In the year after his birth his father was created an Irish Peer but, having an elder brother, he was not his father's heir. He grew up in a military atmosphere as his father raised regiments for the
British Government, the first being called the 76th or Macdonald Highlanders. When his father died in 1795, Godfrey was himself a soldier. He had been educated at Harrow and Oriel College, Oxford. On 30 December 1795 he obtained a Commission as Ensign in His Majesty's
60th Regiment, and soon experienced active service.
According to a letter he wrote many years later, he saw his future wife at a confirmation in church. When he discovered she was Miss Louisa Edsir, he procured an introduction to her family and in due course asked Mr. Edsir permission to propose marriage, but was shocked when told that Mr. Edsir expected her to make a great match and therefor Godfrey could not expect to be accepted. However, when Godfrey told Mr. Edsir that a Macdonald of the Isle was a good-enough match for anyone, he was told that her father was not Mr. Edsir but H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester.
Not prepared to accept a refusal, he solved their problem by carrying Louisa off from her school, then taking her as his wife to Ireland, where he was ordered on recruiting business. In December 
1799, being a Scotsman, he married Louisa by the Scottish mode of "mutual consent", and of living together openly as husband and wife. However, in Ireland he wished to be married in Church but, maintaining they were already married, and prefering a grander ceremony than what she could expect in Ireland, Louisa objected.
In March 1802, Godfrey, now a Major in the 55th Regiment, was ordered with his regiment to the West Indies, but returned in September of that year and was present at the baptism of their third
child. He was ordered to return to the West Indies and, on his return, became a Lieutenant-Colonel in the 24th Regiment. When they were established in Norwich, they finally made arrangements for a Church wedding, which took place on 29 December 1803.
In 1805, after the death of the Duke of Gloucester, Mrs. Edsir made a statement that she was not Louisa's mother but that she was the child of "great parentage", Louisa's father being the Duke of
Gloucester and her mother Lady Almeria Carpenter, daughter of the Earl of Tyrconnel. However, after Godfrey and Louisa's elopement, no enquiries were ever made by the Carpenters.
In 1807, after he had returned from South Africa, Godfrey and his wife went to Scotland and, at Annan on 26 October 1807, they solemnly stated before the Provost, Richard Forrest, that they had been engaged and betrothed to each other in Christmas week of 1799, and from that period understood themselves to be married.
In September 1812, Godfrey went on active service in the Peninsular War and, as a result, was appointed Major-General in 1814. In December 1813, Godfrey's maternal uncle, William Bosville, died and, in his will leaving Godfrey his Yorkshire estates, required him to assume the Bosville surname. In 1814 he retired from the army and was known as General Bosville till 1824.
His elder brother, the 2nd Lord Macdonald and 10th Baronet, died unmarried in 1824 and, as a result, Godfrey became 3rd Lord Macdonald and 11th Baronet, succeededing to the family estates in Skye and from then onwards calling himself Bosville-Macdonald. On 13 October 1832, Godfrey suddenly died from a heart attack, leaving a heart-broken widow who survived him by only two years.
 

Source: Leo van de Pas