William Boyd (died 1772), was an
Irish Presbyterian minister. He is known as the bearer of a petition to
Samuel Shute
Samuel Shute (January 12, 1662 – April 15, 1742) was an English military officer and royal governor of the provinces of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. After serving in the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession, he was appoin ...
, the governor of
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the Thirteen Colonies, thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III of England, William III and Mary II ...
, embodying a proposal for an emigration from
County Londonderry
County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...
to that colony.
[The petition is dated 26 March 1718, is signed by nine presbyterian ministers and 208 members of their parishes, who declare their 'sincere and hearty inclination to transport ourselves to that very excellent and renowned Plantation, upon our obtaining from His Excellency suitable encouragement.' ]Thomas Witherow
Thomas Witherow (1824–1890) was an Irish Presbyterian minister and historian.
Life
The son of Hugh Witherow, a farmer at Aughlish, near Dungiven, County Londonderry, and his wife Elizabeth Martin, he was born at Ballycastle on 29 May 1824. He r ...
reprints the document, with the signatures in full, from Edward Lutwyche Parker's ''History of Londonderry, New Hampshire'', Boston, 1851. Boyd fulfilled his mission in 1718; the intended emigration did not take place. In the same year (without awaiting the issue of Boyd's negotiation), James McGregor (minister of
Aghadowey
Aghadowey ()Placenames NI
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
with some of his people and founded a town to which was given the name of
Londonderry.
Life
Boyd was ordained minister of
Macosquin
Macosquin () is a small village, townland, and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is south-west of Coleraine, on the road to Limavady. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 614 people. The area is known for its caves an ...
, County Londonderry, by the Coleraine presbytery on 31 January 1710.
In the non-subscription controversy, Boyd took a warm part. When the general synod of Ulster in 1721 permitted its members to subscribe to the
Westminster Confession of Faith
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the " subordinate standard" ...
, Boyd was one of the signatories. He was on the committee of six appointed in 1724 to draw up articles against Thomas Nevin, M.A. (minister of
Downpatrick
Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the bu ...
from 1711 to 1744 and accused of impugning the deity of Christ), and probably drafted the document. The following year, Boyd moved from Macosquin to a congregation nearer Londonderry (formerly known as
Taughboyne
Taughboyne ( meaning "''house of Baithen''") is a civil parish, in County Donegal, Ireland.
Taughboyne is located West-South-West from Derry, on the road to Raphoe; containing, with the village and ancient disfranchised borough of St Johnsto ...
and later as Monreagh), where he was installed by the Derry presbytery on 25 April 1725 at a stipend of £50l. The congregation had been vacant since the removal of William Gray to Usher's Quay, Dublin, in 1721. In 1727, Gray (without ecclesiastical sanction) returned to Taughboyne and set up an opposition meeting in a disused corn-kiln at St. Johnston (within the boundary of his old parish). There arose defections, recriminations and the reduction of Boyd's stipend to £40l. The general synod elected him moderator at
Dungannon
Dungannon () is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the ...
in 1730. The sermon with which he concluded his term of office the following year at
Antrim demonstrates his orthodoxy as a subscriber to the Westminster Confession, and perhaps also proves that the influence of a non-subscribing publication (more than 10 years old) was still great. His sermon was directed especially against a discourse by the non-subscribing minister of the town in which it was delivered:
John Abernethy, M.A., whose "Religious Obedience founded on Personal Persuasion" was preached at
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
on 9 December 1719 and published in 1720. Boyd decided that "conscience is not the supreme lawgiver" and that it has no judicial authority, except insofar as it administers "the law of God": an expression which (to him) was synonymous with the interpretation of scripture accepted by his church.
In 1734, Boyd was an unsuccessful candidate for the clerkship of the general synod. His zeal for the faith was again shown in 1739, when he took the lead against Richard Aprichard, a probationer of the Armagh presbytery (who had scruples about some points of the Confession, and ultimately withdrew from the synod's jurisdiction). He was one of ten clergymen appointed by the synod at
Magherafelt
Magherafelt (, mˠaxəɾʲəˈfʲiːlt̪ˠə is a small town and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,805 at the 2011 Census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county and is the social, econo ...
on 16 June 1747 to draw up a "serious warning" to be read from the pulpit against dangerous errors "creeping into our bounds". These "errors" referred to
original sin
Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 (t ...
, the "satisfaction of Christ", the
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
and scriptural authority. The synod (despite its "serious warning") would not entertain a proposal to forbid the growing practice of inter-communion with nonsubscribers. Nothing more is known of Boyd until his death, which occurred at an advanced age on 2 May 1772.
Works
Boyd published only "A Good Conscience, a Necessary Qualification of a Gospel Minister: a Sermon on
Hebrews
The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew: / , Modern: ' / ', Tiberian: ' / '; ISO 259-3: ' / ') and ''Hebrew people'' are mostly considered synonymous with the Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still no ...
13:18 Preached at Antrim on 15 June 1731 at a General Synod of the Protestants of the Presbyterian Persuasion in the North of Ireland" in Derry in 1731.
References
*
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, William
Year of birth missing
1772 deaths
18th-century Irish Presbyterian ministers
Christian clergy from County Londonderry