William de Boynton lived in the second half of the 12th century and the first half of the 13th century, which was one of the important, formative periods in English public life. First, they created the courts and then the Magna Carta. And William participated in both.  

Family

Dating is very imprecise for most events in the 12th and early 13th centuries. There is no reference to the dates of the birth or death of William. He was involved in a transaction dated 1170 to 1180, which is the earliest event involving him for which we have a record. Malger de Bucton gave property to the canons of Bridlington, and William served as witness. Presumably, he was an adult at that point. The latest date for him is 1199 to 1219 when Alice de Stuteville gave property to a priory and William again served as witness. Hugh Thomas found that William was involved in the Magna Carta controversy in 1215 and 1216 (Thomas, p. 205). 1170 to 1219 are the calendar outer limits on what we know about his life.

Walter de Boynton was his father and Rabod was his brother. The following transaction involved all three of them. Walter purchased land which he then gave to Rabod with the concurrence of William.

1 Rotsea in the parish of Hutton Cranswick near Driffeld. Rents payable in fish were by no means unusual. At Coatham haddocks were the fish specified. Rotsea must have been famous for its eels. In the following charter, by which Walter de Bovintun grants land to his son Rabod, who occurs as a donor to the Canons of a bovate at Tibthorpe on p. 96, one of the rents is that of three hundred eels, payable to Peter de Brus, probably the ones assigned by him here to the Priory; "Walterus de Bovintun, cum assensu et concessu Willelmi, filii et haeredis mei . . . Rabodo, filio meo, duas bov. terrae in Rotese, scil. illam bov. terrae quam emi de Waltero Martin, cum tofto et omnibus pert., reddendo inde annuatim ccc anguillas ad perficiendam firmam Petri de Brus, et quatuor den. et obolum ad firmam Roberti de Dalton et Matildis xoris suae reddend., scil. ad Pascha Floridum; et alteram bov. terrae quam emi ab Willelmo de S. Martino et Galfrido fratre ejus, cum tofto ad eam pertinente, simul cum tertio tofto quod Galfridus de S. Martino mihi dedit, reddendo annuatim duas candidas cyrotecas ad opus Willelmi de S. Martino infra Octabas S. Johannis Baptistae. Totam vero praedictam terram dedi et concessi praedicto Rabodo et haer. suis cum omnibus pert., Tenendam de me et haer. meis in feodo et haereditate, libere, et quiete, et honorifice, infra villam et extra, in pratis, in pascuis, in viis, in semitis, in mariscis, in turbariis, in piscariis, et in omnibus aisiamentis ad praedictam terram pertinentibus, sine ullo retenemento, Reddendo annuatim praedictas firmas ad praefatos terminos, sicut praenominatae sunt in praedicta carta . . . Hiis testibus. Petro de Brus, Rogero de Acclum, Roberto Engeram, Willelmo de Tametun, Roberto Tolebut, Richard de Levingtun, Roberto de Acclum, Jordano de Tametun, Waltero de Caretorp, Willelmo filio ejus, Ada de Torp, Waltero filio ejus, Ricardo de Spineto." (Dodsworth, VII. 81b.) Dodsworth (Ibid., fo. 81) gives another charter about this property, by which Matilda de Rotesai, with the assent of Thomas, her son and heir, sold to Walter de Bovington a bovate in Rotsea, which Walter Martin had sold him. Hiis testibus. Johanne de Melsa, Waltero de Karethorp, Ricardo de Hai, Adam de Bovington, Waltero de Hastorp, Daniele de Rudestain, Waltero de Thorp, Ricardo de Spineto, et ma. a."
Cartularium Prioratus de Gyseburne, Ebor. Dioeceseos, Ordinis S. Augustini, Fundati, Volumen Primum, Publications of the Surtees Society, 1889, p. 115.

We do not know William's wife; it is not until the next generation that Boynton wives are identified. Ingram was William's son and heir, which we know from many sources. The explication of the following transaction lists the Walter to William to Ingram sequence.

92. Confirmation by Robert de Ros [II] to Meaux abbey of the gift in Warter made by Geoffrey Trussebut, his uncle, and of the land of Arras called Blanchemarle given by Geoffrey Dagon; also of the gifts of William son of Asketil in Warter, of Robert son of Osmund, of Walter de Boynton in Arnold, of Richer de Arnold of the site of the grange there, of Gilbert son of William de Dalton in Harlthorpe [par. Bubwith], of Osbert de Frismarais between Beeford and Nunkeeling, and of Simon Tuschet in Middleton on the Wolds. [1210-26]
The gifts are recorded in the Meaux Chronicle, their date being shown by the tenure of the various abbots during whose rule they were made. Gilbert son of William de Dalton, besides confirming gifts of his father in North Dalton, gave 2 bovates in Harlthorpe, 1150-60. Osbert de Frismarais gave land and pasture in Beeford and Dunnington. Walter father of William father of Ingelram de Boynton gave 2 bovates in Arnold, which he had purchased from Richer de Arnold, 1182-97.3
3 Chron. de Melsa, i, 102.

In his history of the Boynton family Carus Collier reported that the family had records, in the early 20th century, listing additional children.

    1. Ingram
    2. Henry, who married a daughter of Adam Wastneys.
    3. Jane, married to Sir Robert Octon, Kt.
    4. Ursula, married to Sir Roger Welwick, Kt.

This is all we know about Henry, Jane and Ursula. If Jane and Ursula married knights that suggests the prosperity of the Boynton family continued from Walter to William.

There is a document that identifies a daughter in addition to the two listed by Collier.

DATES: mid 13th century
DESCRIPTION: Gift: Ingram de Bouinton to his son and heir William: - - 20 bovates in Bouington with a capital messuage sometime of Ingram's father William, and 4 tofts (i.e. 16 bovates towards the W. near lands of Matilda sister of Ingram.; 4 bovates towards the S. near lands of Alexander de Munceys; the tofts being held by Ralph the miller, Agnes le Ruter, Beatrice de Collum and Matilda de Bouington) - - : Witn. Sir Alan son of Brian, Robert his brother, Adam de Mangneby, William de Rudestayn, Richard de Thorny, Alan de Bouington, Alexander de Munceys, Nicholas clerk of Karthorp, William Pichot.
Fragment of seal, NOTE Estimated date, Hull Document

Ingram had a sister named Matilda who held land in Boynton including the use of a toft, which is the site of a house and outbuildings. This is the only record that mentions her, and it says nothing about marriage.


Father and Son

Walter was a prominent person in Yorkshire public life, and he lived a long and full life. He and William were both involved in a number of actions for which there are records.

Walter was the chief financial officer of St. Mary's, York, and that put him in touch with much of the charitable giving in Yorkshire [A Boynton Story: Witnessing for God]. William witnessed a number of gifts for which his father was also a witness [Walter and William Transactions]. They were gifts for the canons at Bridlington, which is only a few miles away from Boynton. Walter served as witness all over Yorkshire, whereas William witnessed closer to home.

When the king's court arrived at Yorkshire in 1206 they needed to supplement their numbers with local persons. Walter and William Percy served as justiciars for that term of the court. One of the cases in the term was argued by William.

CCLXXV. The same place on the octave of the Nativity of the blessed Mary3 [15 Setptember 1206].
Between Ivetta, who was the wife of William son of Anketin, plaintiff, by Henry, her son, put in her place etc., and Alexander, abbot of Meaux, tenant, by William de Buvington' put in place etc., concerning reasonable dower which was belonging to Ivetta herself from the free tenement which was the aforesaid William's, formerly her husband, in Warter. Whereupon the plea was etc., namely that the aforesaid Ivetta has remised etc. all right etc. in the aforementioned dower from herself to the aforesaid abbot and his successors for ever. And for this quitclaim etc. the aforementioned abbot has given to the aforesaid Ivetta 20s. sterling.
3 William de Percy and Walter de Buvinction are amongst the justices.
Pedes Finium Ebor. Regnante Johanne, A.D. MCXCIX.--A.D. MCCXIV., Publications of the Surtees Society [vol. 94], p. 106.

William de Stuteville was appointed sheriff by the king in 1201, and he asked Walter Boynton to serve as deputy sheriff. One of Walter's cases involved illegal money lending, and William was involved as a witness in the case.

1201. m. 9d.
Walter Bovinton has indicated to the lord king through letters with his seal that the Jew Peitevinus has sold two documents to Johannes Harpham, one of 30 pounds and the other of 60 pounds, for 30 marks which he owed him, and that he wished to do this privately. And nevertheless William Bovinton, Robert Talun, William Faukenberg and Walter himself heard this; and the latter then seized Peitevinus and arrested other Jews whom the aforesaid Johannes named to him, and their chattels, which he could find through the inspection of legal knights and of legal citizens of York
Curia Regis Rolls of the Reigns of Richard I. and John, His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1922, p. 389.

The de Stutevilles lived only a few miles down the road from Boynton in Burton Agnes. A few years later Walter and William witnessed a gift from Alice de Stuteville to the Bridlington priory.

65. Gift by Alice de Stuteville to Bridlington priory, for the soul of Isabel her sister, of a toft in Thornholme [par. Burton Agnes]. [1199-1219]
Hiis testibus, Ancelmo filio meo, Waltero de Bouington' et Willelmo filio ejus, Willelmo de Percy et Roberto filio ejus, magistro Henrico de Willardeby, Willelmo de Lekeburn, Arnaldo de Marton, Luca Siluer.
Charles Travis Clay (1952) Early Yorkshire Charters; The Stutevile Fee, Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series, p. 134.
Walter and William were involved in straightforward economic transactions, as well as those above. In one they traded property with the Bridlington Priory. And they both served as witnesses to another economic transaction.

Lawyering

William inherited the family fortune, the land his father had accumulated, and that made him a prosperous land holder.

In addition to managing the family land, William took on the legal system [A Boynton Story: Before Lawyers]. In 1179 Henry II created the grand assize, or the king's court, and England took a major step toward civil order. County courts already existed in 1179, and knights were expected to serve on the jury of the county court on a regular basis. What resulted from setting up these legal institutions was lawyers, but 1200 was very early in the development and the lawyers of that time were proto-lawyers. They did not have special training. And they did not make a living practicing law. They did act for others in court, and they must have received some compensation for their time.

There are records of William acting in court for others three times [court records]. It seems likely that he acted for others, but the records are lost.

1201. m. 24 William, son of Walter appoints William Bovinton, for gain or loss, to act for him against Parnella and Nicholas de Cheine in an action of a fine etc.. Curia Regis Rolls of the Reigns of Richard I. and John, His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1922, p. 444.

In 1201 William, son of Walter, appointed William Bovinton to act for him in court. The procedures related to naming may seem a bit casual to us. William, son of Walter who? we would ask. On the other hand, appointing someone to act for you in court was not casual. There were phrases that had to be uttered in the correct setting: "appoints . . . for gain or loss" was characteristic of the appointment process.

William also acted for the Abbat of Melsa and for Walter and Agnes Fauconberg.

Boyntons and Fauconbergs

In 1277 William Boynton was called up for active duty by the king [A Boynton Story: Recalibrating Wealth]. You will join us in attacking the Scots, said Edward I. The William of 1277 was the grandson of this William. And the basis on which he was called to active duty was "service due from Walterus de Faucumberge." There was a century long relationship between the Boyntons and the Fauconbergs.

Walter de Boynton and Walter de Fauconberg worked together on church, state, and economy.

William also had a broad set of relationships with the Fauconbergs. For example, he witnessed a gift Walter de Fauconberg made to Fountains Abbey.

142. Gift by Walter de Fauconberg to Fountains abbey of his specified pasture of kettlewell previously held of him for a term, in which none should have common with the monks except his own men of Kettlewell [c. 1175-90]
Hiis testibus, Willelmo de Estuteuill', Willelmo de Bouincton', Willelmo filio Radulfi, Gaufrido de Beelum, Roberto forestario, Nicholao de Caiton', Matheo forestario, petro de Plunt[ona], Toma Oisel.
Charles Travis Clay (1963) Early Yorkshire Charters; The Percy Fee, vol. XI, Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series, p. 167.

But his closest working relationship must have been acting for them in the courts of Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and Yorkshire. The sisters Agnes and Petronelli had inherited land in all three counties, and the division of the property had to be spelled out in all three county courts. This must have been the beginning of a financial relationship between the Boyntons and the Fauconbergs.

A financial relationship that continued at least through grandson William and the end of the 13th century.

References

Thomas, Hugh M. (1993) Vassals, Heiresses, Crusaders, and Thugs, the Gentry of Angevin Yorkshire, 1154-1216, University of Pennsylvania Press.

William appeared in the king's financial records:

De Placitis et Conventionibus Per Toman de Husseburn' et Socios Suos
Et de dim. m. de Willelmo de Bouinton' pro plegio Radulfi de Vado.
Stenton, Doris, ed. (1931) The Great Roll of the Pipe for the Ninth Year of the Reign of King Richard the First, Michaelmas 1197 (Pipe Roll 43), vol. New Series 8, p. 49