James Boevey

James's mother remarried in 1628 Johannes van Abeele, a widower and member of the Dutch emigree community in Norwich He was educated at the Mercers' School in London, where his tutor was Mr Augur.

When James Boven came to demand his legacy in the right of Susanna, his wife, Bowden, the other executor, who had drawn the most part of the estate into his hands, delayed him payment for four or five years with fair speeches.

By the law and custom there, there is no appeal to the High Court of Justice before such sentence given be performed, yet, notwithstanding, an appeal to the Great Council at the Hague was obtained and hath there depended ever since, your Majesty's letter to the States General demanding justice to be done to the said Boeve and the frequent solicitations of your minister for the expedition thereof being not at all regarded, but he hath been still delayed and denied having any end thereof.

Boevey devised what he called "Active Philosophy", which might be described today as "self-help" literature, which he described in a series of volumes, mostly written in 1665 and 1666, which were never published, but circulated amongst his friends.

In 1653 he purchased from Cromwell's government the freehold of the former Royal Forest of Exmoor in Somerset, and in 1654 was the first to build a house on the desolate moorland, at a central spot called Simonsbath.

In appearance he was very short, described by Aubrey as: "5 ft tall, and slenderly built, with extremely black hair curled at the ends, an equally black beard, and the darkest of eyebrows hovering above dark but sprightly hazel eyes"[13] In character he was deemed by Aubrey "A person of great temperance and deepe thoughts, and a working head never idle, ever a great lover of Natural Philosophie.

being of sound and perfect memory praised be Almighty God hopeing by his mercy to have everlasting life doe make this my last will and testament.

Item I give all that lease and interest I have in the house in which I now live in the said parish of Cheam with all the household stuff, plate, linen, goods and chattells whatsoever which shall be found in or about the same at the time of my death unto my loveing wife Margarett Boevey.

And whereas I am intituled by virtue of a decree of the High Court of Chancery made in a cause wherein I am p(lainti)ff against Dame Ann Smith widow and John Boevey Def(endan)ts unto two full fifth parts the whole in five equall parts to be divided of certain messuages lands and tenements in Little Chelsea in the county of Midd(lese)x and demanded by the Bill of Complaint exhibited in the said cause and to the rents and profitts of the same and to severall sumes of money due to me for the arrearages of rent thereof.

Item I give and bequeath all my moneys in cash and all my cattle and debts oweing to me at the time of my death and all other my goods and chattells reall and personall whatsoever to my said loveing wife Margarett Boevey for her own use whom I hereby make my sole executrix of this my will hereby revoking and making void all former and other wills at any time before by me made touching or concerning the disposall of all or any part of the premisses herein and hereby disposed of given and bequeathed as aforesaid.

In testimony whereof I the said James Boevey have hereunto sett my hand and seale this ................... day of.................... and in the seaventh yeare of the reigne of our Soveraigne Lord William the third by the grace of God of England Scotland Ffrance and Ireland King Defender of the Faith Anno Domini one thousand six hundred ninety five – James Boevey – signed sealed published and declared by the said James Boevey as his last will and testament in the presence of us and subscribed and attested in the presence and by the direction of the said testator by us: Samuel Parson; Henry Lloyd; Charles Angiband; Thomas Saige.

Probatum Londini fuit huiusmodi testamentum corum venerabili viro Will'mo King legum doctore surrogato venerabilis et ......... viri domini Richardi Raines militis legum etiam doctoris Curia Prerogativa Cantuariensis magistri custodis sive comisarii legitime constitute quinto die mensis ffebruarii Anno Domini (stilo Anglia) millesimo sexcentesimo nonagesimo quinto juramento Margareta Boevey relicta dicti defuncti et executrix in dicte testamento nominata cui comissa fuit administratio omnium et singulorum bonorum jurium et ............ dicti defuncti de bene et fideliter administrando eadem ad .......... Dei Evangel jurat.....(i.e. proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury the 5th February 1695 with Margaret Boevey acting as executrix) The armorials of James Boevey as painted on his mural monument (impaled with the arms of his wife) in the Lumley Chapel, near St Dunstan's Church, Cheam, Surrey, are: Ermine, on a bend sable three bezants.

Portrait of James Boevey (1622–1696) aged 11, inscribed: "James Boevey An(n)o Dom(ini): 1634 Aetatis Suae 11 ("A.D. 1634 of his age 11"). In 1973 the painting was in the collection of Mr F.B.Watkins, owner of Flaxley Abbey, Gloucestershire. An inferior 19th-century copy was painted and published in Crawley-Boevey, A.W.C., The Perverse Widow (1898). MacDermot, E.T. stated: "The original canvas shows only that it was painted in 1634 when its subject was eleven years old, the title being added later. This led Mr Crawley-Boevey to suggest (in his "Notes on the Antiquities at Flaxley Abbey" (1912)) that the portrait was of Boevey's nephew, Abraham Clarke, who was eleven in the latter part of 1634. He overlooked the fact that James Boevey's twelfth birthday was not until 7 May 1634 and the family tradition has always been that it is a companion portrait to that of his sister Joanna, painted when she was eleven in 1616. It is listed as such in the family records and undoubtedly portrays Boevey" [ 1 ]
Armorials of James Boevey (1622–1695) as shown on his mural monument in the Lumley Chapel , nr. St Dunstan's Church, Cheam , Surrey: Ermine, on a bend sable three bezants
Whitehall in Cheam , built c. 1500, believed to have been Boevey's residence
Simonsbath House, built by James Boevey in the centre of Exmoor Forest beside the River Barle . On a beam above the old kitchen fireplace is carved the date "1654"