The very fine Syria 1840 casualty pair awarded to Midshipman, later Admiral H. Boys, Royal Navy, who was serving aboard H.M.S. Edinburgh and was actively employed in the Syria operations of 1840, winning applause for his overall conduct and in particular for his deeds at the capture of Beirut where he was entrusted with the duty of removing the powder from the castle. He was afterward wounded during the bombardment of St. Jean D’Acre on 3rd November 1840. He would then be present on or off the west coast of Africa participating in several boat actions against river pirates and slavers, and was present at the capture of the slaver Esperance in August 1850 and then of the Feliz in October 1850, where he would be rewarded with a share of the prize money. Subsequently seeing service off the south-east coast of America under Rear-Admiral W.W. Henderson, C.B., K.H. he would return to England in the mid 1850s. After a period ashore he would in 1863 assume the command of the wood screw corvette Pelorous for a commission of China, before ending his career with a number of senior appointments ashore including as the commanding officer of the gunnery establishment Excellent and as Captain Superintendent of the Royal Naval College from 1869 until 1874, Director of Naval Ordnance from 1875-78 and latterly as 2nd in Command of the Channel Squadron. In 1881 he sat on a sub-committee which resulted in the report regarding the coastal defences and was published as the Morley Commission of 1882. His final appointment was as a Member of the Committee of Naval Ordnance. After his retirement with the rank of Admiral, Boys retained strong links with his seafaring past, serving as a Governor of the Marine Society, on addition to one time acting as President of the Gardner Gun Company. He was also Vice President and a member of the Council of the Royal United Services Institute
Pair: Naval General Service Medal 1793-1840, 1 Clasp: Syria; (H. BOYS. MIDSHIPMAN.) Saint Jean D’Acre Medal in Silver this with swivel ring suspension and slide-on ribbon buckle; (HENRY BOYS. H.M.S. EDINBURGH)
Condition: contact wear throughout, edge bruise to reverse rim of the NGS at 7 o’clock, Very Fine
Henry Boys was born in Deal, Kent in 1821, the son of Captain Edward Boys (1785-1866), one of a handful of Naval officers who escaped from captivity in the Napoleonic Wars, and whose published account of his daring exploits first appeared in print 1827. He was also the grandson of John Boys of Botshanger, Kent (1749-1824).
Young Henry Boys entered the Royal Navy as a 1st Class Volunteer in August 1837 and joined H.M.S. Edinburgh as a recently appointed Midshipman in 1839. He was subsequently actively employed in the Syria operations of 1840, winning applause for his overall conduct and in particular for his deeds at the capture of Beyrouth, where he was entrusted with the duty of removing the powder from the castle. He was afterwards wounded during the bombardment of St. Jean D’Acre on 3rd November 1840.
Advanced to Lieutenant in February 1846, Boys participated in several boat actions against river pirates and slavers on or off the west coast of Africa during a tour of duty aboard the Centaur in 1849-1850, and was present at the capture of the slaver Esperance in August of the latter year and of the Feliz that October, actions that were rewarded with a share of the resultant prize money. He subsequently served off the south-east coast of America as a Flag Lieutenant to Rear-Admiral W.W. Henderson, C.B., K.H. and in May 1853 as a recently advanced Commander, was appointed captain of the brig Express.
It was thought that he returned to England in 1857, in which year he was advanced to Captain (17th October), although it appears that he must have come home earlier as he married Margaret Henderson Truscott in Kent in late 1856. Boys did not obtain another seagoing appointment until 1863, when he assumed command of the wood screw corvette Pelorous for a commission off China. Thereafter he held a succession of senior appointments ashore, the first of them as commanding officer of the gunnery establishment Excellent and as Captain Superintendent of the Royal Naval College from 1869 until 1874.
The 1871 census reveals Captain Boys, aged 50, living at the Royal Naval College at Portsea with his wife Margaret, sons William and Reginald and daughters Margaret and Eunice as well as a number of servants. Advanced to flag rank on 30th July 1875, Rear Admiral Boys served as Director of Naval Ordnance from 1875-78 and latterly as 2nd in Command of the Channel Squadron. He was promoted to Vice-Admiral on 9th January 1880. In the 1881 census he was living at East Dean, Kidbrooke Park Road, near Greenwich with his wife and two daughters as well as three servants and was described as a Vice Admiral (Active) aged 60.
In 1881 he sat on a sub-committee which resulted in the report regarding the coastal defences and was published as the Morley Commission of 1882. His final appointment was as a Member of the Committee of Naval Ordnance and he was placed on the Retired List as a full Admiral in July 1885. He was described as an Admiral (Retired) aged 70 on the 1891 census. He was living with his wife Margaret and daughter Eunice and son Henry, who was described as a Clerk in Holy Orders, in the family home in Kidbrooke Park Road, Blackheath.
Admiral Boys retained strong links with his seafaring past, serving as a Governor of the Marine Society, on addition to one time acting as President of the Gardner Gun Company. He was also Vice President and a member of the Council of the Royal United Services Institute. When the 1901 census was taken he was living at East Dean, 10 Kidbrooke Park Road, Kidbrooke with his wife, son William, daughter Eunice and granddaughter Margaret Adams. They also had three servants.
Admiral Boys died in 1904.
