Royds was born in
Rochdale, the son of Ernest Royds and the older brother of
Charles Royds, also later an admiral. He was educated at
Eastman's Royal Naval Academy in
Southsea and joined ,
Dartmouth as a
Naval Cadet in 1887. He was promoted
lieutenant in 1895 and joined
HMS Excellent as a
gunnery officer. In 1899 he served in the
Boxer Rebellion in
China as the
first lieutenant of . In 1904, Royds joined
Devonport Barracks as a gunnery officer. In 1905 he was promoted
commander at the unusually early age of thirty and joined the
cruiser . He later transferred to another cruiser, . In 1908, he was appointed Superintendent of
Physical Training at
Portsmouth. This was appropriate, since he had once played
rugby union for
Blackheath, the
Barbarians and the
Royal Navy and had appeared three times for
England. In 1910 he was elected naval representative on the
Rugby Football Union and served for many years, latterly as a selector representing
Kent. He also served on the committee of the
Royal Tournament and the
Olympic Council. In 1912, he was promoted
captain and took a course at the
Royal Naval War College in Portsmouth. The following year he took command of the
light cruiser . He was still commanding her when the
First World War broke out, and later transferred to the light cruiser , which he commanded at the
Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916. For this action, he was
mentioned in dispatches and made a
Companion of St Michael and St George (CMG). On St George's day, 23 April 1918, he was present at the great naval
raid on Zeebrugge and Ostend. After the war, Royds was appointed Captain-in-Charge of the
Royal Naval College, Greenwich. In 1920 he became the Royal Navy's first Director of Physical Training and Sports. In 1921 he was succeeded in this post by his younger brother, Captain Charles Royds, and took command of the
battleship in the
Atlantic Fleet. On 19 June 1921 he was appointed an
ADC to the
King. He only remained in command of
Malaya until 22 April 1922 and was promoted to
rear-admiral on 12 May 1922. In 1922 he was elected president of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Rugby Union. On 1 December 1923 he became Admiral-Superintendent of
Chatham Dockyard. He was created a
Companion of the Bath (CB) in 1924. He relinquished the appointment of Admiral-Superintendent on 7 December 1925. On 1 August 1927 he was promoted
vice-admiral and retired the following day. In 1927 he was made president of the
Rugby Football Union. In 1932 he was promoted
admiral on the retired list. ==Political career==