James Boulton Knights (1827-1898)
A friend lent us this fine dulcimer, which has a brass name plate inscribed: ‘J.B. Knights, Maker, Rickinghall.’
After many years of being unable to trace any J.B. Knights in Rickinghall something caught my eye in the genealogical records – it was the baptism of the dulcimer maker’s son in 1856. Following my hunches to find definitive substantiation, I now know quite a bit about the maker, although at present, the instrument is actually the only evidence of his musical activity and craft skills.
James Boulton Knights (sometimes spelled without the ‘u’) was born around 1827 in Wymondham in Norfolk, the first son of James Bolton and Maria Knights, who were unmarried at the time. By 1841, his parents were married and the family were living about ten miles away, in Wramplingham, where his father was a miller. These villages are in an area known to be busy with dulcimer players in the late 19th /early 20th century.
By 1850 the family were nearer to Norwich – James is listed as the schoolmaster (under the surname Bolton) at the British National School, Costessey and in 1851 they were living at Bradberry Gardens, Heigham, in Norwich itself, in a large household which included James’ cousin Charles, a carpenter.
In 1854 James married Ellen Fitt at St Mary’s Baptist Chapel Norwich, where he gave his name as James Boulton Knights, and he used this name from then onwards. The Fitts were pipemakers from Ber Street. James profession was given as ‘accountant’ and his address as Lower Westwick St, adjoining Coslany St. Again, Ber Street and the Coslany area are known centres for dulcimer playing and making.
James and Ellen’s first son, Herbert, was born in Ber Street in December 1855, but he was baptised in Rickinghall on 3rd August 1856, giving us the earliest known date for the family in Rickinghall.
Their second son Arthur (Albert in the 1881 census) was also born in Rickinghall, on 17th May 1857, and their third son, Augustus, was born in Breedon-on-the-Hill in Leicestershire, where they were living by 1861, where James’ occupation is again given as schoolteacher, so it’s fair to assume that is how he spent his years in Rickinghall. The school in Rickinghall was a handsome building with an adjoining two storey schoolhouse, built in 1854, just a couple of years before James moved there. He wasn’t the first schoolmaster there – the 1855 White’s Directory gives William Thomas Nathaniel Williams as the schoolmaster.
James’ remaining children, daughters Flora (1866-1905) and Agatha (1870-1935) were both born in Breedon-on-the-Hill, and in that period, J.B. Knights makes his (Apparently) only appearance in the local newspapers, in a court appearance where he brought an action against a man who had taken exception to Knights telling his grandchild off in church for disobedience. The man had subsequently ‘met him [Knights] in the street, and he began to abuse him and struck him on the left temple, which knocked his hat off and sent him reeling across the road.—Fined £1 4s. 6d including costs.” (Leicester Journal – Friday 31 July 1868)
We have some evidence of the dulcimer travelling about with him, as on the under side of the dulcimer case is the remains of a label from the Great Eastern Railway. This company was formed in 1862, so the label may have been stuck on when he next moved house, from Breedon-on-the-Hill to Babraham in Cambridgeshire, back nearer his home, in the eastern counties.
The family were in Babraham by the time of the 1871 census, where in addition to being the schoolmaster he also became the parish clerk, so was clearly at the hub of village life. He was headmaster at the school from 1871 or maybe as early as 1867, until at least 1896: a period of around 25 years.
The first school in Babraham was built with an endowment from a local family, along with a small row of almshouses, in 1730, all of which are now Grade II listed. It remained in in use as a school until 1959, but a newspaper report soon after James had moved there, described the village as having ‘no efficient school’ by which it meant it was not a national school, but a voluntary endowed school. An online parish history hints further at the situation during James’ tenure:
‘Additions were made to the school, which stood in the middle of the row of alms-houses, in 1861 and 1869, and a new room for infants was added in 1902 when the number of pupils reached 70. A night school was poorly attended in 1867 and had been abandoned by 1877 for lack of support. [ … ] In 1872 most of the children were withdrawn from the school in protest at the imposition of fees, and although by 1878 Babraham children were again educated free, fees being paid only by pupils from other parishes, strong opposition was aroused by a Scheme giving the trustees powers to charge if necessary.’
James died in Addenbrokes Hospital in Cambridge on 24th October 1898. He is buried at St Peter’s in Babraham and left an estate worth £124.7s.1d.
James’ daughter Flora assisted her father in the school after her mother died. Sons Arthur and Herbert both grew up to be teachers, Herbert a music teacher in Epsom, Surrey and Arthur in London (1881) and then Garboldisham (on the Suffolk/Norfolk border, near Rickinghall – 1891). A report in the Cambridge Independent Press from 13th January 1888 gives a description of a visit from some of Arthur’s pupils to Babraham to take part in a concert. The youngest son Augustus who was blind in one eye, also went to London where he became a ‘refreshment house keeper’. Augustus tragically committed suicide on a visit home to his sister Flora in Babraham, on 3rd January 1899, just a few months after their father had died. Newspaper reports include comments from his wife about him suffering from depression and mental illness. Flora moved away soon afterwards.
J.B. Knights’ dulcimer
More photos and information about J.B. Knight’s dulcimer
We have not come across any records of James Boulton Knights playing music (eg newspaper reports of village concerts) but the fact that his elder son went on to make his living through music indicates he was brought up in a musical household, and that James is likely to have played the instrument, not just made it for someone else. The fact that in the 1888 village concert, J.B. Knights is not mentioned as a performer, suggests that by then he may not have been playing.
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