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((Short description|Scottish-Australian entrepreneur and politician))
((other uses|Ben Boyd (disambiguation)))

((Use Australian English|date=August 2021))
((Use dmy dates|date=August 2021))

((Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = 
| office              = Member of the [[Legislative Council of New South Wales]]
| native_name         = 
| native_name_lang    = 
| honorific-suffix    = 
| image               = Benjamin Boyd, 1796-1851, portrait, c1830s - by unknown artist.jpg
| imagesize           = 
| smallimage          = <!--If this is specified, "image" should not be.-->
| alt                 = 
| caption             = Portrait of Boyd, c. 1830s, [[State Library of New South Wales]]
| restingplace        = 
| name                = Benjamin Boyd
| term_start          = ((Start date|1844|09|01|df=y))
| term_end            = ((Start date|1845|08|01|df=y))
| constituency        = [[Electoral district of Port Phillip]]
| prior_term          = 
| birth_date          = ((Birth date|1801|08|21|df=y))
| birth_place         = [[Wigtownshire]], Scotland, United Kingdom
| death_date          = ((Death date and age|1851|10|15|1803|08|21|df=y))
| death_place         = [[Honiara]], [[Guadalcanal]], Solomon Islands
| order               = 
| restingplacecoordinates = 
| alma_mater          = 
| occupation          = Stockbroker, pastoralist, entrepreneur
| nationality         = British
| party               = 
| otherparty          = <!--For additional political affiliations-->
| spouse              = 
| partner             = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married-->
| relations           = 
| children            = 
| residence           = [[Eden, New South Wales|Eden]] district
| birthname           = 
| citizenship         = 
| profession          = 
| cabinet             = 
| committees          = 
| portfolio           = 
| religion            = 
| signature           = 
| signature_alt       = 
| website             = 
| footnotes           = 
))
'''Benjamin Boyd''' (21 August 1801((spaced ndash))15 October 1851) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] entrepreneur who became a major shipowner, banker, [[Squatting (Australia)|grazier]], politician and [[Blackbirding|blackbirder]] in the British colony of [[New South Wales]].<ref name="ADB">((cite AuDB|id2=boyd-benjamin-ben-1815|title=Boyd, Benjamin (1801 - 1851)|last=Walsh|first=G P|year=1966|pages=140–142|access-date=7 April 2019))</ref><ref name="Benjamin Boyd NSW Parl">((Cite NSW Parliament|id=294|name=Mr Benjamin Boyd (1803-1851)|former=Yes|access-date=7 April 2019))</ref> He was briefly a member of the [[New South Wales Legislative Council|Legislative Council]].

Boyd became one of the largest landholders and graziers in the [[History of New South Wales#Development of the colony|Colony of New South Wales]] before suffering financial difficulties and becoming bankrupt. Boyd briefly tried his luck on the [[California Gold Rush|Californian goldfields]] before venturing to establish a Pacific union, being purportedly murdered on [[Guadalcanal]] in the [[Solomon Islands]].<ref name="Benjamin Boyd NSW Parl" /> Many of his business ventures involved [[blackbirding]], the practice of coercing [[South Sea Islanders]] to work in circumstances akin to slavery.<ref>((cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/blackbirding-shame-yet-to-be-acknowledged-in-australia-20150603-ghfn9c.html|title='Blackbirding' shame yet to be acknowledged in Australia|date=3 June 2013|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|access-date=16 October 2016|location=Sydney))</ref>

Boyd was a man of "an imposing personal appearance, fluent oratory, aristocratic connections, and a fair share of commercial acuteness".<ref name="sidney">((cite book|last=Sidney|first=Samuel|url=https://archive.org/details/threecoloniesau01sidngoog|title=The three colonies of Australia : New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia : their pastures, copper mines, & gold fields|publisher=Ingram, Cooke|year=1852|isbn=1-4374-4246-3))</ref> [[Georgiana McCrae]], with whom he had dinner when he first came to the [[Port Phillip District]], looked at him with an artist's eye and said: "He is [[Peter Paul Rubens|Rubens]] over again. Tells me he went to a ''bal masque'' as Rubens with his broad-leafed hat".<ref name="ADB" />

== Early life ==

<!--- this paragraph of text is taken directly from the biographical information in the quoted text and needs to be re-worked--->

Born at Merton Hall, [[Wigtownshire]], Scotland, Boyd was the second son of Edward Boyd by his wife Jane (daughter of Benjamin Yule).<ref name="ADB" /> His brother [[Mark Boyd (author)|Mark Boyd]] would play an active role in some of his ventures.<ref>((cite ODNB|id=3103|title=Boyd, Benjamin|first=Margaret|last=Steven))</ref>

By 1824, Boyd was a [[stockbroker]] in London.<ref name=":0" />

== Royal Bank of Australia ==
On 8 October 1840, Boyd addressed a letter to [[John Russell, 1st Earl Russell|Lord John Russell]], stating that he had recently dispatched a [[Ship|vessel]] entirely his own at a cost of £30,000 for "further developing the resources of Australia and its adjacent Islands".<ref name="ADB" /> Just owning such a vessel got him into the [[Royal Yacht Squadron]], where he could associate with the landed classes.<ref name=":0">((Cite book|last=Wellings|first=H.P.M.|url=http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/152332|title=Benjamin Boyd in Australia (1842-1849) Shipping Magnate; Merchant; Banker; Pastoralist and Station Owner; Member of the Legislative Council; Town Planner; Whaler.|publisher=D S Ford|year=1940|location=State Library of Victoria|pages=29))</ref> He stated that he intended to send other vessels, and asked for certain privileges in connection with the purchase of land at various ports he intended to establish. He received a guarded reply promising assistance, but pointing out that land could not be sold to an individual to the "exclusion or disadvantage of the public". About this period Boyd had floated the [[Royal Bank of Australia]], and [[debentures]] of this bank to the amount of £200,000 were sold. This sum was eventually taken by Boyd to Australia as the bank's representative. He arrived in [[Hobson's Bay]], Port Phillip District, on his schooner, ''Wanderer'', on 15 June 1842, and reached [[Port Jackson]], Sydney, on 18 July 1842.<ref name="ADB" /> He was preceded by three steamships, the first [[Ocean liner|ocean-going]] steamships in Australian waters. These and two sail ships carried funds and employees of the bank.<ref name=":1">((Cite web |title=Boyd, Ben |url=https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/boyd_ben |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=The Dictionary of Sydney))</ref>

The Royal Bank of Australia, formed in 1839, never carried out more than cursory banking operations. Instead, its funds were largely fraudulently used to finance Boyd's pastoral, shipping and whaling activities. Through the bank, Boyd also lent money to the [[New Zealand Government]]. The bank was liquidated in 1846 with heavy losses incurred by depositors and shareholders.<ref>((cite journal |last1=Fitz-Gibbon |first1=Bryan |last2=Gizycki |first2=Marianne |year=2001 |title=A History of Last-Resort Lending and Other Support for Troubled Financial Institutions in Australia |url=https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/rdp/2001/2001-07/1840s-depression.html |journal=Research Discussion Papers |issue=December))</ref><ref name=":1" />

[[Henry Sewell]], whom Boyd met through the Royal Yacht Squadron, became involved in the Royal Bank of Australia. He was subsequently able to use his experience of colonial affairs in joining the [[Canterbury Association]] which advocated for the colonisation of New Zealand, and in time was elected the colony’s first premier.<ref>Diamond, Marion. The Seahorse and the Wanderer. Ben Boyd in Australia (Melbourne 1988, p. 26)</ref>

<!-- There was a 'Royal Bank of Australia' taken over by ANZ in 1927 - not immediately clear there was any connection or if that was just a later bank with the same name -->== Squatter and politician ==
[[File:(1) Hastings1.jpg|thumb|[[Hastings (Neutral Bay)|Craignathan]], [[Neutral Bay]]]]
Boyd became a prominent [[Squatting (Australian history)|squatter]] and absentee farmer, heading the Pastoral Association and operating the pro-squatter ''Atlas'' newspaper.<ref name=":1" /> In a dispatch of [[Governor of New South Wales|Governor]] [[George Gipps|Sir George Gipps]] dated 17 May 1844, he mentioned that Boyd was one of the largest [[squatter]]s in the country, with 14 stations in the "[[Monaro, New South Wales|Maneroo]]" district and four in the Port Phillip district, amounting together to ((convert|381000|acre|km2)) of land. At about the same period the firm of Boyd and Company had three [[Steamboat|steamers]] and three [[sailing ship]]s in commission.((Citation needed|date=December 2023)) Boyd operated a wool-washing facility in [[Neutral Bay]], where he also resided at his home from 1844-49, [[Hastings (Neutral Bay)|Craignathan]].<ref name=":1" />

Boyd was elected to the [[New South Wales Legislative Council]] for the [[Electoral district of Port Phillip]] in September 1844, a position he held for 11 months.<ref name="Benjamin Boyd NSW Parl" />

In 1846, Boyd and [[Joseph Robinson (Australian politician)|Joseph Robinson]], with the assistance of [[William Bland]], established the ''Spectator'' newspaper to promote squatters' interests, installing Richard Thompson as editor. The paper ceased publication at the end of the year as the squatters' demands had been met. Boyd bought a controlling interest in ''[[The Australian (1824 newspaper)|The Australian]]'' in 1847, appointing Thompson as managing editor. ''The'' ''Australian'' ceased publication in 1848 as Boyd's financial situation collapsed.<ref>((Citation |last=Knight |first=R. L. |title=Richard Thompson (1810–1865) |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/thompson-richard-2729 |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |access-date=2023-12-26 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en))</ref>

=== Boydtown ===
[[File:Boydtown Seahorse Inn.jpg|thumb|Seahorse Inn, [[Boydtown, New South Wales|Boydtown]]]]Large sums of money were also being spent on founding the port of [[Boydtown]], on [[Twofold Bay]] on the southeastern coast, which involved the building of a [[jetty]] ((convert|300|ft|m)) long, and a lighthouse tower ((convert|75|ft|m)) high.((Citation needed|date=December 2023)) It was the original settlement in the bay, founded by Boyd in 1843 to service his properties on the [[Monaro, New South Wales|Monaro plains]].<ref name="NSWNPS">((cite web |year=2007 |title=Ben Boyd National Park: Culture and History |url=http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/parks.nsf/ParkContent/N0003?OpenDocument&ParkKey=N0003&Type=Xk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013040913/http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/parks.nsf/ParkContent/N0003?OpenDocument&ParkKey=N0003&Type=Xk |archive-date=2007-10-13 |access-date=2008-02-15 |publisher=Department of Environment & Conservation (NSW): NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service))</ref><ref name="SHIHistory2">((cite web |year=2006 |title=History of Boydtown and the Seahorse Inn |url=http://eden.nsw.au/historical-eden/historic-sites61/the-seahorse-inn-ben-boyd |access-date=2008-02-15 |publisher=Seahorse Inn))</ref>

A visitor, speaking of the town, mentioned its [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] church with a [[spire]], commodious stores, well-built brick houses, and "a splendid hotel in the [[Elizabethan]] style". At this time, Boyd had nine [[Whaling|whalers]] working from this port.((Citation needed|date=December 2023))

With the collapse of Boyd's finances, the town was abandoned from the 1840s until the first renovation of the Seahorse Inn in the 1930s.<ref name="SHIHistory">((cite web |year=2006 |title=History of Boydtown and the Seahorse Inn |url=http://eden.nsw.au/historical-eden/historic-sites61/the-seahorse-inn-ben-boyd |access-date=2008-02-15 |publisher=Seahorse Inn))</ref>

