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________________________________________________________________________________________ Robert Lloyd
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Robert Lloyd was born on the 20th of March 1778 in Salop, Oswestry, Shropshire, England. His parents were Edward Lloyd and Elizabeth Lewis, who were married in 1770, also in Oswestry, Shropshire. Robert was the fifth of six children and, according to his son Horatio Lloyd, (the respected and much loved actor and comedian), in his autobiography, due to some family misunderstanding Robert ran away from a home when a mere lad and, 'Finding his way to London, he there got into business, and there settled down until retiring for good and all to Chertsy.' Robert would later marry Elizabeth Gill whose family were all in the Navy. Her sister, Jane Gill, was the wife of Charles Jeffreys, whose career as a Navy Captain and Author is well documented. He was the Captain of the Kangaroo which carried prisoners to Van Diemen's Land in 1814, and later the Captain of the Saracen which arrived in Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land on the 24th of April 1820. Robert Lloyd's Son George Lloyd was also on board the Saracen for this journey and went on to write 'Thirty Three Years in Tasmania and Victoria, which was published in 1862. |
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Above - The Strand in 2003 - The new building on the right stands roughly on the site of the Tivoli Theatre, and also on the site of 71 The Strand where Robert Lloyd's Hatters Shop was situated, and also where his son Horatio Lloyd (Arthur Lloyd's Father) was born in 1807.
Left - One of the engravings from Robert Lloyd's 'Treatise on Hats' which is of a hat called 'The New Dash.' On Sunday June the 29th 1823 an advertisement appeared in 'Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle,' stating: 'Lloyd's New Invented Double Covered Beaver Hats in 1000 different shapes and sizes, completely Water-proof, Oval, and of the most admirable beauty and texture; price only 27s. decidedly the best that ever were, or can be, manufactured, and will positively last longer than two sold under this price. For style durability, and comfort in wearing they are unrivaled. To be had only of the manufacturers R. and H. Lloyd, 71, Strand, and 92, Newgate Street, Inventors of Fashions to the whole Trade. No discount or Credit. N. B. Silk Hats particularly short and thick of nap, only 18s, warranted Waterproof. All letters to be post paid.'
This advertisement is interesting in two ways, one because it mentions R. and H. Lloyd, the R. Lloyd is obviously Robert, but the only H. Lloyd in the family at that time was his son Horatio who would have been a young man of just 16. Was Robert trying to involve his son in his profession? If he was then he was to be disappointed as Horatio was soon to join the acting profession instead. The other reason the advertisement is interesting is that it mentions the pair had another shop at 92, Newgate Street which I have since discovered mention of in several publications. In 1794 there was a Hosier named Thomas Gubbins occupying the shop. In 1808 a Glover named John Briginsham occupied the premises. In 1811 there was a James Starton at 92 Newgate Street, who was a cutler. By 1822 the Records of the Sun Fire Office have the property insured for a William Ellerby of Ave Maria Lane who was a wholesale sheffield warehouseman, but the property itself was occupied by Robert Lloyd, Hatter. By 1833 a Frederick Sandon, a Druggist, occupied the property so it seems that Robert only had the property for a maximum of 10 years. Anyway, a few years later in 1830, Robert had another book on Hat Making published called : 'Dissertatio Castorum, Or Prosaic and Versified Delineations of the Style, Character, and Properties of Lloyd's Incomparable Beaver Hats: Shewing the Manner in which They Should be Worn, the Sort of Face and Person Best Suited to Each Particular Shape, and the Many Rare Virtues'
Two years earlier, in 1824, the same pair had been granted a Patent for their 'Hat upon a new Construction.' Again this was published in a great many places, one of which was the 'Journal of the Franklin Institute' whose article about it can be seen below. |
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To ROBERT LLOYD, Hatter, and JAMES ROWBOTHAM, Hat Manufacturer, for a Hat upon a new Construction. Dated February 19, 1824.
