Edwin Alonzo Boyd
| Edwin Alonzo Boyd | |
|---|---|
Boyd in 1952
|
|
| Born |
April 2, 1914 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | May 17, 2002 (aged 88) British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation | Infantryman, actor, bus driver |
| Criminal penalty | Eight life sentences |
| Criminal status | Paroled, 1962 |
| Spouse(s) | Dorreen |
| Children | 3 |
| Allegiance | Boyd Gang |
| Motive |
Money He was compassionate to wounded veterans. |
| Conviction(s) | Bank robbery, 1952 |
Money
Edwin Alonzo Boyd (April 2, 1914 – May 17, 2002) was a Canadian bank robber and leader of the Boyd Gang. His career made him a notorious Canadian folk hero.
Edwin Alonzo Boyd was born on April 2, 1914. Four months after Ed was born, the British Empire, of which Canada was part, went to war with Germany. His father Glover Boyd joined the army in August 1915. It would be a few years before Glover would return home from the war. The apartment the family lived in was now too small so they soon moved to a duplex on Bee Street in Todmorden, an area beyond the Don Valley, in East York.
Soon after, Eleanor (Edwin’s mother) became pregnant again, so Glover Boyd took a job at the Toronto Police Department. Edwin was enrolled in school in the 1921–22 year, but due to an incident at school he did not remain there for very long and before his first year of schooling had ended his family had moved again. At this time he switched to Gledhill Public school to finish out the semester. In September 1923 Glover moved the family a few blocks north and Ed switched to Secord Public school for a brief period of time before being transferred back to Gledhill Public school.
The Boyds soon moved again, this time to Glebemount Avenue. With this move came the transfer to yet another new school, this time to Earl Beatty Public School and it was here that Ed became more of his own person. It was here that he became a soccer player on the school team, and for years his picture hung in the hall of the school. It was also at this time that Edwin Alonzo Boyd joined the YMCA marching band. It was with the YMCA that Boyd mastered the mouth organ and he also accompanied the YMCA band as they won a world championship at the Canadian National Exhibition.
In early 1930 Gord and Norm Boyd contracted scarlet fever, and while taking care of them Eleanor Boyd became sick herself and died from the disease. In 1933 Edwin had his first brush with the law when he was picked up for vagrancy by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
A few years later, Edwin Boyd joined the Royal Canadian Regiment, First division. In June 1940 his regiment crossed the channel to France. It was when his regiment was posted to Reigate, Surrey that Boyd met his future wife, Doreen Mary Frances Thompson. On August 20, 1941, almost nine months to the day after Ed and Doreen married, she gave birth to a son, Edwin Alonzo Boyd, Jr. The baby was two days old when the air raid sirens sounded and it was discovered afterwards that their child had died from cerebral hemorrhage and so he was buried on August 30 in a York cemetery.
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