His two-time great-grandfather John Harbottle (1781–1830) was a British naval officer, one of the first foreign residents in Hawaii, and Kamehameha I's port pilot.

His paternal grandfather Robert Lopaka Boyd (1785–1870), who married one of Harbottle's daughters, had served as the King's shipbuilder, and it is believed that he came from the British West Indies.

Boyd's maternal grandfather, Alexander Adams, of Scottish descent, was another well-known foreign advisor of the King and has been credited by some historians as the designer of the flag of Hawaii.

[2][3][4] The Boyds were considered among the most prominent families of Hawaii, and their residence in Maunawili was often frequented by Hawaiian royalty, visiting foreign dignitaries, and world-famous writers and artists.

Boyd; James Kaneholo Booth, his Punahou classmate; and Robert William Wilcox, a Maui-born schoolteacher in Honolulu, were chosen as the first students of the Hawaiian study abroad program.

Later, in an audience with Umberto I of Italy and his wife Margherita of Savoy, they learned that Moreno had misrepresented the three students as Kalākaua's natural (i.e., illegitimate) sons.

After this revelation, Moreno was dismissed as the guardian of the three students and Michael Cerulli, who later became Hawaiian consul-general in Naples, was appointed to take care of their needs.

Their has been times in which I wished to runaway and beg for my living, but when I think of your kindness towards me, my passion calms quickly, and I dream of the happy future: But at last I have come to the conclusion not to suffer anymore, my studies to the present are not at all little; and perhaps sufficient to earn my living as a gentleman; Theirfore I am ready to come home and serve thee Sire, or else I shall run away because I would rather die a beggar than to be a slave.

Your Majesty may be sure that these words are as true as If I had my hands on the bible while writtin it, theirfore give me hope, and let me die in peace: I will repeat again, that my education is quite sufficient.

However, news of political unrest back home prompted the Hawaiian royal party to return to the islands in July.

[14] Back in Hawaii, the Bayonet Constitution of 1887 was imposed on King Kalākaua by the Reform Party (led by many descendants of American missionaries) with the help of the Honolulu Rifles.

Boyd and Wilcox were recalled by the Reform cabinet headed by Lorrin A. Thurston, who believed that "the government had spent enough money on the education of these young men.

While giving a speech at a political rally in Moʻiliʻili, Boyd suffered an acute heart attack and was rushed to the Queen's Hospital, Honolulu, where he died.