The plan or construction of Lloyd and Rowbotham's hats, which is entirely new and their own sole invention, and for which they have obtained his majesty's letters patent, is as follows: — First, this hat is made, or will be made or manufactured, either wholly
or by mixtures of hair, wool, silk, cotton, fur, leather, flax, hemp,
straw, or any other materials or material not prohibited by law, nor
protected by any patent right vested in other persons; they will also
be made from silk, or cotton velvet, superfine or other woollen or linen
cloths. Second, the peculiar construction of this hat, and wherein it
differs from all hitherto manufactured, is, that the crown is made to
rise and fall, so as to assume different heights, and the way it is
done, is, that one part of the crown is made to retire, fold, or shut
within the other, by which operation the middle part of the crown is
wholly taken up, retiring within itself, somewhat like a telescope:
thus it is, that the same hat may be worn as a high crown or a low crown,
and in the latter case the folding or spare part is taken up, so as
to be completely out of sight; it is this peculiar way of folding, which
is entirely new, that the patentees, Lloyd and Rowbotham, claim as their
invention. Third, although the materials with which these hats are or
may be made, will generally be put together or manufactured in the usual
manner of hat making, there is one way or method which the patentees
have adopted, and which they believe never has been done by any other
person, viz. instead of making the body of the hat, or the hat altogether
in one piece, they have done, and will, for greater facility, cut out
two or more flat pieces of felted cloth, woven cloth, woven fur or furs,
or any other material or substance, and sew or join them together; in
or from which state, the said joined pieces may be strained or blocked
to the shape wanted. Fourth, for the purpose of raising and lowering,
or folding and supporting the crowns of Lloyd and Rowbotham's new invented
hats, they will use the various apparatus herein described and numbered,
1, 2, 3, and 4, viz. No. 1, or diamond jointed prop: this is made of
metal, bone, or wood, and (see margin) the centre or extremes of each
diamond, by working on a pin or pivot, is capable of being drawn out
to any given length, and again shut up or No. 2, or corkscrew joint, is a piece of metal wire, bone, or wood, (see margin,) bent, so that the two ends meet; between those ends is placed a small roller, of metal or hard substance, with teeth, or indented: this roller is placed between the ends of the bent wire by a pin, so that it may work round, and the teeth or indenture act as stops, to keep it in the situation required, the whole acting upon the principle of a corkscrew, to each end of which is fastened a small piece of wire or other hard substance, and may be called arms, one end of which will be attached to the inside of the crown, at the top, and the other end near the band. Of these joints there will be one or more to each hat, and the roller joint will allow the crown to be put up or down as wanted. No. 3, or hoop, is a hoop of a metal or other hard substance, to which is fixed two or more metal wires, wood, or bone uprights; the hoop to be nearest the top of the crown, and passing through several eyes or loops; and the other ends of the uprights to be fastened near the band of the hat. At each end of those uprights will be a moving joint and swivel, so that each will have two distinct motions with this apparatus, fixed inside the hat; the crown, on being pressed down, forces the hoop to slide partly round through the eyes or loops, until the crown is pressed down to the depth wanted, the uprights falling also, and one over the other; but when the crown is wanted to be raised, the uprights or props assume a perpendicular state, when a small spring hasp in the hoop will keep the crown from falling down.
We are at a loss to discover any utility, or even any thing rational, in this description of a "hat on a new construction:" — if, indeed, among the other variations of fashion, we were condemned to wear our hats a yard or two in length, and to encumber our heads with a few pounds of metal springs, this valuable invention might obtain some repute: it was probably in anticipation of such an event that Messrs. Lloyd and Rowbotham obtained their patent. We should have refrained from publishing this specification, had we not had several inquiries respecting the nature of the patents obtained by Mr. Lloyd ; the former is inserted in our 8th vol. p. 660, present series. |
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As you can see from the above publication, the
Franklin Institute were not that impressed with this patent but I doubt
it did Robert any harm. Another publication, The
Register of the Arts and Science, in 1825
was more impressed saying: 'MR. Robert Lloyd, of the Strand, in "conjunction
with Mr. James Rowbotham, of Blackfriars Road, have taken out a patent
for a hat upon a new construction. The object of the invention seems
to be to supercede the necessity of the dress or cocked hats in crowded
assemblies, being made like them to fold up and wear under the arm.
