Richard Boys

Richard Boys
Rev. Richard Boys
Born	1785 Kent, England
Died	1867 Loose, Kent
Nationality	English
Education	The King's School, Canterbury Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Occupation	Clergyman
Title	Reverend
Parent(s)	John Boys, Mary Harvey

Reverend Richard Boys MA (1785–1867) was a Church of England clergyman and author, most notable for his tenure as Chaplain on St. Helena at the time of Napoleon Bonaparte's exile there. A controversial figure during his time there, he also played a part in the mystery surrounding Napoleon's Death Mask.

Richard Boys was born in 1785, the fourth son of John Boys and Mary (née Harvey). He was educated at The King's School, Canterbury, afterward joining the Royal Engineers but later renewed his studies, going on to get an MA at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He was appointed chaplain to the East India Company and made junior chaplain at St. Helena in 1811.

The forthright and uncompromising Boys quickly gained notoriety on the island. He had a fractious relationship with the Senior Chaplain, the Rev. Samuel Jones, to the point that in January 1815 the St Helena council minutes record an unspecified disagreement which had arisen between the two that was “productive of disgraceful effects” such as the council felt moved to order them to “abstain from further personal controversy, or circulation of written or printed letters referring to it on pain of suspension."

After the compulsory retirement of Rev. Jones later in 1815, Boys was chosen to succeed him, also inheriting his responsibilities as Master of the Upper School on the island. The promotion did little to rein in the chaplain's strident nature as further council records attest. On 30 March 1817 the Council asked Mr Boys for an explanation of his conduct in refusing to take into the church a coffin for burial. He countered by claiming that the funeral attendees were pagans who were disrespecting the church. In 1821 the minutes recall an incident when the Reverend publicly accused a shopkeeper of being a liar and a spy, calling after him in the street: "Blenkens, when is the green bag to be given out?" ("green bag" at the time being a term describing a bag containing the fabricated evidence of paid informers). On this occasion Boys received an official reprimand.