men in Southwark, London. Richard either worked for or with his brother and then moved to the Midlands in the second half of the 1850s.
Boulton was initially based in Birmingham from where he carried out a series of important sculptural schemes for the architect Sir George Gilbert Scott in Worcester, Hereford and Lichfield cathedrals. The architect E.W. Godwin was another important early employer and he later claimed to have been responsible for training Boulton. Around 1870-1 Boulton settled in Cheltenham where he established a very successful workshop. His apprentices and employees included Herbert Henry Martyn, Alfred Emms and Robert Lyndsey Clark who later enjoyed considerable success as architectural sculptors in their own right.
Richard's sons became sculptors and stone carvers working for the family business: Lockwood Dutson Boulton (1857-1927) and Thomas Dutson Boulton (1860-1932) who were both born in Birmingham and Gilbert Dutson Boulton (1865-1936) and Frank Cowley Boulton (c.1877-?) both born in Cheltenham. The four sons inherited the firm on their father's retirement in 1893 and were working together at the time of their father's death in 1905 (the firm continued to be active until at least 1971).
In 1862 Richard wrote a letter to the 'Building News' to protest at the criticism of his carvings on Worcester Cathedral. He worked extensively throughout the south west of England and also completed works abroad. His most important commissions include: Winchester Cathedral; sculpture for the Courts of Justice, Bombay; the municipal buildings in Birmingham; Northampton Town Hall; Keble College, Oxford; and the Louvre, Paris.
This record includes information from Joan Brocklebank, 'Victorian Stone Carvers in Dorset Churches 1856-1880', The Dovecote Press, Wimborne, 1979, pp. 28-9 and from the obituary 'Mr. R. L. Boulton' in The Cheltenham Examiner, 25 January 1905, p. 3.
Wealth at death: £15,199 6s. 8d.
Probate date: 28 February 1905
Locations
Address 2 King Edward Street Southwark London | View on map
1851 (Circa)
Address Summer Lane Birmingham | View on map
1859 (Circa)
Address 40 New Church Street Birmingham | View on map
1861 (Circa)
Address 52 Broad Street All Saints Worcester | View on map
1861 (Circa)
Address London Road Charlton Kings Cheltenham | View on map
1871 (Circa)
Address 25 Promenade Villas Cheltenham | View on map
1881 (Circa)
Address Cambray Pavilion Bath Road Cheltenham | View on map
1891 (Circa)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1859
Exhibited once, 1 work.
Institutional and Business Connections
Worked with James Bennett & Son
1862 (Circa)
Bennetts were the stone contractors on carving work at Worcester Cathedral and Boulton was the sculptor [see 'Building News' (4 April 1862) p. 242]
Personal and Professional Connections
Employed Alfred Jeffrey Emms
1872
Prior to this date, duration unknown,
Employed Herbert Henry Martyn
1863 - 1874
£1 10s.
Employed as wood carver and then stone carver, initially worked on restoration work for Worcester Cathedral for weekly salary [see Whitaker (1985) p. 12]
Employed Robert Lindsey Clark
1890 (Circa)
Connection based on the records of South London Technical School of Art
Mother/father/parent of Thomas Dutson Boulton
Mother/father/parent of Lockwood Dutson Boulton
Mother/father/parent of Gilbert Dutson Boulton
Mother/father/parent of Frank Cowley Boulton
Sister/sibling of William Boulton
Descriptions of Practice
Listed under Sculptors Corporation General and Trades Directory of Birmingham and Wolverhampton, 1861 Corporation Directories
1861
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
'Architectural Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
'Carver Mason employing 21 men' and his son Thomas Dutson (born c.1860) 'Carver'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
'Sculptor' employer, household included a nurse and servant
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
'Sculptor' and older brother, William (born c.1822) 'Sculptor (Master Empl[oying] 19 Men)'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Retired Sculptor'
Sources
Building news and architectural review
1862
p. 242
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841
2004
HO107 piece 1260 folio 9/11 page 16
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
2004
HO107 piece 1565 folio 441 page 46
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
2004
RG09 piece 2090 folio 9 page 11
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
2004
RG10 piece 2659 folio 27 page 9
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
Class: RG11; Piece: 2575; Folio: 73; Page: 32; GSU roll: 1341621
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
RG12 piece 2048 folio 69 page 14
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2001
RG13 piece 1978 folio 160 page 23
Corporation General and Trades Directory of Birmingham and Wolverhampton, 1861 Corporation Directories
1861
p. 520.
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Richard Boulton
Probate Date: 28 Feb 1905
Death Date: 23 Jan 1905
Death Place: Bournemouth, Dorset, England
Registry: London
England, Select Births and Christening Records, 1538-1975
2014
Name: Richard Boulton
Gender: Male
Baptism Date: 1 Dec 1832
Baptism Place: Ellerburne,York,England
Father: Richard Boulton
Mother: Rachel
FHL Film Number: 990917
The Best: a history of H. H. Martyn and Co. Specialists in Architectural Decoration and the Gloster Aircraft Co.
1985
pp. 12-14
Citing this record
'Richard Lockwood Boulton', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib4_1212053142, accessed 06 Jul 2022]