[3] On 11 November 1867 he accepted the deanery of Exeter, and resigned, with his vicarage, an honorary canonry in Gloucester Cathedral, which he had held since 1857.

The dean and chapter erected in the cathedral, 1872–3, a stone reredos, on which were sculptured representations in bas-relief of the Ascension, the Transfiguration, and the Descent of the Holy Ghost, with some figures of angels.

In accordance with a petition presented by William John Phillpotts, chancellor of the diocese, the bishop (Frederick Temple) on 7 January 1874 declared the reredos to be contrary to law and ordered its removal.

[3] After much litigation touching the bishop's jurisdiction in the matter, the structure was declared not illegal by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on 25 February 1875[4] On the continent during the autumn of 1882, Boyd met with an accident at Vienna, from the effects of which he never fully recovered.

He left behind his wife, Frances, the daughter of Thomas Waller of Ospringe, and widow of the Rev.