== Blackbirding ==
((More citations needed|date=December 2023))
In 1847, Boyd brought the first 65 Islanders to Australia from Lifu Island in the [[Loyalty Islands]] (now part of [[New Caledonia]]) and from Tanna and Aneityum Islands in the [[New Hebrides]] (now [[Vanuatu]]). They landed at [[Boydtown, New South Wales|Boydtown]]. The clerk of the local bench of magistrates described them this way: "none of the natives could speak English, and all were naked..".  "[T]hey all crowded around us looking at us with the utmost surprize, and feeling at the Texture of our clothes…they seemed wild and restless."<ref>Diamond, Marion. The Seahorse and the Wanderer. Ben Boyd in Australia (Melbourne 1988, pp. 128–129)</ref> They had all put their marks on contracts that bound them to work for five years and to be paid 26 shillings a year, plus rations of 10&nbsp;lbs of meat a week, and two pairs of trousers, two shirts and a kilmarnock cap.  However, clearly they had no idea of what they were doing in Australia, and the local magistrate refused to counter-sign the documents.  Regardless, some of Boyd's employees began to take the party inland on foot. Some of them bolted and made their way back to Eden. The first one died on 2 May and as winter approached more became ill. Sixteen [[Lifou Island]]ers refused to work and began to try to walk back to Lifou along the coast.  Some managed to reach Sydney and seven or eight entered a shop from the rear and began to help themselves to food. Those that remained at work were shepherds on far off Boyd stations on the [[Edward River|Edward]] and [[Murray River]]s.

Boyd refused to admit that the trial shipment was a failure, sending for more Islanders. By this time colonial society was beginning to realise what he had done and was feeling uneasy.  The New South Wales Legislative Council amended the Masters and Servants Act to ban importation of "the Natives of any Savage or uncivilized tribe inhabiting any Island or Country in the Pacific". When Boyd's next group of 54 men and 3 women arrived in Sydney on 17 October, they could not be indentured and once Boyd found this out he refused to take any further responsibility. The same legal conditions also applied to Boyd's Islander labourers from the first trip; they left the stations and set off to walk to Sydney to find alternative work and to find a way home to the islands. The foreman tried to stop them but the local magistrate ruled that no one had the right to detain them. Their progress from the [[Riverina]] was followed by the press as they began their long march to Sydney. The press described them as cannibals on their way to eat Boyd, and the issue as depicted in the media was extremely racist.

The whole matter was raised again in the Legislative Council and Boyd showed no remorse or sense of responsibility. Boyd justified himself with reference to the [[African slave trade]] and there was much discussion in the colony about the issue to introducing slaves from the Pacific Islands. The 'recruiters' were accused of kidnapping, a charge with they denied.((citation needed|date=June 2020)) Rumours about Boyd’s recruiting methods prompted the [[Aborigines' Protection Society|Aborigines’ Protection Society]] and the [[Anti-Slavery International|Anti-Slavery Association]] to call on the [[Colonial Office]] to hold an inquiry. Concerns that the labourers were imported against their will led to an investigation by the [[Attorney General of New South Wales|Attorney-General]], and in December 1847 Governor [[Charles Augustus FitzRoy|Sir Charles FitzRoy]] reported to the Colonial Office that such allegations were unsubstantiated.<ref>((Cite web |last=Barlass |first=Tim |date=2021-03-28 |title=Historic Boydtown set to be renamed due to ‘blackbirding’ links |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/historic-boydtown-set-to-be-renamed-due-to-blackbirding-links-20210328-p57eos.html |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en))</ref><ref name="ADB" />

The Islanders remained around [[Sydney Harbour]], begging for transport back to their islands. Some of them found alternative work in Sydney and dropped out of the record. Most of the others finally embarked on a French ship returning to the islands, although it is unlikely that many of them ever reached their home islands. This fiasco was the first time Pacific Islanders had been imported into Australia as labourers, although some had already reached Sydney as ships' crews.

Ben Boyd biographer Marion Diamond assessed allegations of slavery at the time, writing that "Despite [[Robert Lowe|Lowe]]'s eloquence, [Boyd's] recruitment was not quite a slave trade, though it pointed the way towards the next generation of 'blackbirders'." She argues that Boyd "was less racist than his morally outraged accusers," for Boyd saw his employees merely as workers whereas his opponents viewed them as a racial threat.<ref>Diamond, Marion. The Seahorse and the Wanderer. Ben Boyd in Australia (Melbourne 1988, p. 137)</ref>

Boyd's troubles continued with the loss of two lawsuits for the insurance money on one of his vessels which was wrecked. The [[shareholder]]s in the Royal Bank became dissatisfied and eventually all of the capital was lost and there was a deficiency of £80,000.

== In the Pacific ==

In October 1840, when Boyd wrote to the [[Colonial Office]] seeking support for the Royal Bank of Australia, he also enquired about the attitude the government would hold toward a hypothetical republic in the [[South Seas]]. [[Secretary of State for War and the Colonies]] Lord John Russell replied that he did not feel that he could "enter into any engagement on behalf of [[Government of the United Kingdom|H. M. Government]] at present."<ref>Diamond, Marion. The Seahorse and the Wanderer. Ben Boyd in Australia (Melbourne 1988, pp. 24-25)</ref>

With no success with gold-digging in [[California]], in June 1851 Boyd sailed in ''Wanderer'' among the Pacific Islands with the aim of establishing a union of [[List of islands in the Pacific Ocean|Pacific islands]].<ref name="ADB" /> John Webster, who sailed with him, wrote that:<ref>((Cite book|last=Webster|first=John|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/219895451|title=The last cruise of "The Wanderer"|date=1858|publisher=Sydney : F. Cunninghame|language=English))</ref><blockquote>It was his love of adventure, no doubt, which constituted the great attraction. But there was a definite object in his view. This was to establish a Papuan Republic or Confederation: to lay the foundation of some sort of social and politician organisation, on which the simple machinery of an independent state might afterwards be erected. Had death not cut short Mr. Boyd's career, he would doubtless have succeeded in this object.</blockquote>He reconnoitred various South Seas islands and finally settled on two islands in the Solomons to base a South Seas republic. They were San Cristobal (now [[Makira]]) and Guadalcanal.((Citation needed|date=December 2023))

== Death ==
On 15 October 1851, on [[Guadalcanal]] in the [[Solomon Islands]], Boyd went ashore with a crew member to shoot game. Soon after entering a small creek in his boat, two shots were heard 15 minutes apart but Boyd never returned.<ref name="ADB" /> At the same time, the remaining crew aboard ''Wanderer'' were involved in a large skirmish with the local population. Muskets, [[swivel gun]]s and [[grapeshot]] were utilised against the natives resulting in over twenty-five fatalities.((Citation needed|date=December 2023))

A search party later looked for Boyd, finding his boat, belt and an expended firearm cartridge. In days following Boyd's disappearance, his crew raided and destroyed a number of villages in the area now known as Wanderer Bay before sailing for [[Port Macquarie]].<ref>((cite news|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4782507|title=THE LATE MR. BOYD AND THE SCHOONER "WANDERER."|date=31 December 1851|newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)]]|access-date=29 June 2019|issue=990|location=Victoria, Australia|volume=II|page=2|via=Trove))</ref>

