John Boys (Royalist)

Sir John Boys (1607 – 8 October 1664) is best known as the Royalist captain who was the Governor of Donnington Castle in Berkshire during the English Civil War.

Boys was born in at Bonnington, near to Goodnestone, in Kent, the eldest son and heir of Edward Boys of Bonnington, by Jane, a daughter of Edward Sanders (of Northborne). He was baptized at Chillenden, on 5 April 1607.

In 1641, John Boys was promoted from captain to lieutenant colonel when he came to serve the King in John Savage, Earl Rivers's Regiment in Ireland. He was colonel in all but name, however, as Earl Rivers never took command of the Regiment in the field.

Donnington Castle is located north of the town of Newbury. It was garrisoned in 1643 for King Charles I and commanded the road from Oxford to Southampton and the road from London to Bath. It was, from 1643, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel John Boys, who spent £1,000 on earthworks to strengthen the defences. Boys commanded a division of the Earl Rivers's Royalist Regiment consisting of 200 foot, 25 horse, and 4 guns, which remained throughout the siege.

On 31 July 1644, Donnington Castle was attacked by a division of the New Model Army of 3000 horses and dragoons, under the command of Lieutenant-General John Middleton, but without any artillery support. Middleton attempted to compel a surrender from Boys, but the Parliamentary army was repulsed with the loss of at least 300 men.

About a month later, on 29 September, Colonel Jeremy Horton began a 12-day blockade laying siege to Donnington, having raised a battery at the foot of the hill, near Newbury he was able to shatter the southern towers of the castles medieval defenses and reduce a part of the wall to rubble. It has been estimated that at least 1000 missiles were fired against the fortress during this engagement. Even though Colonel Horton had been reinforced, Governor John Boys refused to concede and even invited Horton to surrender his forces.

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