BOYS, William (1541-96), of Denton and Chartham, Kent.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. Mar. 1541, 1st s.of John Boys of Denton by Elizabeth, da. of Sir Nicholas Lambard of London. educ. ?G. Inn 1559. m. Frances, da. of Thomas Isley, 5s. 1da. suc. fa. 20 May 1543.

Offices Held

?J.p. Kent from c.1583, rem., rest. by 1591, rem. c.1592.

Biography

Boys inherited a number of manors and other property in Kent. Whether his years as a ward strained his resources, or whether he engaged in some other activity than that of country gentleman, he possessed little freehold land at his death, and the commission of the peace for 1592 valued his lands at only £8 a year. Still, he had acquired from Henry Cheyney the rectory and other property at Minster, Isle of Sheppey, and he was thus a local landowner when returned to Parliament for Queenborough in 1588. Even here, however, the picture is not clear, for he may have been brought in by Edward Hoby, who owed £600 to Boys at the latter’s death. Other debtors are mentioned in the will Boys made 1 Apr. 1596, styling himself ‘of Chartham, Kent, esquire’, and he left to his younger sons and daughter the profits from debts or bonds due to him. To his wife, the sole executrix, he left leasehold lands in Chartham and Sheppey. He did not mention the son Thomas, who was his heir when Boys died in London on 31 Aug. 1596.

C42/68/11, 250/87; Vis. Kent (Harl. Soc. lxxiv), 47; PCC 4 Pynnyng, 65 Drake; Hatfield 278; pat. roll 24 Eliz. pt. 9; 25 Eliz. pt. 4; 33 Eliz. pt. 1; Hasted, Kent, vi. 233, 237; ix. 360.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: Roger Virgoe

Notes