There were afterwards rumours that Boyd had survived and was living on [[Guadalcanal]]. At the end of 1854 an expedition led by Captain Lewis Truscott of the vessel ''Oberon'' was sent to the islands to make further enquiries. This expedition was able to ascertain that Boyd was initially taken prisoner but was later executed in retribution for the number of villagers killed by the actions of the crew of ''Wanderer''. Boyd's head was cut off and his skull kept locally in a ceremonial house. Truscott was able to purchase Boyd's skull from the leading men of the district and returned with it to [[Sydney]]. Boyd’s attendant was also slain. [[The Sydney Morning Herald|''The'' ''Sydney Morning Herald'']] remarked of Boyd's death that:<ref>((cite news|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12963055|title=THE LATE MR. BENJAMIN BOYD.|date=4 December 1854|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|access-date=29 June 2019|issue=5451|location=New South Wales, Australia|volume=XXXV|page=5|via=Trove))</ref><blockquote>...the melancholy fate of Mr. Boyd is to be attributed less to the murderous propensity of the islanders, than to a sense of savage justice. The narrative we append will show that the crew of the Wanderer were the aggressors in this lamentable matter. That they first slew several of the natives of the island, and it was on this account, while on an errand of peace, that Mr. Boyd himself was seized, his attendant slain, and himself tried by a tribunal of chiefs, and condemned to death.</blockquote>

== Legacy ==
[[File:Ben_Boyds_Tower.JPG|upright|thumb|Ben Boyd's Tower, used for whale-spotting, [[Beowa National Park]].|left]]Boyd's legacy includes the buildings of Boydtown near Eden on Twofold Bay in New South Wales. The township was established by Boyd to provide services for the extensive properties he owned locally. It was abandoned in the mid-1840s when Boyd's finances failed.<ref name="culture">((cite web |title=Ben Boyd National Park = Culture and History |url=http://www2.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/parks.nsf/ParkContent/N0003?OpenDocument&ParkKey=N0003&Type=Xk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080727235011/http://www2.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/parks.nsf/ParkContent/N0003?OpenDocument&ParkKey=N0003&Type=Xk |archive-date=27 July 2008 |access-date=23 March 2008 |publisher=New South Wales Government))</ref> The township has since been revived.

Boyd's Tower<ref name="tower">((cite ssl|NSW|benboyd|Ben Boyd Tower|accessdate=2008-03-23))</ref> is located at the entrance to the park near [[Twofold Bay]] and was designed as a lighthouse and lookout. The tower was designed by [[Oswald Walters Brierly|Oswald Brierly]] who had accompanied Boyd to Australia from England. It was built from sandstone quarried in Sydney.<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/Ben-Boyd-National-Park|title=Ben Boyd National Park|publisher=NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service))</ref> The structure was not commissioned as a lighthouse and the building work stopped in 1847 as funds became short.<ref name="travel">((Cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/new-south-wales/boydtown/2005/02/17/1108500192855.html|title=Travel: Boydtown|date=8 February 2004|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] & [[The Age]]))</ref> The tower was used as a whale sighting station.<ref name="whaling">((cite web|url=http://image.sl.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/ebindshow.pl?doc=brierly/a957;seq=13|title=Oswald W. B. Brierly - images from the exhibition Upon a painted ocean, 18 October to 6 February 2005: Whales in Sight. / A shore whaling party coming out of Twofold Bay, 1844 /watercolour drawing by Oswald W. Brierly|publisher=State Library of NSW|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070917222328/http://image.sl.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/ebindshow.pl?doc=brierly%2Fa957%3Bseq%3D13|archive-date=17 September 2007|access-date=23 March 2008))</ref><ref name="park">((cite web|url=http://www2.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/parks.nsf/parkContent/N0003?OpenDocument&ParkKey=N0003&Type=xo|title=Ben Boyd National Park|publisher=New South Wales Government|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080328032415/http://www2.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/parks.nsf/parkContent/N0003?OpenDocument&ParkKey=N0003&Type=xo|archive-date=28 March 2008|access-date=23 March 2008))</ref> Whaling was already an established industry when Boyd arrived in the area and he brought with him his own boats and crew,<ref name="culture" /> and went into competition with the locals and expanded his fleet until he had nine whaling boats working for him.<ref name="ADB" />

