Background
Jonathan Boucher was born in the village of Blencogo in the county of Cumberland, England. He was the third child of James and Ann Barnes Boucher, who kept an alehouse.
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(Excerpt from A Letter From a Virginian: To the Members of...)
Excerpt from A Letter From a Virginian: To the Members of the Congress to Be Held at Philadelphia, on the First of September, 1774 My Zeal therefore in the common Gaufe mul't ferve fo1 my Excufe, if in the Courfe of this Letter 1 fiiould give my Opinion more confidently than I ought to do, and leem to think myfelf, which 13 a very common Cafe, much wifer than I am. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Jonathan Boucher was born in the village of Blencogo in the county of Cumberland, England. He was the third child of James and Ann Barnes Boucher, who kept an alehouse.
Jonathan Boucher recalled rather bitterly the penury and hardships of his boyhood; but the father, though a ne'er-do-well, had native ability and some education, and eked out a livelihood as village schoolmaster.
From him Boucher learned to read and spell, so that he could go to school and begin the study of Latin at the age of six. Both parents desired to make a scholar out of the lad. He was first sent to a little free-school at Bromfield and then to a school at Wigton where at sixteen he himself did some teaching in a night school.
Having found his metier, he became two years later an usher in a school at Saint Bees kept by the Rev. John James. This kindly and generous master did much for the further education of his usher and finally procured for him a position as tutor to a gentleman's sons at Port Royal, in Virginia. Thither Boucher sailed in April 1759.
As chaplain of the lower house of the Assembly, he had no little influence in shaping legislation, according to his own account; but he was unable to prevent a reduction in the stipend of the clergy. His efforts in their behalf, however, and his persistent advocacy of the establishment of an American Episcopacy, were rewarded by King's College of New York with the degree of Master of Arts.
Boucher was at first somewhat disdainful of his new surroundings, finding the manners and conversation of the Virginians "almost in everything the very opposite to my taste". That he never did find himself wholly at one with his associates in the colonies was, in a large measure, the cause of his later misfortunes. He was soon living beyond his means, beginning an indebtedness to Mr. James which was not discharged for many years. To better his fortunes, he returned to England in 1762 to take orders, having been assured of the vacant rectory in Hanover Parish.
He was ordained without any further preparation and returned the following summer. Subsequently he removed to the rectory of St. Mary's in Caroline County, where he bought a small plantation and took nearly thirty boys as pupils, "most of them the sons of persons of the first condition in the colony". Among these boys was "Jacky" Custis, the son of Mrs. Martha Washington, for whose proper training his stepfather, Colonel George Washington, was much concerned. Thus began an acquaintanceship which Boucher improved to the utmost.
In 1770, he was appointed to the rectory of Saint Anne's in Annapolis, which he had solicited for several years. Thither he removed with some of his slaves and two of his pupils, one of whom was Master John Parke Custis. Annapolis was then, in Boucher's opinion, "the genteelest town in North America. "
When the desirable rectory of Queen Anne's Parish in Prince George's County fell vacant, it was bestowed "unsolicited" upon him by Gov. Eden.
He bought a plantation on the Potomac and prepared to settle down to a comfortable existence, when he became involved in the controversy of the colonies with the mother country.
When the provincial convention proclaimed a solemn fast-day by way of protest, he announced his intention of preaching against active resistance, but was forbidden to enter his pulpit by a body of armed men.
From this time on, believing his life in danger, he never preached without a pair of loaded pistols lying on the cushion. He was under constant surveillance by the local committee of safety; grew more and more unpopular; and was burned in effigy. Finally, fearing the worst, he and his wife abandoned their home and property and departed for England in September 1775. Boucher never returned.
Friends procured for him the curacy of Paddington and a pension from the government, while he added to his income by tutoring and writing for journals.
During the last nineteen years of his life, he was vicar of Epsom. He never recovered his property in Maryland, but he shared in the compensation which the royal government allotted to loyalists.
He spent the latter part of his life making a glossary of obsolete and provincial words, a part of which was published after his death as A Supplement to Dr. Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language (1807). Another edition with the title Boucher's Glossary (1832 - 33) contains a discursive introduction on philology.
Jonathan Boucher was widely known as an eloquent preacher, and his scholarly attainments won for him the friendship and esteem of some of the ablest scholars in the colonies. He made substantial contributions to William Hutchinson's "History of the County of Cumberland" (1794) and writing "A View of the Causes and Consequences of the American Revolution" (1797), which he dedicated to George Washington. In 1797, Boucher published thirteen discourses preached in America, with a lengthy preface, under the title A View of the Causes and Consequences of the American Revolution a book of considerable historical interest. He was also the author of "A Glossary of Provincial and Archaic Words" which was later used by the compilers of Webster's Dictionary, and "Reminiscences of an American Loyalist", published in the 1870's.
(Excerpt from A Letter From a Virginian: To the Members of...)
(Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We h...)
At Paddington, Boucher became involved in a circle of High Church Anglicans that included a number of members who would have a considerable influence over his future, including in particular William Stevens, Rev. John Parkhurst and Rev. Samuel Glasse.
Ever a firm supporter of established authority, Boucher regarded as seditious all the various extra-legal organizations, which the colonists devised to resist the acts of Parliament.
Quotations: "I will continue to pray for the King; and all who are in authority under him . .. As long as I live . .. will I . .. proclaim: God save the King [bold added. "
Boucher took an active part in its social life; patronized the local theatre; "wrote some verses on one of the actresses and a prologue or two"; became the first president of the Homony Club, a literary organization; and enjoyed an intimacy with Gov. Eden and his family.
Boucher married three times: first, in America, in 1772 to Eleanor Addison of which little is known, other than his wife did not appear to return to Britain with him and that they had a daughter named Eleanor Boucher.
Second, in England in 1787, to Mary Elizabeth Foreman who died the following year.
Third, in 1789, to Elizabeth James (née Hodgson), a widow to Dr. John James. James and Boucher had seven children together, including Barton Boucher.
He became close to Jonathan Boucher following the death of Sir Robert in 1784: they collaborated on each other's research, corresponding on a regular basis.
1794–1864
A biblical lexicographer, he had acted as a curate for a friend but never sought preferment: he is credited with having presented the family living to Jonathan Boucher simply because the latter had preached a loyal doctrine to "a set of rebellious schismatics".
