Collection X

The Colonist, 19 July 1844:
"Mr. William Henry Boulton is acknowledged to be one of the most enterprising, if not the most enterprising of our fellow citizens, in undertaking and furthering useful improvements. He is a large capitalist, and to his credit be it said, he does not lock up his money, but he employs it in a way that, we trust, may be profitable to himself, as well as advantageous to the community. . ."

George Brown, publisher of the Globe, 1846:
"William Boulton has the good sense not to speak often, but when he does, he states his views clearly and decidedly. . . he only speaks on local measures, and as party speeches, his efforts are models. His manner of speaking is boyish –the kind of half-joking half-doubting style which a privileged, petted young man is apt to adopt among his seniors. Mr. Boulton, in short, is an energetic, sharp, ambitious young man – but without principle, or steadiness of purpose, or extent of mind to qualify him to sit in Parliament. As a member of a municipal corporation he may be very useful – as the parliamentary representative of Toronto, he is quite out of his place."