His mother was the eldest daughter of Godfrey Bosville IV of Gunthwaite and of Thorpe Hall, Rudston, both in Yorkshire.
[3] He gained the rank of ensign, in 1794, serving in the Loyal Kelso Regiment and the King's Royal Rifle Corps.
[citation needed] He was the heir of his uncle William Bosville who died unmarried in 1813, having left him nearly the whole of his fortune and estates, including Gunthwaite in Yorkshire.
[4] In accordance with the terms of the bequest, by royal licence on 11 April 1814 he changed his surname to Bosville and later on 20 July 1824 to Bosville-Macdonald.
Through his eldest son Alexander, he was a grandfather of Godfrey Wentworth Bayard Bosville, de jure 13th Baronet, who married Hon.
[3] Through his youngest daughter Octavia, he was posthumously a grandfather of John Hope Johnstone, de jure 8th Earl of Annandale and Hartfell.