LLOYD, Herbert (?1719-69), of Peterwell, Card.

Herbert Lloyd was a notorious and unpopular figure in Cardiganshire. In 1755 he had been struck out of the commission of the peace for illegal abuse of his authority.Add. 32857, ff. 115-16. As master of Peterwell, his name became a byword for a petty tyrant; his treatment of his second wife drove her to leave him; and gambling losses forced him to mortgage most of his property.G. E. Evans, Lampeter, 195-223.

When in 1755 Lloyd was a candidate to succeed his brother as Member for Cardiganshire, his rival Wilmot Vaughan wrote to Newcastle, 10 July:Add. 32856, f. 612. ‘The views of the present Mr. Lloyd of Peterwell are so very extensive, his principles so little fixed, and his whole character so unstable.’ Under pressure from Administration, Lloyd withdrew. In 1761 he entered Parliament as the result of an agreement under which John Pugh Pryse was to represent the county and Lloyd the borough.

Lloyd appears in Fox’s list of Members favourable to the peace preliminaries, and obtained his baronetcy from the Bute Administration. In the autumn of 1763 he was classed by Jenkinson as ‘pro’, and his name appears in none of the minority division lists on Wilkes and general warrants. In July 1765 Rockingham classed him as ‘doubtful’. On 16 July he applied to Newcastle for a place at the Board of Trade or Green Cloth. ‘Since I have had the honour of being in Parliament’, he wrote,Add. 32968, f. 23. ‘[I] was always ready to obey your Grace’s pleasure.’ The application was unsuccessful, as was a similar one in January 1766;Add. 32973, f. 21. and on 22 Feb. Lloyd voted against Administration over the repeal of the Stamp Act. He seems to have supported the Chatham Administration. There is no record of his having spoken in the House.

At the general election of 1768 a coalition against Lloyd was formed among the Cardiganshire gentry, and though he canvassed both county and borough he declined a contest. In January 1769 he fought a hard battle in the borough, but was defeated. He committed suicide 19 Aug. 1769.