The Lloyds of Thornbury
Henry Hume Lloyd
Henry Hume Lloyd was baptised on 10th June 1834, the eldest of Edmund and Catherine Elizabeth Lloyd's children. He followed in his father's footsteps and became a solicitor. According to the notice board displayed in the reception of the firm at 12 The Plain, Thornbury, Henry joined the firm of Crossmans & Lloyd in 1857. The Trade Directories show that Henry was Solicitor, Commissioner of Oaths, Clerk to the Justices of Thornbury Petty Sessional Court and Highway Board, Registrar and High Bailiff of the County Court.
The 1871 Census shows Henry was living
at Fairfield House with his mother and three of his siblings. In 1876 he married Helen (or Ellen)
Maria Bond in Spilsby in Lincolnshire. Helen was the second daughter
of John Bond Esq of Taynton, All Saints, Lincolnshire. They
settled in Thornbury which is where she had two daughters, Dorothy, born on
5th October 1877 and Helen Margaret born on 3rd February 1879.
Tragically Helen Maria died on 10th February 1879 aged 31, only a few days after
her daughter's birth.
Henry was playing a very active role in Thornbury society. In 1861/62
he served as Mayor of the Thornbur
y. He took
part in archery competitions and in 1870 won second prize at the Grand Prize Bow Meeting of Archers of the Channel. He was involved with the
setting up 'Thornbury Football Club' (which was at that time playing the rugby form
of the game), and a member of the Gloucestershire Archaeological Society.
The two thumbnail images on the left are of a clock which was presented to
Henry Hume Lloyd by the Thornbury Book Club in 1876. It refers to the
fac
t
that he had been secretary of the club for many years. Click on those
two photographs to see larger images.
In 1898 he was appointed Churchwarden at St Mary's Church. We apologise for the quality of the photograph of Henry Hume Lloyd on the right. We would be grateful to hear from anyone who has a better image of this gentleman.
The 1881 Census shows Henry had taken over Fairfield House after his mother's death. At the time of her death Fairfield House and gardens were valued at £1,500. In 1881 Henry was living there with his two daughters, Dorothy aged 3 and Helen Margaret aged 2.
In September quarter 1887 Henry married again. This time his wife was Alice Commeline. Alice was born in Moreton in the Marsh in 1857, the daughter of Thomas Commeline, a bank manager. Alice's sisters, Grace and Edith Emily were also to settle in Castle Street and Edith Emily became the wife of Dr Lionel Williams of Wigmore House in 1891.
Henry and
Alice had two children by the time of the 1891 Census: Edmund Commeline
Lloyd born on 23rd July 1888 and Alice Magdalen born on 26th February 1890. They
went to have two more children: Geraldine baptised on 8th December 1891 and
Rachel Mary baptised on 6th May 1894.
They were still at Fairfield House in 1901 Census. In December quarter 1901 Helen Margaret married James Leopold Meyer in Thornbury. Henry carried on living at Fairfield House and working as a solicitor at 12 The Plain until he died on 4th March 1904 aged 69. He was remembered by Frederick Henry Burchell as 'Another important figure in Thornbury was Mr. Henry Hume Lloyd, Clerk to the Magistrates and Registrar of the County Court, sound in his judgment and anything undertaken by him was always done thoroughly well. He was also a churchwarden and a great pillar of the church'.
We have been told that Edmund Lloyd was to have worked in his father's practice in Thornbury but he lost an arm in the First World War and went to live on Exmoor near Exford.
The house was left to Alice who continued to live in the house. Her granddaughter, Pamela, remembered her from this time. Pamela was the daughter of James and Margaret Meyer. Pamela was born in Fairfield House in 1910 and came to live with her grandmother as a child. The world she described has now long gone but the present owners of the house realised that they still have the kitchen table on which Alice had had her appendix removed by her brother in law, Dr Williams (mercifully now with a new top to it). Alice seems to have been a fine old lady if rather strict and had been on the County Croquet Team. The lawn at Fairfield was used for practice. Pamela could remember the ladies gathering in the sitting room after church on Sundays and the whist drives that were held in the large sitting room and the sewing circle under the big tree where the ladies made clothes for "children far away."
The house at this time seemed to reflect the family's connections to India, where Pamela herself had lived with her parents, and hunting. There were hunting scenes on the wallpaper in the downstairs loo but then that was the toilet intended for gentlemen. The hall had a tiger rug and the head of a boar both of which were victims of hunting trips in India. Pamela said she liked to cuddle the boar's head.
Alice also played a very active role in the Town. She was for many years Secretary of the Thornbury Nursing Association and a member and one time President of the Thornbury Women's Institute. She had also taken a keen interest in the Thornbury Mothers Union and the Girls' Friendly Society. In December quarter 1916, Alice's daughter, Geraldine, married Alan C Taylor, the son of James Taylor of Helsby in Cheshire. On 16th January 1923, Alice's daughter, Magdalen, married Harry Courtney Hodgson in Las Palmas. Harry was the District Commissioner for Sierra Leone and son of Henry Bernard Hodgson, who had been Vicar of Thornbury St Marys Church 1885 to 1897.
Alice Lloyd occupied the house with her family until her death on 26th August 1934 aged 73. In 1925 when some adjoining property came into the market she took the opportunity of improving the house by the purchase of the field to the East of the house. The price paid was £275.
of Henry's six children
Dorothy Lloyd was born in 1877. She was baptised 4th November 1877 while the family still lived at Kington. The 1901 Census shows her living with her parents in Fairfield House. Aged 23 she was unmarried.
Helen Margaret Lloyd was baptised 13th February 1879. She married James Leopold Meyer in 1901. James was born in 1867 in London, the son of Henry Meyer a merchant and his wife Elizabeth. He had been appointed Second Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in 1892. He was commissioned Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex in 1893. He served in in Simla in the Punjab where he died on 22nd June 1917. His army records show his widow's address as Little Bocombe, Horn's Cross in North Devon. He left his estate of £155 to Helen.
Edmund Commeline Lloyd was born 23rd July 1888 and baptised 2nd September 1888. He was the only son of Henry and his second wife, Alice. The 1901 Census shows that he was a boarder in a private school in Clifton, Bristol. He served in the First World War and his name appears in the Roll of Honour for 1915. He died in 1936 aged 48 in the Exmoor area. A Devon newspaper reported his sudden death. It described "Ned" as he was known as a notable sportsman and an intrepid follower of the Hunt. He was for many years apparently the secretary of the Devon and Somerset Staghounds. The article says he began his career as a solicitor and lost the use of his arm early in the First World War after which he took up farming.
Alice Magdalene Lloyd was baptised 11th April 1890. She married Harry Courtenay Hodgson in 1923. Click here to read about Alice Magdalene Hodgson.
Geraldine Lloyd was baptised in Decmber 1891. She married Lieutenant A C Taylor of the Royal Engineers in 1916. The article in the South Gloucestershire Chronicle on December 22nd said that the eldest brother of the bridegroom, who had business in Liverpool and Chester, had died the previous Sunday in a motor cycling accident. the wedding took place quietly because of this and was only attended by close family. The bridegroom had 14 days leave for his wedding and his best man was Tom Commeline a cousin of the bride.
Rachel Mary Lloyd was baptised 6th May 1894. Click here to read about Rachel Lloyd.
Click here to read about the other children of Edmund and Catherine Lloyd
This page was last updated: 21/03/2012