William Christopher Boyd

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William Christoper Boyd
Born1842 (1842)
Hackney, London, U.K.
Died18 September 1906(1906-09-18) (aged 63–64)
Cheshunt, U.K.
Occupation
Years active1867-1904

William Christopher Boyd (1842–18 September 1906[1]) was a British entomologist and numismatist.

Biography[edit]

Boyd was born in 1842[2] and baptised on 16 February at St John's Church, Hackney.[3] Boyd's parents were Christopher Boyd, a gentleman[3][4] and Mary Ann Harriet Boyd (née Galliver),[5] who had married at St John's Church, Hackney on 26 April 1838.[4]

Boyd was privately educated, and began working when comparatively young.[1]

Boyd's regular employment was as a partner in his family's business, the Manchester Drapers and Warehousemen firm J.C. Boyd and Company, who had a base at 7 Friday Street, London.[6][5] Boyd was a liveryman of the Draper's Company and served as Master of the Company in 1898.[5]

Boyd was also a Justice of the Peace for the county of Hertfordshire, and was a Governor of St. Batholomew's Hospital, London.[6]

Boyd married Fanny Wales on 9 August 1878 at Holy Trinity, Waltham Cross[7] and the couple went on to have four children.[8]

Boyd was a keen sportsman, enjoying shooting and cricket.[6]

Boyd was interested in archaeology and ethnography, and he collected Neolithic and Paleolithic implements as well as ethnographic material.[1] As of 2005, the survival status of Boyd's archaeological and ethnographic collections was not known.[5]

Boyd died at his home, a house named "The Grange" in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire on 18 September 1906.[9]

Entomology[edit]

a specimen of the moth species Catocala promissa (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775), once part of William Christopher Boyd's Collection

Boyd's principal studies concerned Lepidoptera, most particularly moths including Tineidae,[6] but he also worked on Neuroptera in the later part of his life.[1]

Boyd was elected a Member of The Entomological Society of London in December 1867.[10] Boyd regularly exhibited specimens at Entomological Society meetings (for example in May 1874, October 1885, and December 1888 [11][12][13]) and he published short notices occasionally in the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine from 1868[14] until 1904.[15][6]

Boyd's collection of 445 butterflies, 12,500 moths and 800 Trichoptera specimens were presented to the Natural History Museum, London in 1923 by his widow.[16] Boyd's notebooks dating from 1859 to 1889 are held in the archives of the Natural History Museum, London.[17]

a specimen of the caddisfly species Anabolia nervosa (Curtis, 1834) collected at Waltham Cross ("WX") on 10 October 1903, originally from W.C. Boyd's collection (NHMUK014568203)

Numismatics[edit]

a copper alloy coin of the Roman emperor Gallenius minted at Milan between 253 and 268, donated to the British Museum by William Christopher Boyd in 1902 (BM 1902,1205.8)

Boyd's interest in coins was inspired by a collection he had inherited from George Henry Galliver, his maternal uncle.[5] Boyd joined the Numismatic Society in 1892 and was Honorary Treasurer from 1902 until his death.[1] He was described as having excellent powers of observation for examining coins and identifying those which were rare or unpublished varieties.[1] In 1897 Boyd came into the possession of a hoard of 193 Roman Denarii which had been found near Cambridge and he published a detailed account of the find and how it compared to a similar hoard found at Brickendonbury (a country estate near Hertford, Hertfordshire) in 1895.[18]

During his lifetime between 1893 and 1903 Boyd donated 36 ancient coins to the British Museum.[19] Boyd's personal coin and medal collection remained with his relatives until 2005, when it was offered for sale by the numismatic auctioneers A.H. Baldwin and Sons.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Evans, John (1907). "President's Address". Proceedings of the Royal Numismatic Society: Session 1906-1907. 7: 29–30 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ GRO Index for William Christopher Boyd: Hackney District: March quarter 1842, via freebmd.org.uk
  3. ^ a b "London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms 1813-1923 for William Christopher Boyd". ancestry.co.uk.
  4. ^ a b "London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1938 for Christopher Boyd". ancestry.co.uk.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Baldwin, Edward, ed. (2005). Baldwin's Auctions: Auction Number 42: Monday 26 September 2005: The William C Boyd Collection.
  6. ^ a b c d e Bankes, Eustace R. (1907). "William Christopher Boyd". The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 43 (January 1907): 16 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  7. ^ "Marriages". Pall Mall Gazette. 13 August 1878. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "1891 England Census for William C Boyd". Ancestry.co.uk.
  9. ^ England Probate Calendar for 1906, page 287. Entry for William Christopher Boyd of Cheshunt Staffordshire. accessed via probatesearch.service.gov.uk
  10. ^ "2nd December, 1867 ; Sir John Lubbock, Bart., F.R.S., President, in the Chair". The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 4 (January 1868): 192 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  11. ^ "Entomological Society of London : May 4th, 1874. Sir S. S. Saunders, President, in the Chair". The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. XI (July 1874): 45. 1874 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  12. ^ "Entomological Society of London, Oct. 7th, 1885 : Prof. J. O. Westwood, M.A., F.L.S., &c., Honorary Life President, in the Chair". The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. XXII (December 1885): 167. 1885 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  13. ^ "Entomological Society of London: Nov. 7th, 1888.—Dr. D. Sharp, F.L.S., President, in the Chair". The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. XXV (December 1888): 168. 1888 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  14. ^ Boyd, W.C. "Captures of Rare Lepidoptera in 1868". The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 5 (November 1868): 147 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  15. ^ Boyd, W C (1904). "Catocala fraxini, L., in Suffolk". The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. second series: XL (November 1904): 256 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  16. ^ British Museum. Annual report of the General Progress of the Museum and of the British Museum (Natural History) for the year 1923. London: HMSO. 1924. p. 13 – via Internet Archive.
  17. ^ "Boyd, William Christopher, (d 1906), Entomologist". nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  18. ^ Boyd, William C (1897). "A Find of Roman Denarii near Cambridge". The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Numismatic Society. Third series: 17: 119–126 – via JSTOR.
  19. ^ "W.C. Boyd". The British Museum. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
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