I asked this last year but didn't get a single response, hopefully this time the good people of AskHistorians will have some insight. Did the British have a substantial force in the colonies before the Revolutionary War or did they rely mostly on boats bringing troops over? Also if there was a substantial presence what would their role have been in the day to day lives of colonials?
After the French and Indian War, the British Military had a standing army in the colonies. In order to house all these soldiers, who weren't in barracks, English Parliament passed the Quartering Act to solve the issue. This Act stated that soldiers, if needed, would be housed in public buildings and sometimes even fed by the colonists. As for an accurate number of "Regulars" stationed in the colonies, I'm not sure.
One example of them being brought over would be in Boston in 1768. 1,200 Regulars were brought to occupy Boston to keep order after the colonists had heavily protested the Taxes and Acts imposed upon them. While the soldiers were there, many of them took up a second job in town, because their pay wasn't very good. Unfortunately, tensions rose between the soldiers and citizens resulting in the Boston Massacre in 1770.
I'm sorry if I haven't fully answered your question, I'm more familiar with the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War themselves, not entirely during the two. I'm currently reading more about the interim period at the moment, and thought I would explain what i've learned.