George Yeates and Caroline Boulger

Aegean, Beatrice, Chios, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Harry, Jemima Naesmyth, John Boulger, John Yeates, Margaretta Brettargh 0

George Yeates and Caroline Boulger

George Henry Brettargh Yeates

George Henry Brettargh Yeates is recorded as being born in Frankfurt am Main in Germany in 1841. He was known as Harry to his family. I have been unable to trace his birth record either in the records for Hesse in Germany or indeed the English records.

There is circumstantial evidence from recent ancestral DNA tests to suggest that he might have been adopted as a child, and have been of Aegean Islands ethnicity, in particular the Island of Chios. What is indisputable is that he was brought up by John and Margaretta Yeates as their own child.

I use the phrase father and mother on this page in the ambiguous sense, as it includes both adoptive parents and biological parents. His “parents” were John Yeates and Margaretta Brettargh. Their story is told on a separate page.

Caroline “Beatrice” Boulger

Caroline Boulger, known as Beatrice, was born in Brompton, London in 1850. She was the granddaughter of Sir James Naesmyth of Posso. 3rd Baronet. Shared DNA matches with other Naesmyth offspring leave no doubt of the biological line from Sir James Naesmyth, through his grand daughter Beatrice, and her son Cyril Yeates to the current day.

Beatrice’s parents were John Boulger and Jemima Naesmyth. Their story is told on a separate page.

George Henry Brettargh Yeates 1841 – 1875

George “Harry” Yeates

Harry spent his early years living in Germany, first in Frankfurt am Main, in the Maintal district, then the family moved to Biebrich, near Wiesbaden. We know a lot about this period as his father kept a daily diary recording all manner of events and thoughts.

Both his parents died in 1847, when Harry was just six years old. He seems to have been brought up in Park Head, Levens. His elder brother John Yeates Yeates, who had served in the Royal Navy on board HMS Thunderer, an 84 gun 2nd rate ship of the line, seeing action in the eastern Mediterranean, became the head of the family.

There are many and detailed letters between John Yeates Yeates and his brothers and many references are made to “Aunt Lucy”, who was Miss Lucy Copland, but I can find no geneaological links to Aunt Lucy. I believe she might have been appointed as either a nanny or governess to look after Harry. There appears to have been genuine affection for “Aunt Lucy” and she is buried in the same grave as Beatrice and her second husband, in Kensal Green Cemetery, London. On Lucy’s death certificate, Beatrice records her relationship with Lucy as a niece, but she clearly wasn’t.

Beatrice Boulger

Beatrice appears to have spent her early years in London where her parents were living in Ecclestone Street. George Yeates, although he lived in Park Head, Levens, also had a house in London at West Dale House, Streatham. Beatrice’s mother Jemima lived in the same area and it is possible that they met as a result.

Caroline “Beatrice” Boulger

Crisps Marriage Licence Index 1868

Crisps Marriage Licence Index

Beatrice was eighteen at the time of her marriage to Harry. As such she was regarded as a minor and required parental consent to marry. The document opposite shows Beatrice’s father John Boulger, granting consent for his daughter to marry George (Harry) Yeates at St Peter Church, Pimlico.

Marriage

Harry and Beatrice were married on 17 October 1868 in St Peter Church, Pimlico, but they lived mainly in Park Head, Levens. By this time all of Harry’s siblings had died, and Harry inherited well from the estate of Anthony Yeates. As a result he records his occupation as “Gentleman”. In other words a Landed Proprietor or a man of independent means.

Marriage Certificate St Peter Pimlico 17 October 1868

Harry Yeates with Shotgun

Brettargh Holt

At this stage, Harry decides to bring together the armorial families of the Brettarghs, Aigburths, Yeates and other families and build a mansion behind Park Head, to be called Brettargh Holt to celebrate his status as a Gentleman.

He appointed a local Surveyor, Job Bintley, to design the house, although most of the letters to and from Bintley seem to have been from Beatrice. The letters provide an interesting insight into the considerations of the design. All of these letters have been donated to the Kendal Record Office and made available to the public.

The house was named “Brettargh Holt” after the ancestral seat of the Brettargh Family in Little Woolton, Liverpool, which was the original Brettargh Holt.

Beatrice

The period between their wedding and the completion of Brettargh Holt, seems to have been a busy time with all the considerations for the construction. Brettargh Holt was completed in 1873, and Beatrice gave birth to their first, and only child, on 10 July 1875, and he was christened Cyril Ernest Brettargh Yeates.

Beatrice Boulger

Yeates Coat of Arms

Yeates Crest

My heraldic knowledge is not good but the crest opposite appears on one of the Yeates books. On the shield the top left and bottom right are the Yeates Arms as I recognize the five bar gates.

The motto which reads Res non Verba, is I think Latin for “Action not Words”

Brettargh Holt

The attached photograph was one of many taken when Brettargh Holt was first completed. I believe this to be taken from the south from where Park Head was located.

Brettargh Holt from the south, taken about 1873

Brettargh Holt Staircase

Brettargh Holt Interior

The photograph opposite shows the galleried staircase of Brettargh Holt, shortly after it was completed.

Brettargh Holt today

Brettargh Holt has had a varied history and was for many years a convent occupied by the Salesian Sisters, who built a chapel on the right hand side.

It has now been beautifully converted into a luxury hotel and wedding venue. It is now known as the Villa Levens, and it is nice to see the building being given a new life.

Brettargh Holt today as a hotel Villa Levens

Brettargh Holt Staircase today.

Villa Levens Hotel

This photograph is a contemporary photograph of the staircase of the hotel. The building has been most sensitively converted.

Aerial View

The photo opposite, shows the location of Park Head, where the Yeates family lived, marked by a purple arrow at the bottom of the picture.

Brettargh Holt, marked by a red arrow, is located at the top right of the photo.

Brettargh Holt (red arrow) and Park Head below (purple arrow)

Death of Harry Yeates

Harry Yeates died on 18 October 1875 at Brettargh Holt, just three months after the birth of his son Cyril. Harry is buried in the churchyard at Heversham alongside his parents and other Yeates relatives.

Beatrice put Brettargh Holt up for sale and returned to London with her son Cyril. Beatrice’s sister was married to Charles Webb from Wimborne, Dorset. Beatrice met and married Charles Webb’s brother, Major William Bridges Webb. They were married in Wimborne Minster on 13 September 1878.

Caroline “Beatrice” Boulger before her marriage to William Bridges Webb

William Bridges Webb

Major William Bridges Webb

Beatrice and William had a further three children, two sons and a daughter. Cyril lived with his half siblings in Paddington, London. William was the Chairman of the Baltic Exchange.

William died on 25 August 1913 at the age of 64, and Beatrice died on the 12 November 1914. They are buried in the same grave in Kensal Rise Cemetery.

When Beatrice’s son Cyril died in 1950 he was cremated and his ashes were buried in the same grave.

Ancestor Chart

John Boulger and Jemima Naesmyth

Anne White, Dawyck House, Drumelzier, Dublin, Harriet Jones, Ireland, Joseph Boulger, Naesmyth of Posso, Peeblesshire 0

John Boulger and Jemima Naesmyth

John Boulger

John Boulger was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1813. He was the son of the architect Joseph Boulger, who worked in Dublin and Liverpool and his wife Ann White.

Jemima Naesmyth

Jemima Naesmyth was born on 30 August 1824 in Drumelzier in Peeblesshire, Scotland. She was the illegitimate daughter of Sir James Naesmyth of Posso, 3rd Baronet and his mistress Harriet Jones of Edinburgh.

John Boulger, Barrister at Law and Editor of the Civil Service Gazette

John Boulger

John Boulger was a Barrister at Law, but he was also the editor of the Civil Service Gazette. He seems to record his occupation more frequently as “newspaper editor” than he does “barrister at law” and I expect he is prouder of his role for the Gazette.

The Gazette has a long and established history, and has been at the heart of British public life for almost 350 years

During the 17th century, potentially ‘reckless’ publishing of articles – often just scurrilous rumours issued in pamphlet form – was thought to endanger national security, and this led to a climate in which the printing of any news not pertaining to the coverage of events abroad, natural disasters, official royal declarations and the most sensationalist of crime reporting was largely prohibited.

