The Music Hall and Theatre History Website

Homepage - Index - Contact -

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Horatio Lloyd, son of Robert and Elizabeth Lloyd, father of Arthur Lloyd, was born on the 9th of November 1807, although according to his autobiography 'Life of an Actor', he states that he was born at twelve o'clock on 9th November, 1815 (See note below). Horatio was born at 71 The Strand, London where his father lived and worked as a Hatter.

Right - Horatio, billed as Frederick, and his wife at the Theatre Royal Sunderland - Click to Enlarge. The poster is from a large collection of original Lloyd Posters collected since the mid 1800s by members of the family and found recently after being lost for 50 years. To see all these posters see the Poster Index here...

Horatio Lloyd was to become a well respected and well known actor and comedian in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland. He was married in 1830 to Eliza Horncastle,who was a member of the celebrated Pyne and Harrison opera company, and they had 13 children, the 9th of which was Arthur Lloyd, the famous music hall comedian.

Left - Horatio Lloyd's Newhaven Fishwife, as sung at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh. - Click to Enlarge.

Horatio was a great friend of Thomas Rice, of 'Jim Crow' fame, who became Arthur Lloyd's Godfather and Arthur was named Arthur Rice Lloyd in consequence.

Right - Horatio Lloyd - Image from an article in The Bailie, 1876, - Click to see article - Courtesy James Francis.

In 1859 Horatio Lloyd was principal comedian at the Theatre Royal Dunlop Street.

Horatio Lloyd's Theatre Royal was in Dunlop Street, Glasgow. The theatre was built in 1782 and extensively refurbished in 1829 and 1839. A fire in 1863 gutted the theatre but the facade with the statues of Shakespeare and Alexander was left intact. The fire took place on January 31st, (just a week after the Bill - shown right.) The Theatre reopened on December 16th with a production of Guy Mannering. (H.F.Lloyd and Mr Robert Lloyd appeared in the afterpiece. The Theatre Royal was finally demolished in 1879. See the Theatre Royal Dunlop Street page for more information about this theatre.

Horatio Lloyd was there in Alexander's Company from 1830-1832 and again when Edmund Glover took over management in 1851 or 1852. He had moved to Glasgow when Glover became the first Business manager of Prince's Theatre Royal in 1849; HF became Principal Comedian and Acting Manager. He appeared at the Theatre Royal in the farce: ‘Too Late for Dinner’ with Edmund Kean in 1830.

(Some of the above information comes from H.F. Lloyd's slim volume "Life of an Actor", where he also states that he introduced his sons Arthur and Frederick on stage in 1856. I am very grateful to Adam McNaughtan for most of the above information.)

Left - A Bill for Blue Beard at the Theatre Royal, Dunlop Street, Glasgow - Thursday Jan 22nd 1863 - With Horatio Lloyd on the Bill - Courtesy Adam McNaughtan. Click to enlarge detail.

Note that there is still a Theatre Royal in Hope Street, Glasgow which was built in 1867 as the Coliseum and then renamed in 1869. The present theatre has a web site which you may like to visit.

'January 23rd 1859 - "Mr. Lloyd has returned for a short time & provoked hearty mirth as John Buttercup in 'A Phenomenon in a frockcoat" which preceded the pantomime.'

Horatio Lloyd also appeared in Arthur Lloyd's 'Two hours genuine fun' and writes about his experience on one date in Cambridge here.

On the 25th of May, 1889, not long before Horatio died, a notice in the Chiel reported on a benefit held for him saying: 'Mr H. F. Lloyd on Thursday night took a handsome benefit and his farewell of the stage at the Theatre Royal. The house was absolutely packed from floor to ceiling, and the merry masons gathered in great force. In more ways than one the function was an impressive and touching one.With Mr Lloyd’s retiral, practically the last link is snapped between the old Glasgow stage traditions and the new. His son, Mr Arthur Lloyd, - who is better known to us latter-day boys - took an eager part in all the outside arrangements, and besides this, the following ladies and gentlemen appeared to do the old man honour – Mrs Arthur Lloyd, Miss Agnes Barr, Messrs W.S. Vallance, John Rodgers, Richard Waldon, Walter Bentley, H. Cecil Beryl, A. Young Ritchie, Frank Sephton, the Members of the 1st L.R.V. Amateur dramatic Society, and Mr De la Rue Lloyd.

Right - A sketch of Horatio Lloyd - From the article in the Chile, 25th of May, 1889 - Courtesy Adam McNaughtan.

NO ONE WILL BEGRUDGE THE OLD AND WORTHY MAN HIS BENEFIT, least of all the Chiel, who from the initiation of the movement supported it. But personally I hold very strong opinions about the annuity. Why two capable and well-to-do sons should ask the public to relieve them of their legal liability to keep their aged parent is one of those things I do not understand. This action was, to say the least of it, in bad taste. Had Mr H. F. Lloyd been alone in the world the matter would have been very different.'

The above text in quotes was first published in The Chiel, 25 May, 1889 - Courtesy Adam McNaughtan.

Horatio Lloyd died in Glasgow at 4am on the 29th November 1889 from, according to his death certificate, Hemiplegia, which is usually brought on by a Stroke.

Left - Click to read Horatio's Lloyd's Obituary.

Above - A detail from the Bill shown on higher up on this page, for Blue Beard at the Theatre Royal, Dunlop Street, Glasgow - Thursday Jan 22nd 1863 - With Horatio Lloyd on the Bill - Courtesy Adam McNaughtan.

Please note that in several articles on this site Horatio's birth is stated variously as 1805, 1808, 1809 and 1815. The correct date is the 9th of November 1807. I have details of his Christening at St. Sepulchre, Newgate, London on the 25th December 1807 with his brother George Thomas Lloyd which states his date of birth as 1807.

You may also be interested in reading:

Horatio Lloyd's Autobiography - An article on Horatio in The Bailie 1876 - Horatio Lloyd's Obituaries