Presbyterian whiskey - Samuel Wilson Boyd (1860–1932) "... bottled-up happiness, it drives away the heartache..."

Boyd & Company Old Irish Whisky artefacts and memorabilia come up quite regularly.

For about a decade Samuel Wilson Boyd (1860-1932) was Chairman of The Old Bushmills Distillery Company having been the founder and owner of Boyd & Co. Distillers, Belfast. Born in Belfast, his latter years were lived at Fairbourne, Fortwilliam Park in Belfast. He was a member and 'liberal subscriber' at Fortwilliam Presbyterian Church (which closed its doors in October 2018).

His first job was with the Belfast spirits firm Mitchell & Co, who also had interests in Glasgow.  Their founder, William Charles Mitchell, was born in Glasgow in 1834 but came to Belfast in the 1860s to manage the 'crowned king' of Ireland's distilleries, Dunville & Co.. Mitchell was a founder of the St Andrew's Society in Belfast.

Around 1902 Boyd bought Thomas Quinn & Co of Hill Street, which later became Boyd & Co. He was chairman of the Ulster Anti-Prohibition Council and also of the Distillers and Wholesale Wine and Spirit Merchants Association.

The Census of Ireland in 1901 and 1911 shows that the family were then living at Claremont House, 1 Ardenlee Avenue (I think the Martyrs Memorial Free Presbyterian Church is now on the site). Their son Cecil was killed in the Great War; he is named on the roll of honour in Whitehead Presbyterian Church. The family sold the house in August 1919.

1923 was a big year for Boyd – he bought the Bushmills distillery, and later that year all of the offices and warehouses that Bushmills owned in Hill Street. He also took to the stage that same year as you can see here:

He oversaw Bushmills becoming a limited company in 1930, with two of his sons as co-directors. He toured America for some time, investigating the effects of Prohibition. He died in June 1932, the funeral was conducted at Fortwilliam Presbyterian and he was buried at the City Cemetery.