The Boyd family is an Australian family whose members over several generations contributed to the arts in the fields of painting, sculpture, pottery, ceramics, literature, architecture, poetry and music. The Boyd family is considered an artistic dynasty.
Family tree
The family is descended from four diverse immigrants to Victoria: William à Beckett (1806–1869), lawyer and Chief Justice of Victoria, arrived in New South Wales in 1837 with his wife, Emily (née Hayley) à Beckett and three young sons; including the Hon. William Arthur Callendar à Beckett (1833–1901). His brother, Thomas Turner à Beckett, arrived in Australia in 1850 and was the father of Eliza à Beckett who married Charles Henry Chomley, a novelist and newspaper editor. John Mills (c. 1810–1841) was transported a convict to Van Diemen's Land in 1827. He was awarded a ticket of leave and married Hannah Hale in 1836. He and his wife arrived in the Port Phillip District in 1837 and there began brewing and real estate development. Mr and Mrs Mills had a daughter, Emma (1838–1906), the ultimate heiress to the Mills financial interests, marrying the Hon. W.A.C. à Beckett September 1855. Major Alexander Boyd (1 August 1792 – 21 August 1869), paymaster of the 11th Regiment of Foot (The North Devonshire Regiment of Foot), arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1845, possibly with his wife, Susan Boyd, née Brown, (May 1796 – ). Robert Martin (1798–1874), medical practitioner and squatter, travelled by land from Sydney in 1839 to take up land at Mount Sturgeon near Dunkeld and Heidelberg. His wife Lucy Martin (née Gear) and family came from Sydney to join him soon after.
These four families were joined by marriages of their children in the young colony of Victoria in the 1850s: