T W BOYD & SON FLYER, MID TO LATE 1890s

I recently acquired a mid to late 1890s TW Boyd ladies bicycle, Montreal (specifically a TW Boyd & son FLYER) and would like to get some information on the bike. The full name of the company was T W Boyd & Son, Montreal, Firearms, Sporting Goods, Bicycle Goods and Materials, located at 1683 Notre Dame and in subsequent years 27 ND (W) and 376 ND (W), probably all the same location, numbers changed by the City. The company was in existence from 1892 to 1934

I can access a 1918 Boyd catalogue and see 1906 advertisements on the internet. These sources refer to Eagle, Hawk and Bullseye being the brands the company provided. I also have seen an 1896 ad which states that the TW Boyd company were jobbers for Kenwood, Crescent & Crawford ( which I believe are USA manufacturers) I also think that Boyd's may have rebadged certain Marques. There is no mention of a FLYER in any of the info I have collected, to date.

I had been chasing it down for about 15 years and two weeks ago the 92 year old steward finally decided to sell it to me, As far as he knew it had never been used by any of his family. The bike had been left at his parent’s farm, 125+ yrs ago, by a friend, who was the manager of the Woolen mills in Southampton, NS. He was moving to Amherst, NS and he asked the family to store it until he returned for it. Neither he or any of his offspring did. The bike is original although quite rusty, should clean up nice, a sympathetic restoration is in order. One side is worse than the other, although a lot of original paint remains. One hand grip is missing, the single tube tires have rotted off, most of the nickel is flaking or has flaked off plated parts. The front wood rim is warped( I have a replacement), rear seems OK. Surprisingly, the seat is in great condition, no tears or stitch separation, the toolbox is good, although the straps are brittle and will have to be replaced, the wood fender and chain guard are really good. The pedals spin freely, and with a healthy dose of GIBBS penetrant, the axles are moving, the block chain will require more work to get it supple again. There is no front wheel braking mechanism or evidence on the handlebar that there ever was one. The rear hub has no braking mechanism. It appears that the crank is one piece, the star shaped chain ring attached with 4 bolts. I don’t know if Boyd manufactured their own bikes or re-badged .

It has a low serial # 346, I am hoping that someone may recognize the frame type, crankset with unique star shape wheel, pedals, P&F saddle, etc. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. Cheers