Edward Boys (priest)

[1] He was a nephew of Dr. John Boys (1571-1625), dean of Canterbury, and the son of Thomas Boys of Hoad Court, in the parish of Blean, Kent, by his first wife, Sarah, daughter of Richard Rogers, dean of Canterbury, and suffragan bishop of Dover.

[2] Educated at Eton,[1] he was elected a scholar of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,[1] in May 1620, and as a member of that house graduated B.A.

[3] He proceeded B.D., was appointed one of the university preachers in 1634, and in 1639, on the presentation of William Paston, his friend and contemporary at college, Boys became rector of the tiny village of Mautboy in Norfolk.

[5] An admired scholar, of exceptional powers as a preacher, and in great favour with his bishop, Joseph Hall, Boys was deterred from seeking higher preferment by an exceeding modesty.

The editor, Roger Flynt, a fellow-collegian, tells us in his preface that it was with difficulty he obtained leave of the dying author to make them public, and gained it only upon condition 'that he should say nothing of him.'