Thomas Boosey (1767 - 1840)

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Dixon) Boosey — married 24 Jan 1792 in St Saviour, Southwark, Surrey, England

Descendants

Died 1840 at about age 73 in Clerkenwell, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

Thomas was born in 1767, the son of John Boosey and Mary (Livermore) Boosey. The source for the date is the published Boosey Tree. This date is confirmed by his age of 73 when he died in 1840.^[1]

In 1782 Thomas began an apprenticeship with his father John. The indenture certificate stated that Thomas Boosey son of John Boosey of King Street, bookseller doth put himself apprentice to John Boosey his father, citizen and clockmaker. The certificate was signed on the 5th March 1782.^[2]

Thomas Boosey married Mary Dixon on the 24th January 1792 at Saint Saviour, Southwark, Surrey, England.^[3]

Thomas was friends with John Juniper who left him £20 in his will. (died after the 15th November 1798, aged 76, the day he signed his will). John and Thomas were both Sandemanians.^[4]

On the 12th November 1802 Thomas and his wife Mary attended the registration of the birth of their sons Christopher Boosey (1797-abt.1808) and Henry Boosey (1801-) at Dr. William's Library. On the same day, John Deacon and Frances Coleman also from the Sandemanian church, registered the births of two of their sons.^[5]

Thomas died aged 73 in 1840 in Clerkenwell, Middlesex and was buried on the 7th September 1840 at Bunhill Fields, Islington, Middlesex, a non-conformist burial ground. The entry in the burial register describes him as aged 73, and his body was brought from John Street, Pentonville, Middlesex.^[6][7][8]

Children

John Boosey (19.11.1792 - 1829) aged 36
Thomas Boosey (14.2.1795 - 27.10.1871) aged 76
Christopher Boosey (5.7.1797 - 1808) aged 10
Henry Boosey (30.7.1801 - )
Mary Boosey (5.10.1805 - )

Book selling and publishing business

In 1786 the London Directory has the entry: Bossey Thomas Bookseller 39 King Street, Cheapside ^[9]

Thomas continued the bookselling business established by his father, selling foreign language publications. Between 1795 and 1800 there were many French emigre in London, fleeing the aftermath of the French Revolution. Thomas Boosey was probably the third biggest retailer of Emigre journals appearing in London from 1795 -1801. By 1816 the business had established a music publishing business, described in 1835 as a Foreign Music Library, 28 Holles Street, Oxford Street, London.^[10]

The Travels of Cyrus, translated from French, was published in 1795 by Thomas Boosey, and distributed from Broad Street, London

The Travels of Cyrus

In 1806 Voyage du jeune anacharsis en Greece was published in 8 volumes to be found at Vernor, Hood and Sharpe; T Boosey; Lackington Allen and Co.^[11]

The company traded from Broad Street, City of London and from their music warehouse at 28 Holles Street, near Oxford Street, London.^[12]

A list of many of Thomas' publications can be found at The Women's Print History Project.^[13]

Thomas was known for his love of angling^[14] and wrote a book on the subject in 1835, in which he describes himself as a publisher.^[15]

Apprentices

According to Clockmakers Masters and their Apprentices list, John and Thomas both had apprentices.

The lists include:

This shows that Boosey John had his son as an apprentice but also Leighton William who was the son of Archibald Leighton a member of the Sandemanian Church. Thomas Boosey had two apprentices. The first was Vincent Wanostrocht who may have been a Sandemanian because two of his daughters married sisters from the Chater family, another Sandemanian family. The second apprentice was Benjamin Wass, maybe related to John Wass who was an Elder in the church, born 1751, admitted into the church 1783 and died 1831.

Many of the families associated with the London Sandemanian church had links with the book trade.Sandemanians and the publishing trades.

Links to the Glasite/Sandemanian Church

The Boosey family were one of the key families in the Glasite or Sandemanian Church in London. The category "Boosey Family and the Sandemanian Church" has been added to this profile to help identify relevant people.

The aim is to collect the names of the members of the Boosey family who were associated with the church. Not all will have become formal church members but are within 1-2 generations of a known member.

