Author: Lloyd, David
Biography:
LLOYD, David (1752-1838: ODNB)
All biographical accounts of Lloyd’s life are derived ultimately from the long, circumstantial obituary in GM. He was the only child of Mary (James) and Thomas Lloyd of Llanbister, Radnorshire, Wales. His birthdate is variously given as 1 May 1752 (GM) or 12 May (ODNB, DWB) but no official record has been found. As a child he worked on his father’s farm, meanwhile attending local schools which gave him a grounding in Latin and mathematics, teaching himself Greek, and exploring Welsh poetry. He taught school for seven years and was then ordained deacon (Aug. 1778) and priest (Oct. 1779). He married Mary Griffiths (1747-1836) at her home parish of Llangynllo, Radnorshire, on 4 June 1779; they had an only child, John, who died in 1784. Lloyd had been serving as curate at Llanbister but from 1785 to 1789 he took up two curacies in Herefordshire and moved there, returning in 1789 upon his appointment as Vicar at Llanbister, where he remained for the rest of his long life. His major literary work, The Voyage of Life, appeared in 1792 with an expanded second edition in 1812; an extract from it is included in the Cambrian Wreath anthology of 1828. His other publications were a sermon and a wide-ranging collection of essays, Horae Theologicae (1823), but Lloyd was a polymath who also composed music (one march was published) and invented things, including a perpetual-motion machine. He was a dedicated parish priest and a supporter of the Church Missionary Society to which he made a substantial donation in his will. He suffered a “paralytic stroke” in 1835 from which he never recovered. His wife died at the age of 89 on 10 Mar. 1836, followed by him on 3 Mar. 1838. They were buried together with their son in the churchyard of St. Cynyllo, Llanbister, where there is a memorial. (ODNB 22 Jan. 2024; GM June 1838, 662-3; findmypast.com 22 Jan. 2024; CCEd 22 Jan. 2024; DWB) HJ