John Sandwith Boys Smith (8 January 1901 – 3 November 1991) was a 20th-century British priest and academic. Boys Smith was born in

Hordle Hordle is a village and civil parish in the county of Hampshire, England. It is situated between the Solent coast and the New Forest, and is bordered by the towns of Lymington and New Milton. Like many New Forest parishes Hordle has no vill ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, in 1901. He was educated at

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors , ...

and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

in 1927. After a

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...

he returned to St John's where he was to stay until his retirement in 1969. He was its

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

from 1927 to 1934; a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

from 1927 until 1959;

Tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in co ...

from 1934 to 1939; Junior Bursar from 1939 to 1944; Senior Bursar from 1944 to 1959; and

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

from 1959 to 1969. He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1963 to 1965. In 1968, he was made an honorary fellow of Trinity College Dublin. He died in

Herne Hill Herne Hill is a district in South London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the boroughs ...

in 1991. His aunt was Winifred Boys-Smith, a university professor at Otago University. His brother was Humphry Boys-Smith DSO DSC RNR "one of the most successful Merchant Navy officers serving with the RNR during the second world war." His grandson is Nicholas Boys Smith, founder o
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References

People educated at Sherborne School 1901 births 1991 deaths Anglican Diocese of Birmingham Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge 20th-century English Anglican priests Honorary Fellows of Trinity College Dublin Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Masters of St John's College, Cambridge Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge Ely Professors of Divinity {{UCambridge-stub