Barton Bouchier

Barton Bouchier, The Dream of Youth (1818). Nabu Press, 2011. Courtesy Amazon.com.

Rev. Barton Bouchier (19 November 1795 - 20 December 1865) was an English poet and religious writer.

Life

Bouchier was the 5th child and 2nd son of Rev. Jonathan Boucher, the vicar of Epsom, Surrey, by his 3rd marriage. (Barton changed his name from Boucher to Bouchier after 1828).

In 1816 he married Mary, daughter of Rev. Nathaniel Thornbury, rector of Avening, Gloucestershire.

He was ordained a Deacon in 1819 and a priest in 1820, and educated at Balliol College, Oxford, earning a B.A. in 1822 and an M.A. in 1827.

Bouchier then became curate at Monmouth. A sermon preached by him at Usk in 1822 for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge was published by request. Bouchier held curacies later at Old, Northamptonshire, and (before 1834) at Cheam, Surrey, from which place he issued an edition of Bishop Andrewes's Prayers.

In 1836 he published Prophecy and Fulfilment, a little book of corresponding texts; and in 1845 Thomas Bradley, a story of a poor parishioner, and the first of a series of similar pamphlets describing clerical experiences, collected and published in various editions as My Parish and The Country Pastor, from 1855 to 1860.

In 1852 Bouchier commenced the publication of his Manna in the House, being expositions of the gospels and the Acts, lasting, with intervals, down to 1858; in 1854 he wrote The Ark in the House, family prayers for a month; and in 1855 he wrote his Manna in the Heart, being comments on the Psalms. In 1853 he wrote a 'Letter' to the prime minister (George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen) against opening the Crystal Palace on Sundays, following up this appeal in 1854 by The Poor Man's Palace, &c., a pamphlet addressed to the Crystal Palace directors. In 1856 he published Solace in Sickness, a collection of hymns, and in the same year was made rector of Fonthill Bishop, Wiltshire. He published his Farewell Sermon to his Cheam flock, having preached it on 28 Sept. In 1864 he published The History of Isaac.

He died at the Fonthill Bishop rectory, aged 70.

Publications

Poetry

• Poems on Various Occasions. Oxford, UK: W. Baxter, 1815.
• The Dream of Youth: A poem. London: Cadell, 1818.

Non-fiction

• The Church of Christ. A sermon. Oxford, UK: W. Baxter, 1822.
• A Sermon Preached in the Parish Church of Epsom. Epsom, UK: printed by Dorling & Son, 1835.
• Prophecy and its Fulfillment. London: John W. Parker, 1836.
• Thomas Bradley; or the sacrament of the Lord's Supper explained. London: James Nichol, 1845.
• The Idiot Boy: A village tale, founded on fact. London: Seeley, 1846.
• Eveling Lodge: A narrative founded on fact. London: R. Groombridge, 1847.
• Manna in the House: or, Daily expositions of the Gospels: St. Matthew. London: 1852.
• Manna in the House: or, Daily expositions of the Gospels: St. Mark. London: John Farquhar Shaw, 1852.
• Manna in the House: or, Daily expositions of the Gospel of St. Luke. London: 1853.
• The Crystal Palace: A letter. London: John Farquhar Shaw, 1853.
• Manna in the house: or, Daily expositions of the Gospel of St. John. London: John Farquhar Shaw, 1854.
• The Ark in the House; or, A series of family prayers. London: John Farquhar Shaw, et al, 1854.
• The Poor Man's Palace and the Poor Man's Day. London: John Farquhar Shaw, 1854.
• Manna in the Heart; or, Daily comments on the Book of Psalms. London: John Farquhar Shaw, 1856.
• The Christian Minister's Stewardship: A farewell sermon. London: John Farquhar Shaw, 1856.
• My Parish; or, the country parson's visits to his poor. London: 1856
  • also published as The Country Pastor and His Flock: Stories of my parish. London: 1860.
• Manna in the House; or, Daily expositions of the Acts of the Apostles. London: Wertheim, McIntosh, & Hunt, 1858.
• The history of Isaac: As recorded in the Bible. London: Binns & Goodman / E. Marlborough / Houlston & Wright, 1864.

Juvenile

• Cooper Gent, and other sketches: From 'The country parson's visits to his poor'. Philadelphia: American Sunday-School Union, 1859.

Edited

• Lancelot Andrews, Prayers and Offices of Private Devotion. London: R.B. Seeley & W. Burnside, 1834; London: William Pickering, 1839.
• Solace in Sickness and Sorrow; or, A collection of hymns for the afflicted. London: J.F. Shaw, 1856.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• List of British poets

References

•  Humphreys, Jennett (1886) "Bouchier, Barton" in Stephen, Leslie Dictionary of National Biography 6 London: Smith, Elder, p. 4 . Web, May 1, 2016.

External links

Poems

• "The Dream of Youth: A poem"

Books

• Barton Bouchier at Amazon.com

About

• Barton Boucher (later Bouchier) at Epson & Ewell History Explorer
• Rev. Barton Bouchier (1794-1865) at English Poetry, 1579-1830

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: "Bouchier, Barton"