Life

Boase was the fourth son of Arthur Boase, of Madron

Madron

Madron is a civil parish and village in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is a large rural parish on the Penwith peninsula north of Penzance.Madron village is situated approximately two miles northwest of Penzance town centre....

, a parish in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, who died August 1780, by Jane, daughter of Henry Lugg. He was born at Madron on 3 June 1763, and in 1785 went from Penzance

Penzance

Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...

 to Roscoff

Roscoff

Roscoff is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.The nearby Île de Batz, called Enez Vaz in Breton, is a small island that can be reached by launch from the harbour....

, in Brittany, in a fishing-boat, to proceed to Morlaix

Morlaix

Morlaix is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Leisure and tourism:...

, where he resided for some time, and acquired a good knowledge of the French language.

Not finding any business opening in Cornwall, he went to London, where he obtained a situation as corresponding clerk in the banking house of Messrs. Ransom, Morland, & Hammersley in 1788. This house had an extensive continental connection, and after the flight of Louis XVI in 1791 a large part of the funds for the support of the emigrant clergy and nobility passed through their hands. Through his knowledge of French, Boase was, on this occasion, able to render such great service to his employers, that he was promoted to be chief clerk in 1792, and seven years later he became the managing partner.

During his residence in London he was well acquainted with Granville Sharpe, Robert Owen

Robert Owen

Robert Owen was a Welsh social reformer and one of the founders of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement.Owen's philosophy was based on three intellectual pillars:...

, and other men eminent for their philanthropic exertions; was a leading member of the London Missionary Society

London Missionary Society

The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...

; and took a considerable part in the foundation of the British and Foreign Bible Society, in conjunction with the Rev. Thomas Charles

Thomas Charles

Thomas Charles was a Welsh Nonconformist clergyman of considerable importance in the history of modern Wales.-Early life:...

, of Bala, with whom he had become intimately acquainted whilst engaged in distributing, as Mrs. Palmer's banker, her donation of 1,000l. to the poor beneficed clergy of Wales.

He was also much interested in the formation of schools on the new system of Joseph Lancaster

Joseph Lancaster

Joseph Lancaster was an English Quaker and public education innovator.-Life:Lancaster was born the son of a shopkeeper in Southwark, south London....

. His correspondence, part of which is preserved in the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

 (Addit. MS. 29281), gives many details on these matters.

His mind was also much occupied with the financial questions of the day, and he became well known in banking circles by the publication of the following works:

1. Remarks on the Impolicy of repealing the Bank Restriction Bill 1802
2. Guineas, an unnecessary and expensive Incumbrance on Commerce 1802, 2nd edition 1803
3. A Letter to the Right Hon. Lord King in Defence of the Conduct of the Directors of the Banks of England and Ireland 1804
4. The Disadvantage of the new Plan of Finance 1807
5. Remarks on the new Doctrine concerning the supposed Depreciation of our Currency 1811

His health was so seriously affected by the London winters, that at the close of 1809 he retired from business and went to live at Penzance. There he became a partner in the Penzance Union Bank; served the office of mayor in 1816; aided Dr. Paris

John Ayrton Paris

John Ayrton Paris, FRS was a British physician. He is most widely remembered as the probable inventor of the thaumatrope, which he used to demonstrate persistence of vision to the Royal College of Physicians in London in 1824; at about this time he wrote a book entitled Philosophy in sport made...

 and Mr. Ashhurst Majendie to found the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall

Royal Geological Society of Cornwall

The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall is a geological society based in Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1814 to promote the study of the geology of Cornwall, and is the second oldest geological society in the world....

; took an active share in promoting the Penzance Public Library, and furnished to Sir Thomas Bernard valuable evidence as to the pernicious effects of the duties on salt. In 1821 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature

Royal Society of Literature

The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...

.

He died at Alverton, Penzance, 8 April 1827. He married, 26 October 1794, Anne, the only child of Matthew Craige of Walsall, by whom he left a large family, including the geologist Henry Samuel Boase

Henry Samuel Boase

Henry Samuel Boase FRS was an Cornish geologist.- Life and work :Boase was born in London on the 2 September 1799, the eldest son of Henry Boase , banker, of Madron, Cornwall. Henry Boase, the son, was educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton and then in Dublin, where he studied chemistry. He...

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