Thomas' involvement with the Sandemanians is confirmed by a letter describing dinner with other church members. Letter from Margaret (Faraday) Barnard to Sarah (Barnard) Faraday, dated 14th and 15th July 1837:

"Uncle Boosey (Thomas Boosey) and young Thomas came up on Thursday to dine with Martha (Lyon) Barnard. Mary Boosey was also expected but her foot disabled her from walking to the Angel so we lost the pleasure of her company. Uncle seemed much the same as usual but he gets so stiff and unable as to make it rather an anxious affair to have him so far out from home. He returned in a long coach with four fine horses in it that were impatient for the delay and both Martha and I were very glad when he was safe in."^[16]

The Boosey Family were involved in the book trade for several generations, as were other members of the Sandemanian Church. See Sandemanians and the bookbinding, paper and publishing trades for more details.

Sources

1. ↑ Boosey and Hawkes, The Publishing Company by Helen Wallace, 2007 published by Boosey and Hawkes.
2. ↑ London Metropolitan Archive; Reference Number: COL/CHD/FR/02/1143-1149 Date Range: 1792 Jan - Jul Ancestry.com. London, England, Freedom of the City Admission Papers, 1681-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data:Freedom admissions papers, 1681 – 1930. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. COL/CHD/FR/02. Ancestry
3. ↑ Thomas Boosey's marriage, England Marriages, 1538–1973 FamilySearch
4. ↑ Jones, Olive R. “Essence of Peppermint, a History of the Medicine and Its Bottle.” Historical Archaeology, vol. 15, no. 2, 1981, pp. 1–57. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25615407.
5. ↑ The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; General Register Office: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths Surrendered to the Non-Parochial Registers Commissions of 1837 and 1857; Class Number: RG 4; Piece Number: 4660 Piece Title: Piece 4660: Dr Williams´ Library Registry, Birth Certificates, 1792-1805 Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1936 [database on-line] Ancestry
6. ↑ * Death Registration: "England & Wales General Register Office". GRO Online Indexes - Death (accessed 16 February 2022). Boosey, Thomas (Age at death: 73). GRO Reference: 1840 Jul-Aug-Sep in St James Clerkenwell Volume 03 Page 58.
7. ↑ Thomas Boosey's burial, England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977 FamilySearch
8. ↑ Thomas Boosey's burial, The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; General Register Office: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths surrendered to the Non-parochial Registers Commissions of 1837 and 1857; Class Number: RG 4; Piece Number: 4000 [https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2972&h=1810882&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=MeR47&_phstart=successSource Ancestry]
9. ↑ The London Directory 1786, by Lowndes accessed from Haithi Trust https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433016873725&view=1up&seq=1 accessed by Trevor Pickup on 16th April 2021.
10. ↑ John Bull - Sunday 22nd March 1835 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001945/18350322/002/0001 Accessed from the British Newspaper Archive by Trevor Pickup on 26th February 2020.
11. ↑ Newcastle Courant - Saturday 12th April 1806. Accessed from the British Newspaper Archive https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000085/18060412/005/0002 accessed by Trevor Pickup on 22nd December 2020.
12. ↑ Morning Post - Thursday 4th November 1824. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000174/18241104/002/0001 Accessed from the British Newspaper Archive by Trevor Pickup on 26th February 2020.
13. ↑ "Thomas Boosey" The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Firm ID 210 https://womensprinthistoryproject.com/firm/210. Accessed 2021-04-05. Accessed by Trevor Pickup on 5th April 2021.
14. ↑ French Exile Journalism and European Politics, 1792-1814, page 68 by Simon Burrows. Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2000 accessed by Trevor Pickup on 26th February 2020.
15. ↑ Boosey, T., Pickering, W., Ellis, H. (1835). Piscatorial reminiscences and gleanings: to which is added A catalogue of books on angling. London: William Pickering. accessed from https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006508234/Cite by Trevor Pickup on 26th February 2020.
16. ↑ Letter 1018 The Correspondence of Michael Faraday: 1832-1840, Volume 2 Page 444-446 Edited by Frank A.J.L. James 1991

See also:

• Thomas is mentioned in the book 'BOOSEY & HAWKES: THE PUBLISHING STORY' written by Helen Wallace.'Boosey & Hawkes, the Publishing Story' by Helen Wallace-1