Life

Catherina was born in London in 1669; her father was John Riches, a wealthy merchant originally of Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, her mother was a daughter of Sir Bernard de Gomme, also of Holland, surveyor of ordnance to Charles II, and delineator of the maps of Naseby, &c. Catharina was a great beauty. In The New Atlantis of 1736 (iii. 208 et seq.), where she is called Portia, she is described as "one of those lofty, black, and lasting beauties that strike with reverence and yet delight," and in 1684 she was married to William Bovey or Boevey, of Flaxley Hall, Gloucestershire. The same source says, he was given to "excesses, both in debauch and ill-humour," bringing much suffering to his wife; she never complained, however, but supported it all "like a martyr, cheerful under her very sufferings".

In 1691, when Mrs. Bovey was only twenty-two, Mr. Bovey died, leaving her mistress of his estate of Flaxley

Flaxley

Flaxley is a small settlement in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, located in between the larger villages of Westbury-on-Severn and Mitcheldean at the foot of the Vale of Castiard.-History:...

; and as she was also the sole heiress to her wealthy father, she was at once the centre of a crowd of wooers. Mrs. Bovey would listen to none. About 1686 she had formed a strong friendship with a Mrs. Mary Pope; and seeing ample scope for a life of active benefactions, she associated Mrs. Pope with her in her good works. She distributed to the poor, relieved prisoners, and taught the children of her neighbours. Her gifts, which included the purchase of an estate to augment the income of Flaxley Church, a legacy to Bermuda, and bequests to two schools at Westminster, are duly enumerated in her epitaph at Flaxley. Particulars of her habits, and of how she dispensed her charities, appear in H. G. Nicholls

Henry George Nicholls

Henry George Nicholls was Permanent Curate of the church of the Holy Trinity, township of East Dean, in the Forest of Dean. He wrote three books on the area and its history. His work includes information on such landmarks as St Briavels Castle and Speech House...

's Forest of Dean, pp. 185 et seq.

In 1702 George Hickes

George Hickes

George Hickes was an English divine and scholar.-Biography:Hickes was born at Newsham, near Thirsk, Yorkshire, in 1642...

, in the preface (p. xlvii) to Linguarum Septentrionalium Thesaurus, calls Mrs. Bovey "Angliæ nostræ Hypatia Christiana." In 1714, Steele prefixed an Epistle Dedicatory to her to the second volume of the Ladies' Library. "Do not believe that I have many such as Portia to speak of," said the writer of The New Atlantis (p. 212); and the repute of her happy ways and generous deeds had not died out in 1807, when Thomas Dudley Fosbroke

Thomas Dudley Fosbroke

Rev. Thomas Dudley Fosbroke , English antiquary, was born in London.He was educated at St Paul's School and Pembroke College, Oxford, graduating MA in 1792. In that year he was ordained and became curate of Horsley, Gloucestershire, where he remained till 1810...

 wrote of her as "a very learned, most exemplary, and excellent woman". She died at Flaxley Hall on Saturday, 18 January 1726, and was buried "in a most private manner", according to her own directions (Gent. Mag. lxii. pt. ii. 703).

Legacy

A monument was erected to Mrs. Bovey in Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

, by her friend Mrs. Pope, shortly after her death; and it was there certainly as late as 1750. Ballard who calls it "a beautiful honorary marble monument", writes to a friend asking him to copy the inscription for him, telling him it is on the north side (Nichols, Lit. Illustr. iv. 223). It is copied in Ballard's Ladies and in John Wilford's Memorials; there is no mention of Mrs. Bovey or the monument, however, either in Mackenzie Walcott's Memorials of Westminster, 1851, or in Arthur Penrhyn Stanley

Arthur Penrhyn Stanley

Arthur Penrhyn Stanley was an English churchman, Dean of Westminster, known as Dean Stanley. His position was that of a Broad Churchman and he was the author of works on Church History.-Life and times:...

's Westminster Abbey, fifth edition, 1882. Mrs. Bovey was by some thought to be the 'perverse widow' who was inexorable to Steele's Sir Roger de Coverley in The Spectator

The Spectator (1711)

The Spectator was a daily publication of 1711–12, founded by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele in England after they met at Charterhouse School. Eustace Budgell, a cousin of Addison's, also contributed to the publication. Each 'paper', or 'number', was approximately 2,500 words long, and the...

(1711).

Catherine's personal qualities were praised by contemporaries, Sir Richard Steele and Delarivier Manley

Delarivier Manley

Delarivier Manley was an English novelist of amatory fiction, playwright, and political pamphleteer...

 included, her wit and urbanity was summarised by Ballard as having "great genius and good judgement" derived from her reading.

Boevy was a close friend of Maynard Colchester I, who lived near to her estate, and she may have influenced the Dutch-style of Westbury Court Garden

Westbury Court Garden

Westbury Court Garden is a Dutch water garden in Westbury-on-Severn, Gloucestershire, England, southwest of Gloucester.It was laid out in 1696–1705, a rare survival not to have been replaced in the 18th century by a naturalistic garden landscape as popularised by Capability Brown...

 with her own canal garden. The layout of the gardens and improvements to the residence at Flaxley Abbey

Flaxley Abbey

Flaxley Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in England, now a private residence, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire.-History:Flaxley Abbey was founded in 1148 by Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford...

 were continued after her husband's death, and the chapel, dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, was extended by Pope from a bequest from her will. The nearby church replaced Boevey's refurbishment of the chapel, at the abbey's gate, in 1856.

The final words of the inscription on her memorial were,

"This monument was erected With the utmost respect to her Memory and Justice to her Character, By her executrix, Mrs who lived with her near 40 years in perfect Friendship Never once interupted Till her much lamented Death"