Son of Godfrey Bosville of Gunthwaite and Diana Wentworth, daughter of Sir Win. Wentworth, 4th Bart of Bretton. Brother of Elisabeth Diana Bosville. He was educated at Harrow and entered the Coldstream Guards in December 1761. A very distant relative of JBs, the names Bosville and Boswell both being variations of the french Boisville. He retired from the army with the rank of Lieutenant in 1777.
He was known as a Bon Vivant in his own lifetime, and had dinner parties in his house on Welbeck Street, London, on an almost daily basis up until his death. He was also a friend of author John Horne Tooke (1736-1812), also known as The Philosopher of Wimbledon. He was buried in the chancel in St. Giles-in-the-Fields.1
- 1Main source for this short biography is the Dictionary of National Biography.
Boswell first met Bosville on April 18, 1763, at the Tower of London. In his London Journal, he described the moment as a happy occasion, and Boswell became a good friend of the Bosvilles later on.
Comments
Is he the William Bosville
Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/10/2011 - 07:29
Is he the William Bosville Subscriber to Gov. Phillips Book on Australia? Keith R. Dawson.