Samuel Francis Boys, 1911-1972

Abstract

Samuel Francis Boys (‘Frank’ to all his friends, most of whom had no idea that this was not his proper Christian name) was born on 20 December 1911 in the Yorkshire town of Pudsey, and died in a nursing home in Cambridge on 16 October 1972, in his sixty-first year. His father, Samuel Boys, was the youngest child of a big family, and his mother ( née Emily Richardson) was the youngest of four sisters, all of whom were born in Pudsey. Apart from a spell when, as a young man, the older Samuel Boys went to live and work in Canada, the family’s life was closely centred in Pudsey. He was a clothier, though no no means an affluent one. Frank’s parents were omnivorous readers, so that Frank, and his sister Margaret, five years his junior, grew up surrounded by books on all subjects—poetry, science, novels, etc. It is not surprising, therefore, that Frank himself read widely, and loved his books. After his death several suitcases full of all sorts of books were found under the bed in his rooms, indicating a continuity of his interest in archaeology, detective stories, languages and economics—right to the end of his life. Although neither parent was academically trained, they were very anxious that their children should have the best possible opportunities, provided, of course, that they could gain scholarships for it, even if this meant some sacrifice to themselves. It is interesting that both children did well academically; Frank became a Reader at Cambridge University, and his sister is Assistant Principal Academic at Nelson and Colne College (Sixth Form and Further Education).