Hugh Boulter

On the wall of the west aisle of the north transept in Westminster Abbey is a memorial to Hugh Boulter, archbishop of Armagh. He was buried nearby in the transept on 12th November 1742. The memorial was designed by Sir Henry Cheere and includes a bust of the archbishop with decorations of a mitre, crozier, lamps, sprays of oak leaves and acorns. The coat of arms at the base once showed the arms of the See of Armagh impaling Boulter. The inscription reads:

Dr HUGH BOULTER, late Archbishop of ARMAGH and Primate of all IRELAND. A prelate so eminent for the accomplishments of his mind, the purity of his heart, and the excellency of his life, that it may be superfluous to specify his titles, recount his virtues, or even erect a monument to his fame: his titles he not only deserv'd but adorn'd, his virtues he manifest in his good works, which had never dazzled the public eye if they had not been too bright to be conceal'd; And, as to his fame, who so every has any sense of merit, any reverence for piety, any passion for his country, or any charity for mankind, will assist in preserving it fair and spotless; that when brass and marble shall mix with the dust they cover, every succeeding age may have the benefit of his illustrious example. He was born Jan. the 4th 1671, he was consecrated bishop of BRISTOL 1718, he was translated to the Archbishopric of ARMAGH 1723, and from thence to Heaven, Sept. the 27th 1742.

The date of his birth is given in Old Style dating on the monument which is now called 1672. He was born in London, son of John and his wife Rebecca. He was educated at the Merchant Taylors' school and Oxford and was later a chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was Rector of St Olave in Southwark and also Dean of Christ Church Oxford. In 1719 he married Elizabeth Savage but they had no children. She was buried with him on 28th February 1754, aged 60. He was a philanthropist and established a school at Santry in Ireland.

Further reading

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography