Mossom Martin Boyd
Mossom Boyd (7 December 1814 – 24 July 1883) was ‘a member of the Anglo-Irish gentry,’ who, upon moving to Canada, quickly became the lumber king of the Trent.
Mossom Boyd was born in India to Captain Gardiner Boyd, ‘a North of Ireland officer of the Bengal Army,’ and his wife Arabella Chadwick. Both of his parents died in 1829 during the cholera epidemic, after which, Mossom Boyd and his sister Anne were sent to live with guardians in London. This unfortunate transition must have had an ill effect on the children; their behaviour was considered ‘difficult’ and they were promptly relocated to Ireland’s Derry district to live with an aunt. Boyd began to spend an increasing amount of time in the local pubs while waiting to be called upon by the British Army. After the Napoleonic Wars there were decreasing opportunities for new military recruits, and immigration to Britain’s North American colonies began to increase in response to a decline in the workforce necessary for modern production. Boyd’s choice to relocate to Canada was heavily influenced by his accomplice in pub-crawling, John Darcus.
Landing in Canada in 1834, Boyd made the long trek towards his newly acquired 100 acres (0.40 km2) of land in Verulam Township. Upon arrival, Boyd eventually fell in with some of the ‘gentleman farmers, including members of the Need, Langton, and Dunsford families. The connections made with these members of the local gentry aided Boyd greatly, and allowed for his transition from working hand to an entrepreneurial giant. Anne Langton described him as a ‘most resolute home-stayer and a very industrious settler,’ who ‘has chopped all his own land himself.’ She seemed to quite admire his simple hard working nature: ‘he is a favourite of mine; he is not brilliant or animated, but has much goodness and kindness, and simplicity of character, and is an example to all our young men for industry, attention to business, and study of economy.’ In 1844 Boyd solidified his connections with John Langton and the Dunsford family by marrying Caroline Dunsford. This friendship precipitated a short-lived partnership between Boyd and John Langton. In 1845 Mossom and Caroline’s first son, Gardiner Boyd, was born. Caroline and Mossom had six children altogether: Gardiner, Anne, Mary Arabella, Caroline, Mossom Martin, and Emma Blackall. Boyd’s wife Caroline died a year after the birth of her last child, Emma, in 1857 from an unknown cause. Boyd was left with six children under twelve; this was extremely difficult for him due to the tremendous amount of energy and time necessary to maintain his business. He was concerned about the children living in Peterborough, and in great need of help Boyd contacted Letitia Magee Cust, a childhood friend from Derry. He wrote to her knowing she was still unmarried, warning her that she ‘may not find me at all what you imagine or be able to conceive what effects such a rough life may have had on me, both in appearance and in all other respects.’ Letitia agreed to undertake the long journey alone to Bobcaygeon. Upon her arrival she married Boyd and took control over house and children, eventually adding to the brood with three of her own, one of which died. The Boyd children were provided with a thorough education. Mossom Martin attended school until age six-teen when his father decided that he was needed to help with the lumbering business. One of Boyd’s other sons, William (W.T.C.) from his marriage with Letitia, was also inducted into the family business. In 1880 an addition was built over the south wing of the Boyd home; these new rooms were for Boyd’s private use during his illness. Mossom Boyd died on the evening of July 24, 1883, and was buried in the Peterborough cemetery on July 27, 1883.
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