Daughter of Godfrey Bosville of Gunthwaite and Diana Wentworth. Sister of William Bosville. On May 3, 1768 she married Alexander Macdonald, who had succeeded to the title of 9th Baronet Macdonald of Slate, following the death of his elder brother in 1766.
It is unclear when Boswell first met Elizabeth Bosville. He was introduced to some of her family, at least her brother William, in 1763. In a letter to William Temple dated May 17, 1766, he wrote that "Miss Bosville is a charming young lady. I got her to speak a good deal before I left London and found her extremely sensible. She never dances. That I should have insisted, for no man shall ever pull about my wife. She loves reading and walking, and does not tire of six months in the country. [...] I dined three or four times a week at her father's while I stayed in London." 1
He seriously considered marrying her for some time before, eventually, she married one of his acquaintances, Alexander Macdonald of Sleat.
Several years later, on September 2, 1773, as Boswell and Dr Johnson reached the shore of Skye at Armadale, they were greeted by Sir Alexander and Lady Macdonald (as she then was). According to Boswell's journal, "My lady stood at the top of the bank and a kind of jumping for joy."
- 1Letter printed in Boswell in Search of a Wife