Mr. Henry Boteler entered the navy in Oct. 1804, as midshipman on board the Agamemnon 64, commanded by his maternal uncle, Captain (now Vice-Admiral Sir John) Harvey, under whom he served in that ship and the Canada 74, principally employed on the Cadiz and West India stations, until the latter ship was paid off, at Chatham, in Jan. 1808. During his first cruise, he witnessed the capture of four Spanish merchantmen, laden with sugar, cochineal, indigo, coffee, &c., and having on board specie to a very considerable amount. In the following year, he was present at the capture of two Spanish line-of-battle ships, by the fleet under Sir Robert Calder.[1]
On leaving the Canada, Mr. Boteler joined the Orion 74,
- ↑ See Vol. I. Part II. p. 405.
were in a great measure indebted for whatever pleasure and information they might receive from the perusal of that part of the history. Mr. Boteler, after he went to reside at Canterbury, obtained leave of the Archbishop and Archdeacon to arrange the papers in their Registry. In this employment, which he felt was of great public utility, at the same time that it was a source of great amusement to himself, he spent much of his time, until his increasing infirmities would no longer admit of his leaving home. By his indefatigable exertions, aided by his intimate knowledge of the history of the county, the papers in the Registry are now arranged in an order, probably not to be seen in any other Court. Mr. Boteler, was a man of strict honour and integrity. As a magistrate, he was zealous and active; as a husband, father, and friend, he was affectionate and kind; his loss will long be deplored by his widow and children, and regretted by a numerous and respectable circle of acquaintance. His first wife was Sarah, youngest daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Fuller, of Statenborough, in the parish of Eastry, Esq., by whom he had three sons, two of whom died infants, the other, William Fuller Boteler, Esq., barrister-at-law, is Recorder of Canterbury, and of the towns and ports of Sandwich, New Romney, and Deal. By his second marriage, Mr. Boteler had sixteen children, of whom five died young.
In Hasted’s History of Kent (folio edit. iv. 219), this branch of the family of Boteler is particularly mentioned, and their descent traced from Pincerna, probably so called from his office of Chief Butler to King John, whence his successors assumed the name of Butler, alias Boteler, sometimes spelt Botiller, &c., and in allusion to their office bore for their arms one or more covered cups, differently placed and blazoned; also a grant of arms to Richard Boteler, in 1470, temp. Edw. IV.
