Author: Burgess, Elizabeth
Biography:
BURGESS, Elizabeth (1768-1825: ancestry.co.uk)
Life and History of Betty Bolaine is a mixture of prose and verse that tells the story of a miser. Betty, or Elizabeth, Bolaine was a real person, the daughter of Noah Bolaine, a surgeon, and his wife Elizabeth Goodwin. She was born in Canterbury, Kent, in 1723 and buried at St. Mary Magdalene, Canterbury, on 10 June 1805. Burgess’s narrative paints a shocking picture of her cruelty, avarice, and eccentricity. The only details that can now be verified are those about her will which was written and sealed on 2 Aug. 1799 and proved on 18 July 1805. The will gives specific instructions for her funeral, burial, and monument; identifies recipients of some minor legacies for mourning rings; designates £100 for the Kent and Canterbury hospital; and leaves the residue of her estate to the Rev. Doctor Edward Walsby, prebendary of Canterbury Cathedral. Walsby is asked to preach the funeral sermon and to cause the cathedral bells to ring for one hour. These details are accurately summarised in Burgess’s narrative. What the narrative does not state is that one minor legacy—a guinea—is for Bridget Burgess who undoubtedly was Elizabeth Burgess. She was the daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Burgess (mother's birth surname unknown) and was baptised at St. Alphege church in Canterbury on 12 Nov. 1738. One of her elder brothers, Edward (1726-1807), was a clerk at St. Andrew’s church, Canterbury, and is mentioned in Bolaine’s will. Elizabeth Burgess died on 11 Sept. 1825, the same day as another brother, John (b c. 1729), who was a chorister at the cathedral. An account of her death in the Morning Herald credits her with writing The Maid of the Oaks, an anonymous play usually attributed to John Burgoyne (q.v.). In describing the popularity of her Life and History of Betty Bolaine, it assumes that Burgess had been motivated by disappointment at the provisions of Bolaine’s will. Burgess is said to have later sold cakes in Canterbury and kept a registry office for servants. She was buried in Canterbury on 16 Sept. 1825. Her book was republished with an anonymous miser narrative, The Strange and Unaccountable Life of Daniel Dancer, in c. 1810, 1824, 1828, and 1829. A summary of Bolaine’s life also appears in Cyrus Redding, Memoirs of Remarkable Misers (1863). (ancestry.co.uk 6 July 2023; findmypast.co.uk 6 July 2023; Morning Herald 15 Sept. 1825) SR