William BOYS ESQ 1735–1803 – Genealogical Records

Sources

Genealogy Event 1
Event Type: Birth
Event Date: 7 Sep 1735
Event Place: Sandwich Kent England
Record Source:
[1] Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20, 22
[2] Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20, 22
[3] Chalmers' General Biographical Dictionary
[4] England, Select Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991
[5] UK and Ireland, Find a Grave Index
[6] International, Find a Grave Index

Genealogy Event 2
Event Type: Baptism
Event Date: 6 Oct 1735
Event Place: Deal, Kent, England
Record Source: England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; General Register Office: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths surrendered to the Non-parochial Registers Commissions of 1837 and 1857; Class Number: RG 4; Piece Number: 1003

Genealogy Event 3
Event Type: Custom Event
Event Date: 1700's
Event Place: Kent England
Record Source: Dictionary of National Biography – William Boys
Boys, William (1735– 1803), surgeon and topographer, was born in Deal, Kent, on 7 September 1735, the eldest son of Commodore William Boys (1700– 1774), afterwards lieutenant-governor of Greenwich Hospital, and Elizabeth Pearson of Deal. He practised as a surgeon in Sandwich and devoted much of his spare time to literature and scientific research. Descended from an ancient Kent family, he added to the distinguished reputation of the Sandwich branch of the Boys family by working as a historian. As his home, the White Friars, was within a mile of Richborough Castle, the Roman Rutupium, he naturally investigated its history. He also became renowned for deciphering ancient manuscripts and inscriptions, for zealously collecting antiquities connected with Sandwich, and for his studies in astronomy, natural history, and mathematics.

In 1759 Boys married Elizabeth (1738– 1761), Daughter Of Henry Wise, A Sandwich Jurat; They Had Two Children. In 1761 he was elected jurat and acted with his wife's father; in the same year Elizabeth died. The following year he married Jane Fuller (D. 1783), coheir of her uncle, John Paramor of Statenborough; they had eight children. In 1767 Boys was elected mayor of Sandwich. In his first publication, published anonymously at Canterbury in 1775, he presented the case for Sandwich against a parliamentary bill to enable the commissioners of sewers to make the Stonar Cut, which it was thought would destroy Sandwich harbour. In 1776 he was elected FSA and in 1782 he again served as mayor. He was also a magistrate and was prominent in the public business of his town and neighbourhood.

In the same year as the death of Boys's second wife, 1783, John Duncombe published his Antiquities of Reculver, which included much information that had been supplied by Boys. In 1784 Testacea minuta rariora was published, which contained plates and descriptions of the tiny shells found by Boys on the seashore near Sandwich. The book was put together by George Walker as Boys was too preoccupied with his profession. None the less, in 1786 Boys issued proposals for publishing his Collections for a History of Sandwich at a price to cover only its expenses, and placed his materials in the hands of the printers in Canterbury. The first part appeared in 1788 but there was considerable delay and anxiety over the second and final part, which was eventually published in 1792 but at great pecuniary loss to Boys. This is the work for which he is best known and it occupied the principal part of his life. A quarto volume of 877 pages, it is an outstanding book which was compiled and edited with great knowledge and ability, illustrated beautifully by the author himself. It is notable for a chapter on natural history and for recording the results of his exhaustive explorations of Richborough Castle.

