Just a bit of idle gossip. There is a firm of butcher's and poulterers in Maldon High Street called Bunting's who have been going for over 100 years. Buntin is an unusual name. There is every possibility that it was the same man who was friends with the Boutflours? Not sure if the old man is dead now, but it is still a family firm. The farming community is a very close knit society and every farmer knows every other farmer and these in turn know the butchers and poulterers in the town. Maldon back in 85 was a very close community. Not so much now that the population has swelled from around 20,000 to around 65,000 today. Probably a bit more.
Another bit of information which may interest certain folk is that practically every Maldon businessman was a Free Mason.