Background
Boulter was born in London and was educated at Merchant Taylors" School before attending Christ Church, Oxford.
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Hugh Boulter
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Magdalen College.
Career
He also served as the chaplain to George I from 1719. However, after only a year at Christ Church he transferred to Magdalen College. After leaving the university in 1700 Boulter 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 Doctor of Divinity 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. His policy was to leave the Roman Catholics in Ireland subjected to penal legislation.
By a statute enacted through Boulter"s influence Catholics were excluded from the legal profession, and disqualified from holding offices connected with the administration of law. When the harvest failed in 1729 in Ulster he bought food and supplied it to the region.
He did much good work in trying to alleviate the Great Irish Famine (1740-1741).
In 1731 George II was petitioned for a charter to set up these schools, which was granted in 1733. Boulter contributed £400 towards the construction of a charter school for girls at Santry, Dublin. He was responsible for forcing through a bill that revalued the price of gold in 1738, to the benefit of the poor.
Politics
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. His actions were often viewed with suspicion by the people of Ireland, including Jonathan Swift.
Membership
Under another act passed through Boulter"s exertions they were deprived of the right of voting at elections for members of parliament or magistrates—the sole constitutional right which they had been allowed to exercise.
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Born
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Died
September 27, 1742 (aged 70) -
Religion
Catholic