Boyce , John Stanley Beaumont , 1911-1992 , schoolmaster and education officer

Boyce , John Stanley Beaumont , 1911-1992 , schoolmaster and education officer

John Stanley Beaumont Boyce was born in Stoney Stratford, Buckinghamshire, in 1911. He was the youngest of the three sons of E R S Boyce, Headmaster of Wolverton County School which his sons attended. In 1930 Boyce won a scholarship to St John's College, Oxford, from where he graduated in French and German. He worked as a Master at Ellesmere College, Cheltenham, until 1937 and thereafter at Coatham School, Redcar. In August 1937 he married Margaret L Nicholls of Oxford with whom he had 3 children.

Boyce had served with the OTC during peacetime. During the War he served with the Oxford and Bucks Infantry Regiment, followed by work under John Newsom in northern Germany as part of the military government. As part of the Education Branch he was involved in setting up local government and education systems. He ended the war with the rank of Major.

Following the war Boyce was employed as an assistant Chief Education Officer (CEO) in Hertfordshire Education Authority under John Newsom. In 1951 he became Deputy CEO in West Sussex and in 1957 followed this with work as Deputy CEO in Lancashire. He was appointed CEO of Lancashire in 1968, a post he held until his retirement in 1973.

In 1986 he received an Honorary LLD from Lancaster University. He died peacefully from cancer in 1992, 10 days after his 81st birthday.