Leslie Atherton Gerard Boyce was born on 20 June 1897 at Burketown. After completing primary school in Toowoomba, Boyce won a State scholarship to attend Toowoomba Grammar School. In 1914 he joined the Toowoomba Foundry as a cadet engineer. He enlisted in the AIF in 1915, saw active service in France and was wounded twice. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1917. Boyce was made a director of the foundry in 1922 and became manager of the branch office in Rockhampton. In 1927 he was appointed CEO of the Toowoomba Foundry. On 29 April 1930, he married Harriot Rose Margaret Hall. After his retirement in 1958 the Boyces travelled widely and devoted much time to their garden. In 1973 Boyce was awarded an honorary Doctorate by UQ and in 1975 was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George. Leslie Boyce died on 10 April 1988. The Boyces bequeathed their property in Toowoomba to the University of Queensland in 1969. It is now known as the Boyce Gardens & Rainforest and was heritage-listed in 2001.

Harriot Rose Margaret Boyce, née Hall, was born on 3 December 1906 at Winstead, Stanthorpe. Her father, Edgar Hall, was a mining engineer at Silverspur. Following her engagement to Leslie Boyce in 1929, she purchased 15 acres of land at Range Street in Toowoomba and the couple had a house built on the property. They married on 29 April 1930. Margaret Boyce was Secretary of the Toowoomba Girl Guides throughout the 1930s and worked with the Voluntary Aid Detachment (V.A.D.) for the first year of World War II. In 1940 two of her nieces, the daughters of her brother Robert Hall, arrived as evacuees from England. She was active in various community groups in Toowoomba and together with her husband established a large garden at their property. Margaret Boyce died on 24 August 1984. The Boyces bequeathed their property in Toowoomba to the University of Queensland in 1969. It is now known as the Boyce Gardens & Rainforest and was heritage-listed in 2001.