Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Boutell, Charles

by John Westby Gibson

BOUTELL, CHARLES (1812–1877), archaeologist, born at St. Mary Pulham, Norfolk, on 1 Aug. 1812, was the son of the Rev. Charles Boutell, afterwards rector of Litcham and East Lexham. He was B.A. of St. John's, Cambridge, 1834; incorporated at Trinity College, Oxford, and M.A., 1836; took priest's orders, 1839; and was afterwards curate of Hemsby, Norfolk; Sandridge, Hertfordshire; Hampton, Middlesex; and Litcham, Norfolk; rector of Downham Market and vicar of St. Mary Magdalen, Wiggenshall, Norfolk; and rector of Norwood, Surrey. His works on archaeology and mediaeval heraldry are numerous. He was secretary of the St. Albans Architectural Society, and one of the founders, in 1855, of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, of which he was honorary secretary for a few months in 1857, but was dismissed under very painful circumstances (London and Middlesex Arch. Soc. Trans. i. 209, 316). His life was one of continuous trouble, and at length, after two years of declining health, he died of a ruptured heart on 11 Aug. 1877. His antiquarian works are:

1. Descriptive and Historical Notices to 'Illustrations of the Early Domestic Architecture of England,' drawn and arranged by John Britton, F.S.A., &c., London, 1846. This book is a small octavo, with a folding plate nine times its size.
2. 'Monumental Brasses and Slabs … of the Middle Ages, with numerous illustrations,' London, 1847, 8vo, pp. 236. Consisting of papers read to the St. Albans Architectural Society, with illustrations.
3. 'Monumental Brasses of England,' descriptive notices illustrative of a series of wood engravings by R. B. Utting, London, 1849, 8vo.
4. 'Christian Monuments in England and Wales from the Era of the Norman Conquest,' with numerous illustrations, London, 1849.
5. 'A Manual of British Archaeology,' illustrated by Orlando Jewitt, London, 1858, 4to, pp. 384.
6. 'A Manual of Heraldry, Historical and Popular,' with 700 illustrations, London, 1863, 8vo. A second edition was called for in two months, and published as:
7. 'Heraldry, Historical and Popular,' with 850 illustrations, London, 1863.
8. The third edition, revised and enlarged, same title, 975 illustrations, London, 1864.
9. 'The Enamelled Heraldic Shield of Wm. de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, 1296, from … Westminster Abbey, drawn by Luke Berrington, with descriptive notice by Charles Boutell, M.A.,' London, 1864, large folio.
10. 'English Heraldry,' illustrated, London, 1867, 8vo. This is a cheaper arrangement of his larger work, for the use of architects, sculptors, painters, and engravers; a fourth edition of it appeared in 1879.
11. 'Arms and Armour in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Also a descriptive notice of Modern Weapons. Translated from the French of M. P. Lacombe,' illustrated, London, 1874, 8vo—preface, notes, and a chapter on English Arms and Armour by Boutell.
12. 'Arts and the Artistic Manufactures of Denmark,' illustrated, London, 1874, large 4to.
13. 'Gold-working' in 'British Manufacturing Industries,' edited by G. P. Bevan, F.G.S., London, 1876, 8vo.

Besides these antiquarian works he published 'The Hero and his Example,' a sermon on the Duke of Wellington's death, preached at Litcham when curate under his father, London, 1852, 8vo; 'An Address to District Visitors,' &c., London, 1854, 8vo; 'A Bible Dictionary … Holy Scriptures and Apocrypha,' London, 1871, thick 8vo; since republished as 'Haydn's Bible Dictionary,' London, 1879. A work written by his daughter, Mary E. C. Boutell, 'Picture Natural History, including Zoology, Fossils, and Botany,' with upwards of 600 illustrations, London [1869], 4to, has a preface and introduction by him. In the 'Gentleman's Magazine,' 1866, he wrote a series of articles on 'Our Early National Portraits,' and many papers of his on church monuments, heraldry, &c., will be found in the journals of the Archaeological Institute and Association.

[Boutell's "Works; Lond. and Mid. Archæol. Soc. Trans, vol. i.: Athenæum, 11 Aug. 1877.]

J. W.-G.