The Boyt One study arose in 2001 in an attempt to find the place of origin for Richard Boyt, my husband's 5 x gt grandfather who first turns up in the parish registers of Sturminster Marshall in 1750 when he baptises his daughter Sarah.  I thought that if  I collected all instances of the name Boyt and its variant spellings I would find him, but here I am in 2024 and still searching. 

The registered variants of the name are Boyte, Boit, Boite, Boyett and Boyette

 I have found that in many written sources over the centuries, the variant spelling Boyet and Boyatt have been used for Boyt and Boyett so I include these spellings in my databases and research and welcome enquires from anyone researching these names. 

The surname Boyt is thought to originate in France, possibly being an old spelling of the French word boite which means box. There is no definitive evidence but there is an entry in the Patent Rolls of Edward 1st in 1279 which mentions an Elias Boyt who is noted to be a citizen and Merchant of Bordeaux. 

The earliest recording of the name Boyt is found in the Calendar of Close Rolls, Henry III dated 22 July 1237 and concerns a Thomas Boyt who is said to be of Drogheda, Ireland.  It may be that he was in service to one of the Anglo-Norman lords. 

In the UK, my research has shown that the surname Boyt is centred in the South West of England with the highest incidence in Dorset. 

William and John Boyt (??-??) Reeves of Langton Herring, Dorset 1444 - 1452.

John Boyt  (??-??) Bailiff of Dorchester, Dorset 1492 - 1501

Philip Boyt (?? - 1580)  Of Portland, Dorset. Arrested in 1578 as pirate and executed 21 July 1580 at Wapping. Buried same day at St Botolph, Aldgate. 

George Boyt (1805 - 1886)  tried in Dorchester, Dorset, for the manslaughter of his friend Isaac Gerrard in 1846; he was originally sentenced to a month in prison but the Judge changed his mind and reduced it to a week. 

Noel Ernest Boyt (1901 - 1985) was a SOE in Burma during WW2 and received the Military Cross and OBE for his service. 

John Boyt (1921 - 1986) was an American set and costume designer, producer and writer working in theatre, tv and film. He worked on Broadway, off Broadway, in regional theatre and with the New York City Ballet and New York City Opera. 

The surname Boyt is not a common name and the numbers in the UK census returns 1841 - 1921 reflect this. 

1841 census   - in this census there are 224 occurrences of all variant spellings:

BOYT - 113, BOYETT - 60, BOYATT - 27, BOITE - 21, BOIT - 20, BOYTE - 12, BOYET 1

1871 census - 341 occurrences of all variant spellings

BOYT - 216, BOYETT - 44,  BOYATT - 7,  BOITE - 8,   BOIT - 22, BOYTE - 29,  BOYET - 12,  BOYTT - 3

1921 census   - 518 occurrences of all variant spellings 

BOYT - 343, BOYETT - 74, BOYATT - 28, BOITE - 9, BOIT - 29,  BOYTE - 28, , BOYTT - 7

These numbers may not be totally accurate given the variance in spellings either recorded by the enumerators or standardised spellings adopted by various families but the numbers will not vary greatly. 

All census returns for England & Wales have been transcribed.  

The study has a  large database of parish baptisms, burials and marriages from across the UK and Northern Ireland.

Wills and Administrations 1580 - 1857 proved in the Dorset Archdeaconry Court, Prerogative Court of Canterbury and the Consistory Court of Bristol for Boyt and all the registered variants have been transcribed.  I also have some wills from Essex and always interested in finding probate. 

Entries from the Probate Index 1858 - 1970 have been transcribed for Boyt and all the registered variant spellings. 

Entries from the GRO Birth, Marriages and Deaths 1837 to date are being transcribed. 

The study has extensive family trees for:

the Boyt families of Sturminster Marshall, Wool and Bere Regis in Dorset including the branches who emigrated to America & Australia

the Boyett(e) family of Portsea and Pembrokeshire

Boyt family of Holdenhurst in Hampshire & West Parley in Dorset and also includes the branch that went to Ireland.

the Boit(e) families of Wellington & Ruishton in Somerset

the Boit(e) families of Tytherington and surrounding parishes in Gloucestershire and includes branches who moved to Monmouthshire.

Smaller trees constructed from probate and parish registers for various as yet unconnected Boyt(e) families of Dorset.

The various families from Dorset & Hampshire frequently crossed the borders between the two counties and therefore show in documents from both county archives. 

The Boyette DNA Project has been running since early 2000's and its aim is to find the origin of Thomas Boyt who was granted land in 1697 in the Virginia colony. The project has identified a genetic link between the families who descend from Thomas in USA and whose standardised spelling is now Boyette/Boyett, and the Sturminster Marshall and Wool Boyt families in Dorset. 

The Boyt DNA is ancient and rare being the halpogroup H2. Two ancient skeletons in Ireland have been found to carry the same YDNA. More can be read on this here https://pbase.com/daveb/y700h

The DNA Project is exciting and provides new information with every new test but testing of males with the Boyt name or its variant spellings is lacking in UK. Increased testing of UK males would help provide more information to enable identification of the common ancestor of the UK and American families. The Project has a small fund which can help with testing and interested males are invited to contact me via the e-mail on this page.

The study has a Facebook group - www.facebook.com/groups/522113846