Born at Copperhouse, South Australia, the 37-year-old married Ellen Margaret Foley while they were gold mining in Western Australia. They started their family while in WA and ran their first hotel together in Coolgardie.

Coming to NSW, the couple had been living at Leichhardt before taking over from 22-year-old Thomas Simmonds in 1909, the then licensee of the Bridge Hotel.

With three young children, the family appeared to have a bright future ahead of them, until that fateful day.

Although he was a teetotaller, Boyd enjoyed smoking his pipe after a meal and following Sunday lunch, he left the table to take a ride on his bicycle.

He firstly made his way to the bar area, which had all doors closed and blinds drawn, which made it relatively dark.

Whether he struck the match to give himself more light or get his pipe going is unknown, but it was apparently dropped on top of a cask of rum he had been working on the previous day.

The vapour of the spirit ignited, causing the cask to explode striking him on the head before making a hole in the ceiling above him.

Immediately rendered unconscious, Boyd’s clothes caught fire and his screaming wife rushed to the bar.

Quickly on the scene were Nowra town clerk John Fraser and Wilfred Ison, who lived nearby.

Fraser called for a doctor, while Ison took a wet bag from the hotel groom and extinguished the fire that had engulfed the publican.

Doctors Thomas Ewing and Albert Bobart were quickly on the scene, but Boyd died within the hour.

The following day, coroner Charles Watson and police sergeant John Peterswald came to the conclusion he had “died from effects of injuries accidentally received through an explosion of spirit vapour”.

Only three days before his death, Boyd and other district publicans were required to attend a special hearing at the Licensing Court in Kiama and his evidence provided an insight into how the Bridge Hotel had been run.

During 1910, the gross takings had been 1325 pounds, of which 575 pounds had come from yards, meals and beds, with the balance from the bar. Some 289 people had stayed at the hotel during the year, described as general tourists, operatic companies, etc. Boyd had prepared more than 800 meals that were provided for one shilling from one general table.

He paid 156 pounds rent and a 25 pound licence fee.

Boyd’s widow Ellen, showed great strength to overcome the trauma and continue as licensee of the hotel for some years.

In March 1916, she was one of four Nowra publicans who signed an advertisement, advising that due to the price of meat and other commodities, the cost of hotel meals would have to increase.

Ellen was remarried to Nowra baker Arthur Allen and later moved to Sydney as licensee of the Quarryman’s Hotel in Pyrmont.