Robert Boyd, Prominent Statesman of Independent Scotland, Died

Robert Boyd, 5th Lord Boyd (c. 1517 – 3 January 1590) was a Scottish noble and courtier.

A son of Sir Thomas Boyd (d. 1439), Robert Boyd belonged to an old and distinguished family, one member of which, Sir Robert Boyd, had fought with Wallace and Robert Bruce. Created Lord Boyd in 1454, he was one of the regents during the minority of James III in 1460. He conspired with his brother, Sir Alexander Boyd, and obtained possession of the Kings person in 1466 and was made by Act of Parliament sole governor of the realm.

He negotiated the marriage between James and Margaret of Norway in 1469 and secured the cession of the Orkney Islands by Norway. He was appointed Great Chamberlain for life and Lord Justice General in 1467.

Conflict broke out between James and the Boyd family. Robert and his son Thomas Boyd, 1st Earl of Arran (with Mary, daughter of James) were out of the country involved in diplomacy when their regime was overthrown. Robert Boyd was found guilty of treason and fled to Alnwick, Northumberland, where he died. His brother and assistant, Sir Alexander Boyd, was beheaded on the 22nd of November 1469.

When Robert Boyd 5th Lord of Kilmarnock was born on 3 January 1517, in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland, his father, Robert Boyd 4th Lord of Kilmarnock, was 33 and his mother, Helen Somerville, was 27.

He married Countess Margaret Maud Colquhoun in 1535, in Ayrshire, Scotland. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 6 daughters. He registered for military service in 1544.

In 1586, his occupation is listed as he was a commissioner to treat with england in 1586. he also held the office of extraordinary lord of session between 1586 and 1588.

He died on 3 January 1590, in Alnwick, Northumberland, England, at the age of 73, and was buried in Kilmarnock Low Churchyard, Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland, United Kingdom.