The locality of [[Newton Boyd]] derives its name from a squatter run licensed under Archibald Boyd, cousin of Benjamin Boyd, who claimed the run as his own as well as others which were owned nominally by his cousins or business partner Joseph Robinson. The town of [[Newton Stewart]] in Scotland was near where Benjamin Boyd was raised.<ref>Diamond, Marion. The Seahorse and the Wanderer. Ben Boyd in Australia (Melbourne 1988, pp. 57-58)</ref> The name was in use by 1845.<ref>((Cite news |date=1845-04-09 |title=CLARENCE RIVER. |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12878610 |access-date=2023-02-09 |work=[[Sydney Morning Herald]] |pages=3))</ref>

Boyd's life was dramatised in the radio play ''[[The First Gentleman (radio play)|The First Gentleman]]'' (1945) by [[Betty Roland]], and in an episode of the television series ''[[Jonah (TV series)|Jonah]]'' (1962).<ref>((cite news |date=31 May 1945 |title=RADIO HIGHLIGHTS |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article156635057 |accessdate=22 December 2023 |newspaper=[[The Newcastle Sun]] |location=New South Wales, Australia |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia |issue=8557))</ref><ref>((Citation |title=A Tale of Two Bees |date=1962-10-22 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1635580/?ref_=tt_ch |access-date=2023-12-22 |series=Jonah |others=Hilary Bamberger, Neil Fitzpatrick, Colin Croft))</ref><ref>((Cite web |last=Kornits |first=Dov |date=2021-11-01 |title=Forgotten Australian TV Series: Jonah |url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-tv-series-jonah/ |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=FilmInk |language=en-AU))</ref> [[George Blaikie]] wrote a fictionalised account of Boyd's life for his newspaper-syndicated series ''Our Strange Past'', titled ''The Scot Who Would Be King'' (1953).<ref>((Cite news |date=1953-02-05 |title=OUR STRANGE PAST: The Scot Who Would Be King |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39356011 |access-date=2024-01-04 |work=Western Mail))</ref> An Australian animated children's television series first broadcast in 1999 entitled [[The Adventures of Sam]] features a character named Captain Ben Boyd who engages in blackbirding, and is likely inspired from the historical figure.((Citation needed|date=December 2023))

