I figure, with the profligacy of John Boyd's in the world - and the proliferation of progeny of their offspring, chances are we are all descendants of a John Boyd.
My John Boyd was a Scot, a stone mason and a man who sat on council in the new land, one who signed a public letter of thanks to certain crew members of the ship he sailed out on,
and one who hosted his daughters' double wedding.
I know all of this through the little bit of research that I have done myself.
For Mother's Day I got myself an Ancestry deal - and the "grab a bargain" part of the deal (I wonder where I got that from) meant that I had to dedicate myself to exploration of that forest.
I found his Margaret, I found that he was also, apparently, a publican (that counterbalances the sheer weight of abstinence society founders in another branch) - I even found a photo of either him with his brothers - or his son, also John Boyd, and his other sons. Whoever they were, I wouldn't mess with them!
And he is just 1 of the 32 of his generation in my tree.
(When researching for a photo for the above facts, I came upon:
- a John Boyd who may have been instrumental in sending my John Boyd out - for history geeks check this article!!!!!
- a John Boyd that comes with a trigger warning - link contains explicit descriptions of court charges and the offence as well as editorial comment.
Hopefully not my John Boyd - This article from 24 August 1861 - 162 3/4 years ago and published in the Sydney Mail, page 6 on a Saturday - could be written today.)