Sir Richard Lloyd (23 February 1606 – 5 May 1676) was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at various times between 1628 and 1676. He fought for the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

army in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

Early life

Lloyd was the eldest son of Evan Lloyd of Dulasau, Penmachno, Caernarvonshire and his wife Janet ap Ieuan, daughter of Roderick ap Ieuan of Pennarth, Llanystumdwy, Caernarvonshire. He entered

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1618 and attended

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

, where he was awarded BA in 1624. He succeeded to the estates of his father in 1626. In 1628, he was elected Member of Parliament for Montgomery and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. He was called to the bar in 1635 and was Reader of

Barnard's Inn Barnard's Inn is a former Inns of Chancery, Inn of Chancery in Holborn, London. It is now the home of Gresham College, an institution of higher learning established in 1597 that hosts public lectures. Over the centuries, it has served as a sch ...

in 1639. History of Parliament Online - Richard Lloyd
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Political career

In April 1640, Lloyd was elected MP for

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the population ...

in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on 20 February 1640 and sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640. It was so called because of its short session of only three weeks. After 11 years of per ...

. He was attorney-general for North Wales from 1640 to 1647. On the outbreak of the civil war he was commissioner of array for Denbighshire and Radnorshire in 1642 and was knighted on 7 October 1642. From 1642 to 1647 he was colonel of dragoons in the Royalist army. He was governor of

Holt Castle Holt Castle () was a medieval castle in the village of Holt, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. Work began on the castle, which is on the Welsh–English border by the banks of the River Dee, in the 13th century during the Welsh Wars. In the m ...

from 1645 to 1647 and under his command, the castle held out longer than any other garrison except Harlech. He was given very favourable terms on surrender and was allowed to go into exile while his estate was granted to his wife. He settled at Calais and took no part in royalist activities and returned at the Restoration. Lloyd resumed his position as attorney-general for North Wales in July 1660, and remained to 1671. He was chief justice of the Brecon circuit and a J.P. for Breconshire, Caernarvonshire, Denbighshire, Glamorgan and Radnorshire from July 1660 until his death. He was commissioner for assessment for Denbighshire and Caernarvonshire from August 1660 and commissioner for assessment for Glamorgan and Merioneth from 1661 until his death. He was commissioner for assessment for Radnorshire from 1661 to 1663. In 1661, being chief justice of the circuit, he was elected MP for both

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

and

Radnorshire Radnorshire () was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974, later becoming a Districts of Wales, district of Powys from 1974 to 1996. It covered a sparsely populat ...

and chose to sit for Radnorshire in the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. With the exception of the Long Parliament, it was the longest-lasting English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring ...

. He was a

commissioner for loyal and indigent officers The Commissioners for loyal and indigent officers were a body formed by a 1662 act of the Parliament of England (14 Cha. 2. c. 8) to provide relief to impoverished Royalist officers who had served in the English Civil War. After the English Re ...

for Caernarvonshire, Denbighshire, Merioneth and Radnorshire in 1662 and commissioner for assessment for Radnorshire and commissioner for assessment for Breconshire from 1665. He was Deputy Lieutenant for Denbighshire from 1674.

Death

Lloyd died at the age of 70. Lloyd married Margaret Sneyd, daughter of Ralph Sneyd of Keele, Staffordshire on 24 September 1632. He had a son and three daughters.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Richard 1606 births 1676 deaths Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for constituencies in Wales Cavaliers Members of Gray's Inn Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford People from Montgomeryshire Members of the Parliament of England for Newcastle-under-Lyme English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1661–1679 17th-century Welsh judges