In 1971 the [[Ben Boyd National Park]] was established, located near [[Boydtown, New South Wales|Boydtown]] south of [[Eden, New South Wales|Eden]] and named after Boyd. The park area covers approximately ((convert|10407|ha)).((citation needed|date=June 2020)) In the wake of the [[George Floyd protests]] around the world and [[George Floyd protests in Australia|in Australia]] and the [[Black Lives Matter]] movement gaining pace in May–June 2020, calls for the national park to be renamed were renewed. [[Matt Kean (politician)|Matt Kean]], the [[Minister for the Environment (New South Wales)|NSW Environment Minister]], commented that "national parks are about connecting people, not dividing them", and promised to seek a briefing about renaming the park and to consult with local Aboriginal Elders and the community about a suitable new name.<ref name="ABC16Jun2020">((cite news |last1=Lauder |first1=Simon |last2=Reardon |first2=Adriane |date=16 June 2020 |title=Minister seeks brief on renaming Ben Boyd National Park to address its namesake's blackbirding history |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-16/blackbirder-ben-boyd-renaming-push-renewed/12358978 |access-date=18 June 2020 |work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]))</ref> In September 2022 the park was renamed Beowa National Park.<ref name="NewName">((cite web |last=Olumee |first=Fatima |date=30 Sep 2022 |title=NSW national park renamed from Ben Boyd to Beowa to strip legacy of colonial slave trader |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-30/beowa-national-park-replaces-ben-boyd-slave-trader-history-nsw/101492706 |accessdate=2 October 2022 |website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation))</ref>[[File:Ben Boyd Road plaques.jpg|thumb|Commemorative plaques at Ben Boyd Road, Neutral Bay, NSW, Australia.]]Ben Boyd Road in [[Neutral Bay, New South Wales]] was named in his honour. Three small plaques describing his life and death are on display at the corner of Ben Boyd Road and Kurraba Road, Neutral Bay. The [[North Sydney Council]] resolved to install the third plaque in 2021 to provide further context about Ben Boyd, his involvement in blackbirding and his reputation.<ref>((Cite web |last=Sawyer |first=Kayla |date=2023-12-01 |title=Slave trader lives on in Neutral Bay |url=https://junctionjournalism.com/2023/12/01/slave-trader-ben-boyd-lives-on-in-sydneys-neutral-bay/ |access-date=2023-12-07 |website=The Junction))</ref><ref>((Cite web |date=24 May 2021 |title=Ben Boyd interpretative plaque |url=https://ehq-production-australia.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/4da94bbed040dc72fbad39c5d6720b675663ca3a/original/1622516606/1fd4f00621a4616c8d521865db7a212c_8.19_Ben_Boyd_interpretative_plaque.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA4KKNQAKIOR7VAOP4%2F20231207%2Fap-southeast-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20231207T145103Z&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=9a282d788b9968e0e7be17fa51ac1f536f115cc6ebcd84ec5693d8ab48395c05 |access-date=8 December 2023 |publisher=[[North Sydney Council]]))</ref> Boyd house of Neutral Bay Primary School was likewise named after him; in 2021 after consulting with parents and students the house was renamed Waratah.<ref>((cite web |title=Sport houses |url=https://neutralbay-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/learning-at-our-school/personal-development-health-and-physical-education/sport-houses.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322102937/https://neutralbay-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/learning-at-our-school/personal-development-health-and-physical-education/sport-houses.html |archive-date=22 March 2019 |publisher=Neutral Bay Public School))</ref>

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Boyd's 1851 disappearance, a scale model of ''Wanderer'' was created for the [[Eden Killer Whale Museum]].<ref>Canberra Times, 23 July 2001, p. 5</ref><gallery>
File:Ben Boyd plaque 1.jpg
File:Ben Boyd plaque 2.jpg
File:Ben Boyd plaque 3.jpg
</gallery>((-))

== References ==
((Reflist))

== Further reading ==

* ((Cite book|last=Plowman|first=Peter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v279uRHojcMC&pg=PA12|title=Ferry to Tasmania: A Short History|publisher=Rosenberg Publishing Pty, Limited|year=2004|isbn=1-877058-27-0|pages=9–13))
* Diamond, Marion, (1988), ''The Seahorse and the Wanderer. Ben Boyd in Australia'', Melbourne University Press. ((ISBN|0522843557))
* ((Cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/new-south-wales/boydtown/2005/02/17/1108500192855.html|title=Travel - Boydtown|date=8 February 2004|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald & The Age))
* ((Cite web|url=http://www.begavalley.nsw.gov.au/Cultural%20Map/people/benboyd.htm|title=Ben Boyd|publisher=ACT Government - Guidelines for Participating in the Cultural Map Project|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831173336/http://www.begavalley.nsw.gov.au/Cultural%20Map/people/benboyd.htm|archive-date=31 August 2007|access-date=2008-03-23))
* Loney, Jack (1985), ''Ben Boyd's Ships'', Geelong, Neptune Press, 16p.
* Phillips, Valmai. 1977. ''Romance of Australian Lighthouses.'' Rigby, Adelaide. ((ISBN|0-7270-0498-0)) pp.&nbsp;45–47
* ((cite web|url=http://dictionaryofsydney.org/person/boyd_ben|title=Boyd, Ben|author=Alison Vincent|date=2008|work=[[Dictionary of Sydney]]|access-date=8 October 2015)) [[Creative Commons license|CC-By-SA]]

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