As a consequence, the British press was an ill-developed and badly defined industry. The introduction of censorship in 1663, together with the licensing of all news publications, did little to encourage the growth of a healthy press.

Jemima Naesmyth

Jemima was the illegitimate daughter of Sir James Naesmyth of Posso, 3rd Baronet and his mistress Harriet Jones of Edinburgh. As she was illegitimate she was unable to inherit from her father’s will, so he made a generous Bond of Provision to provide for her after his death.

The photograph opposite was taken in Ramsgate in 1863. The Boulger family seem to have divided their time between their house in Pimlico and a property in the Margate, Ramsgate area.

Jemima Naesmyth, Ramsgate 1863

Jemima Naesmyth as a child. Image courtesy of William Naesmyth of Posso.

Jemima Naesmyth

The painting opposite was supposedly painted of Jemima when she was a child in Dawyck House.

Birth – Jemima Naesmyth

Jemima was baptized at Drumelzier Church, Peeblesshire, in the Scottish Borders. Jemima was born illegitimate in 1824, but she was legitimated under Scottish Law when her father eventually married her mother.

The Baptism Register records her Baptism in 1828, with a note “Omitted in its proper place”. Presumably this was a convenient attempt to backdate the baptism.

The entry reads:

1824. “Jemima, daughter of Sir James Nasmyth of Posso Bart. and of his spouse Lady Nasmyth, was born the 30 August 1824 and baptized the 9 June 1825 by the Rev Mr Tarriet of St. Peter’s Episcopal Chapel.”

Birth Certificate – Jemima Naesmyth 1824

Dawyck House, Drumelzier, Peeblesshire

Dawyck House

Dawyck House is the ancestral home of the Naesmyths of Posso. It is located amongst the stunning scenery of Upper Tweeddale, near the village of Drumelzier. The gardens at Dawyck are now open to the public as a regional garden of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Jemima spent her childhood in this idyllic setting before moving to London when she was older.

Burkes Landed Gentry of Scotland

Sir James Naesmyth of Posso, 3rd Baronet, appears at the top of the list in the pedigree chart opposite. He had six children with his first wife, Eleanor. After she died in 1807, he appears to have had two further children with his mistress Harriet Jones of Edinburgh. As he was not married to Harriet Jones, these two children were illegitimate, or “born on the wrong side of the blanket” to use a colloquial phrase of the time.

His daughter, Jemima, the subject of this page, had several children, one of whom was Caroline “Beatrice” Boulger who married George Yeates.

Sir James Naesmyth of Posso from Burke’s Landed Gentry of Scotland

Report on proceedings in the Court of Sessions, Edinburgh 1833

Proceedings in the Court of Session

Sir James Naesmyth, by a bond of provision, settled a sum to be divided among his children. But, as two of his later children were illegitimate they would be unable to inherit from this bond of provision, so by special deed he settled a provision on his illegitimate child (Jemima).

The report of the proceedings in the Court of Session in Edinburgh is very clear and the Judge states his opinion that Jemima was undoubtedly his favourite child.

When he subsequently married his mistress Harriet Jones, this meant that Jemima was legitimated under Scottish Law. After Sir James’ death it became clear that Jemima stood to inherit twice. Firstly by the bond of provision as she had the same legal status as all her half siblings; and secondly under the special deed created specifically for her.

The Judge held that in spite of the fact that Jemima was clearly his favourite child, she should not be entitled to inherit twice from his will.

Marriage

John Boulger and Jemima Naesmyth were married in the Trinity Church in the parish of St Marylebone in London on the 18 January 1842.

At the time of their marriage, John was living at 15 Leicester Place, London and Jemima was living at 35 Charlotte Street, Portland Place.

Marriage of John Boulger and Jemima Naesmyth 18 January 1842

Naesmyth of Posso Crest

Naemyth Arms

On the arms of the Naesmyth of Posso are two broken hammers. The family trace their descent to a stalwart knight, who while in attendance on Alexander III was unable to repair his armour, but so atoned for his lack of skill as a blacksmith by his bravery in the fight that after its conclusion he was knighted by the king with the remark that, although ‘he was nae smith, he was a brave gentleman.’

Ancestor Chart