Charles Boycott - Early Life and Family

Early Life and Family

Charles Cunningham Boycott was born in 1832 to Reverend William Boycatt and his wife Georgiana. He grew up in the village of Burgh St Peter in Norfolk, England; the Boycatt family had lived in Norfolk for almost 150 years. They were of Huguenot origin, and had fled from France in 1685 when Louis XIV revoked civil and religious liberties to French Protestants. Charles Boycott was named Boycatt in his baptismal records; the family changed the spelling of its name from Boycatt to Boycott in 1841.

Boycott was educated at a boarding school in Blackheath, London. He was interested in the military, and in 1848 entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in hopes of serving in the Corps of Royal Sappers and Miners. He was discharged from the academy in 1849 after failing a periodic exam, and the following year his family bought him a commission in the 39th Foot regiment for £450.

Boycott's regiment was transferred to Belfast shortly after his arrival. Six months later, it was sent to Newry before marching to Dublin, where it remained for a year. In 1852 Boycott married Anne Dunne in St Paul's Church, Arran Quay, Dublin. He was ill between August 1851 and February 1852 and sold his commission the following year, but decided to remain in Ireland. He leased a farm in County Tipperary, where he acted as a landlord on a small scale.