Hugh Boulter

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Hugh Boulter, (January 4, 1672 – September 27, 1742), was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, the Primate of All Ireland, from 1724 until his death. He also served as the chaplain to George I from 1719.

Boulter was born in London and was educated at Merchant Taylors' School before attending Christ Church, Oxford. However, after only a year at Christ Church he transferred to Magdalen College. After leaving the university in 1700 he served as a chaplain to several prominent individuals, including Sir Charles Hedges, the Secretary of State for the North, and Thomas Tenison, the Archbishop of Canterbury, before being awarded his D.D. in 1708.

After spending seven years working as a rector, Boulter was appointed as the archdeacon of Surrey in 1715. In 1719 Boulter was announced as the successor to George Smalridge as both the dean of Christ Church college and as the bishop of Bristol. Boulter was controversially offered the primacy of the Church of Ireland in 1724, William King, as Archbishop of Dublin the natural successor to the title, being passed over due to his opposition to the Toleration Act. As Archbishop of Armagh Boulter was a keen supporter of the so-called English interest, the filling of top judicial, political, and ecclesiastical posts in Ireland with Englishmen in order to maintain English power in the country, a position that made him unpopular in Ireland.

Despite his staunch political allegiance to England, Boulter did attempt to do his best for the people of Ireland, although his actions were often viewed with suspicion by the people of Ireland, including Jonathan Swift. When the harvest failed in 1729 in Ulster he bought food and supplied it to the region. He also opened a school in the country, as well as forcing through a bill that revalued the price of gold in 1738, to the benefit of the poor.

[edit] References

• Stuart, James (1900). Historical memoirs of the city of Armagh. Dublin, Browne & Nolan