In 1787 Boys published his Account of the Loss of the Luxborough, reporting a case of cannibalism, in which his father had been one of the men compelled to resort to the extreme of cannibalism in order to preserve life. Thomas Pennant recorded that in his parlour Boys hung a series of pictures portraying the terrible circumstances. The account appears in full in the History of Greenwich Hospital (1789) by John Cooke and John Maule. In 1792 Boys sent Dr Simmons his 'Observations on Kit's Coity House', which, being read at the Society of Antiquaries, appeared in volume 11 of Archaeologia. Despite increasing ill health and having led a busy life, Boys was prominent among an army of helpers to the great Kent historian Edward Hasted. He undertook detailed fieldwork in east Kent, which was conveyed and used by Hasted. They subsequently corresponded, became estranged, and then were reconciled. Described as calm, stolid, and full of facts, Boys partnered William Boteler as Hasted's main support in completing the first edition of his History of Kent under immense difficulties. Boys was a member of the Linnean Society and contributed frequently to the Gentleman's Magazine. A new tern found by him at Sandwich was named Sterna Boysii after him by Latham in his Index ornithologicus. In 1789 Boys had been appointed surgeon to the sick and wounded seamen at Deal and in 1796 he gave up his Sandwich practice to live in Walmer, but returned to Sandwich in 1799. His health having declined, he suffered apoplectic attacks in 1799 and died of apoplexy on 15 March 1803, aged sixty-seven. He was buried in St Clement's Church, Sandwich, where there is a Latin epitaph to his memory.
Jennett Humphreys, rev. John Whyman
Sources
A. Winnifrith, Men of Kent and Kentish Men: biographical notices of 680 worthies of Kent (1913), 88– 9 J. Simson, Eminent men of Kent (1893), 131 J. Boyle, In quest of Hasted (1984), 16, 18, 19, 20, 26, 27, 30, 32, 33, 41, 43, 45, 46, 67, 127 F. W. Cook, 'Kentish bibliographical notes', Archaeologia Cantiana, 41 (1929), 175– 9, esp. 177– 8 F. W. Hardman, 'Stonar and the Wantsum Channel, pt 1: physiographical', Archaeologia Cantiana, 53 (1941), 62– 80, esp. 69 C. Matson, 'William Rolfe: a noted Sandwich antiquarian', Archaeologia Cantiana, 76 (1961), 180– 85, esp. 181– 2 C. Matson, 'Men of Kent, pt 1: boys of Bonnington', Archaeologia Cantiana, 79 (1964), 70– 76, esp. 74 C. Matson, 'Men of Kent, pt 2: Harvey of Eastry', Archaeologia Cantiana, 80 (1965), 98– 106, esp. 101 F. Hull, 'The coming of the barons, 1403', Archaeologia Cantiana, 87 (1972), 1– 8, esp. 1 J. Boyle, 'Some discoveries about Edward Hasted and his History of Kent', Archaeologia Cantiana, 97 (1981), 235– 59, esp. 241– 5, 249, 256 E. W. Parkin, 'The ancient Cinque Port of Sandwich', Archaeologia Cantiana, 100 (1984), 189– 216, esp. 189 J. Boyle, 'Hasted in perspective', Archaeologia Cantiana, 100 (1984), 295– 304, esp. 298, 303 GM, 1st ser., 73 (1803), 293, 421– 3 Nichols, Illustrations, 4.676; 6.613, 653, 685, 687 E. Hasted, The history and topographical survey of the county of Kent, 2nd edn, 10 (1800), 111, 113, 441 Nichols, Lit. anecdotes, 9.24– 7nn.
Archives
BL, family papers, Add. MSS 33896, 34106, 44918, 45389, 45499– 45505 CKS, notes and extracts relating to the history of Kent East Kent Archives Centre, Dover, notes and extracts relating to history of Sandwich Linn. Soc., drawings of molluscs | Warks. CRO, letters to Thomas Pennant

Likenesses
portrait, Sandwich Guildhall, Mayor's parlour

Genealogy Event 4
Event Type: Residence
Event Place: Sandwich, Kent, England
Record Source: England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England; Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Series PROB 11; Class: PROB 11; Piece: 1390

Genealogy Event 5
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 15 Mar 1803
Event Place: Sandwich Kent England
Record Source:
[1] Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20, 22
[2] Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-20, 22
[3] England, Select Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991
[4] UK and Ireland, Find a Grave Index
[5] International, Find a Grave Index

Genealogy Event 6
Event Type: Burial
Event Place: Sandwich, Kent, England
Record Source:
[1] UK and Ireland, Find a Grave Index
[2] International, Find a Grave Index