On Exhibit

The Boltons of Pelham Priory
A Cultural Legacy from England to America

September 3 - November 21, 2010

This exhibition celebrates the achievements of the Reverend Robert (1788-1857) and Anne Jay (1793-1859) Bolton and their children, a fascinating and vibrant Anglo-American family whose life on two continents emphasized religious, intellectual, and artistic pursuits in a warm and lively family setting.
 
Robert Bolton left the sultry, moss-draped squares of Savannah, where he was born, for the elegance of Regency England. In the 1830s, he brought his family to the woods and farmland of Westchester County, New York. Bolton was at times a wealthy cotton merchant, a gentleman farmer, a devout clergyman, antiquarian, and teacher, and a close friend of Washington Irving (1783-1859). Robert's English wife, Anne Jay Bolton, was the daughter of the Reverend William Jay (1769-1853) of Bath, the influential dissenter. Robert and Anne were the parents of thirteen children (all but one born in England), most of whom were extremely gifted artists, writers, clergymen, and educators.
 
The family became neighbors of the Bartows when they moved to Pelham, New York, in 1838. Here, inspired by English medievalism, they designed and built the Priory, one of the earliest Gothic Revival houses in this country, filling it with collections of rare volumes, paintings, suits of armor, antiques, and curiosities. In 1843, the Reverend Bolton built Christ Church, which houses the earliest figurative stained glass window made in America, designed and crafted by his son William Jay (1816-1884).
 
The Boltons of Pelham Priory is the first exhibition to study the impressive legacy left by this family in the areas of religion, education, and the arts. It features historic references and memorabilia that span the nineteenth century, including contemporaneous documents, artwork, rare books, and period furniture.

Boltons of Pelham Priory Lecture Series:
Click here for details.

Pelham Town Historian Blake Bell on The Boltons of Pelham Priory
Sunday, September 26 at 4 p.m.

Author Willene B. Clark on The Stained Glass Art of William Jay and John Bolton
Sunday, October 3 at 4 p.m.
(lecture held at Christ Church with a reception to follow at Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum)

Local Architectural Historian Arthur Scinta on The Reverend Robert Bolton: A Gothic Revival Missionary and his Influence on American Architecture
Sunday, October 17 at 4 p.m.

Tour of the Bolton windows at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church
in Brooklyn Heights with Director of Music and Church Historian Gregory Eaton
Saturday, November 13, 11 a.m.
(departure from Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum at 10 a.m.)

Pelham Priory, William Rickarby Miller (1818–1893)
Watercolor on paper; 1856, Collection of Catherine Boericke