[1][2][3][4] Edmund was the son of William Boulnois of St John's Wood, the proprietor of the Baker Street Bazaar, Marylebone, London .

[6] He succeeded his father as owner of the Bazaar and was also chairman of the West Middlesex Waterworks Company, a director of the London Life Association and of the Westminster Electric Supply Corporation.

[2] In July 1889 the sitting Conservative member of parliament for Marylebone East, Lord Charles Beresford, resigned his seat on becoming captain of HMS Undaunted.

He held the seat with a majority of 493 votes, defeating the Liberal Party candidate, Granville George Leveson-Gower.

[14] Boulnois maintained two residences: a town house in London's Portman Square and "Scotland", Farnham Royal, Buckinghamshire.