Matthew Boulton

Both IMDb and Wikipedia give Matthew Boulton's date of birth as 20 January 1893 which is wrong. He was apparently born ten years earlier on 20 January 1883. The day and month come from The Era, 20 January 1932, which noted Matthew Boulton’s birthday on January 20 but did not state the year. The year 1883 comes from the 1891-1911 census returns which show his ages as 8, 18 and 28. He was born Matthew Boulton Crabtree in Lincoln. The 1891 and 1901 census returns list him with the surname Crabtree. Various public family trees on Ancestry.co.uk record that Matthew Boulton Crabtree was born in Lincoln on 20 January 1883 (not 1893). Some trees clearly copy from each other but others cite various US sources. The earliest mention of Matthew Boulton, actor, found in the British Newspaper Archive is in The Stage, 9 February 1905 [aged 12 if he was born in 1893!], when he inserted a notice ‘Mr. Matthew Boulton, Captain Stirling, Because I Love You, Alexandra Theatre, Hull: next, Grand Theatre, Radcliffe’. The marriage of Matthew Boulton Crabtree and Ruth Jane Dockray was registered at Lambeth in 1909. The 1911 census return shows Matthew Boulton, aged 28 and born in Lincoln, an actor, and his wife Ruth Boulton, aged 23 and born in Carlisle, an actress, boarders at 38 Portland Road, Holland Park, London. Ancestry.co.uk has a record that Matthew Boulton Crabtree was a lieutenant in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps and was awarded the Victory Medal. He served in France from 27 June 1918. Matthew and Ruth Jane Boulton had three children: Mona Crabtree in 1910 (she was a patient in St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Rochester at the time of the 1911 census), Phyllis M Crabtree in 1913 and Sheila M Crabtree in 1919. The last mention of Matthew Boulton in The Stage is on 10 September 1936 noting his appearance in the play ‘Night Must Fall’ in Aberdeen. The last mention of him in The Era is on 15 April 1937 noting his appearance in the film ‘Thirteenth Chair’. At some point Matthew Boulton emigrated to America. Both IMDb and Wikipedia give Boulton’s date of death as 10 February 1962 – but they have got his date of birth wrong!

Performances associated with Matthew Boulton