Author: Boyd, Hugh Macaulay
Biography:
BOYD, Hugh Macaulay (1746-94: ODNB)
His surname at birth was Macaulay but he later added Boyd possibly because of an inheritance from his mother’s family (on his marriage certificate of 1767 his surname is Macaulay). He was born at Ballycastle, Co. Antrim, the second son of Hugh Macaulay, a barrister and MP in the Irish parliament, and his wife, a Miss Boyd. He was educated at the Rev. Thomas Ball’s school in Dublin before studying at Trinity College Dublin from the age of fourteen. He earned his BA in 1765. In 1766, his father died intestate and the family fortune went to Boyd’s older brother. Needing to provide for himself, Boyd moved to London meaning to establish himself as a barrister. There, he was quickly caught up by social and political life and, rather than develop a law career, he turned to political journalism and commentary. On 29 Dec. 1767 he married Frances Morphy, an heiress whose fortune he soon spent. In 1781 he travelled to Madras with the East India Company; from there he went to Ceylon on an unsuccessful diplomatic mission to the King of Kandy. On his return to Madras he was captured by the French. After his release, he worked as a journalist in Madras but he continued to be dogged by financial troubles and died penniless, survived by his wife and a son. In 1800 an edition of his works prepared by a friend, Lawrence Dundas Campbell, ignited rumours that he was “Junius,” the pseudonymous author of political letters to the Political Advertiser. These rumours have largely been disproven. ESTC attributes work in Baratariana (1772, 1773, 1777) to him. The three editions include verse among the political essays and satires, but it seems very unlikely any of it is by Boyd given that he is not otherwise known to have written poetry. (ODNB 14 Jan. 2021; ancestry.co.uk 14 Jan. 2021; L. D. Campbell, Miscellaneous Works of Hugh Boyd 1 [1800]) SR
Other Names:
- H. M. Boyd