For this purpose they are constructed on the principle of the telescope;
that is to say, they are composed of a series of short cylinders which
slide one within another, and thus enables the wearers to contract or
expand them at pleasure. This property likewise is found to be of advantage
in wearing them in a carriage, as the height of the crown may be accommodated
to the roof of the vehicle. The means by which the patentees propose
to give a hat these desirable qualities are various, but none of them
are very clearly explained in the Specification.' Despite the mixed reviews for this invention, in 1827
Robert was presented with a Silver Medal for his new invention of 'Sheet
Cork,' here published in the 'Transactions
of the Society Instituted at London for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures,
and Commerce,' By Royal Society of Arts (Great Britain)
MANUFACTURES. No. I. The SILVER Isis MEDAL was presented to Mr. R. LLOYD,
THE only use to which sheet cork has hitherto been applied by Mr. Lloyd is in his business, which is that of a hat manufacturer, for the purpose of giving to hats their requisite shape and stiffness. There are, however, several other uses to which cork is applied, such as for the internal sole of shoes, and for lining the drawers and boxes of entomological cabinets. For these, and other similar purposes, Mr. Lloyd's sheet cork, which is very compact, even, and may be had almost of any thickness, down to the thirty-second of an inch, is excellently adapted . The cork, in its raw state, is first brought to a smooth surface by shaving and rasping; it then is pressed between hot plates ; and, finally, is subjected to the action of a strong press for a day or two. By this process the cork becomes more compact and even, and is then ready to be split. The instrument employed for this latter purpose is similar to that used for splitting skins, with the addition of a flat carriage, by which the cork is brought under the action of the knife. |
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I have yet to discover when Robert retired, and when he and his wife left their shop and home at 71, The Strand but if he retired at 65 then it would have been in 1843 which ties in nicely with the 1851 Census which states that Robert was by then living in Surrey, England. This was probably in Chertsy, which his son Horatio mentions in his autobiography. The following decade, at the time of the 1861 Census, Robert and his wife were said to have been living at 46 Milton Street, Gravesend, and his occupation is stated as being a retired Hat Maker. It also mentions that by then he was deaf. So far I haven't found out when Robert died but he would have been 83 at the time of the 1861 Census, so he certainly had a long and productive life. He and his wife had seven children, one of whom was Horatio Lloyd, the respected and much loved actor and comedian, and father of the celebrated Music Hall artiste Arthur Lloyd, and another was George Lloyd who would go on to write the book 'Thirty Three Years in Tasmania and Victoria. There's one more interesting thing to say about Robert Lloyd's career and that is that he seems also to have been published under the pseudonym of Jonathan Castor at least once. If you have any more information on this I would be pleased to hear from you. This brief biography of Robert Lloyd was first compiled in 2008 by Matthew Lloyd, Robert's GGG Grandson and the creator of this Website. I am indebted to Imants von Wenden, Secretary of The Eccentric Club (UK), for much of the information on this page about Robert Lloyd. If you have any information about the lost records of the club or would just like to find out more about it you should visit the Website of the Eccentric Club here.. |
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Robert
lived in, and traded from, premises at No. 71 
Robert
Lloyd appears to have been a very successful Hatter and was the author
of a number of published books on the subject including several editions
called '
Robert
also filed a number of successful Patents concerned with his hat making.
Patents in those days were published in a great many Journals and Magazines
to get the widest exposure, one of these publications was the 
I,
THE said Robert Lloyd, do hereby declare, that the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in the following description thereof, (that
is to say: — ) 
compressed
into a smaller compass or space, so as to allow the crown of the hat
to rise and fall, from its greatest to its lesser height.' Those diamond
joints will be fixed inside the crown of the hat, to prop or support
the same, and to each hat will be attached one, two, or more, as may
be required; although it is intended, that every prop on this plan shall
have three diamond joints, yet a lesser or a greater number may be used;
one end of this prop will be fastened to the top of the crown, inside,
and the other end at or near the band. 
No.
4, or telescope sliding joint. This joint or prop is made of metal,
bone, wood, or any other hard substance, in the following manner: two
or several pieces are made with sliding grooves, so that one joint or
piece may be pulled out over the other to any given length, and each
joint will fasten with a snap, spring, or catch; one, two, or more of
these being fixed inside the hat, and fastened to the top and bottom
of the crown, will allow it to be compressed and raised as required.
There are many other methods by which these hats may be supported and
worked up and down, and of which the patentees mean to avail themselves;
such, for instance, as a spiral spring or springs; one or more straight
pieces of metal, bone, or wood, to take out and fix in as required,
without or with, joints or springs, to allow of the crown of the hat
being raised or shut down at pleasure or for convenience. The patentees,
for the support and folding of these hats, mean also to use two or more
pieces of wire, bone, or wood, placed in a transverse direction, so
that one-half being made to pass through or turn within the other, will
force the crown up and let it down as required, for convenience, or
as fancy may direct: in short, this hat is to be folded down and raised
in the crown by means of a spring or springs, prop or props, made of
bone, wood, steel, iron, brass, or other metal or metals, which are
to work or turn on a pivot or pivots, hinge or hinges, sliding groove
or grooves, pin or pins, screw or screws, joint or joints. 
PAPERS