Background
Boyd was the second son of Alexander Macauley of County Antrim, Ireland, and Mission Boyd of Ballycastle in the same county. He was born at Ballycastle in October 1746, and showed precocious talents. In 1765, and would have entered the army, but his father"s somewhat sudden death left him unprovided foreign
Education
He accordingly chose the law for a profession, and went to London. In 1774 he began to work harder at the law, and also attended the commons" debates, which he wrote down from memory with extraordinary accuracy.
Career
He was sent to Doctor Ball"s celebrated school at Dublin, and at the age of fourteen entered Trinity College, Dublin. He became Master of Arts There he became acquainted with Goldsmith and with Garrick. His wit and talents and his reputed skill at chess soon brought him into the best society.
After a visit to Ireland in 1768, during which he wrote some political letters in the Dublin journals, he lived at various places in and near London, his time and talents being devoted to literature, politics, and legal studies.
During these years in London Boyd was a frequent contributor to the Public Advertiser and other journals, and was in close intimacy with the circle of Burke and Reynolds. In 1775 he was admitted to Street John"s College, Cambridge.
Another visit to Ireland took place in 1776, on the occasion of an election for Antrim, the candidate for which he supported by a series of able letters under the signature of "A Freeholder". Financial pressures eventually forced him to seek paid employment, and in 1781 he accepted the appointment of secretary to Lord Macartney, when that officer was nominated governor of Madras.
Boyd now applied himself sedulously to the study of Indian affairs
Not long after his arrival at Madras he conducted a mission from the governor to the king of Kandy in Ceylon, requiring that potentate"s assistance against the Dutch. On his return the vessel in which he sailed was captured by the French, and he became a prisoner for some months at the isle of Bourbon. Returning at length to India he lived for some time at Calcutta, and eventually was appointed master-attendant at Madras.
In 1792 Boyd conducted a paper called the Madras Courier, and the following year projected the Indian Observer, being papers on morals and literature.
And started a weekly paper, Hircarrah (ie messenger), as a vehicle for the essays. In 1794 he proposed to publish by subscription an account of his embassy to Kandy, and had actually begun the work when he was carried off by an attack of fever.
He died on 19 October 1794.