Histories

Lloyd, Edward III (1711-1770), merchant, planter, and politician, was born 8 May 1711 at Wye House, Talbot County, Maryland, the third child of Major General Edward Lloyd (1671-1719), planter, merchant, and politician, and his wife Sarah Covington (1683-1755), daughter of Nehemiah Covington (?-1713) and Rebecca Denwood. Lloyd had two older and two younger brothers and a younger sister, as well as two half-brothers and one half-sister by his mother's second marriage to James Hollyday (1696-1747).

Lloyd was well-educated, but there is no evidence as to the means of his education. In his own will, written in 1750 when his children were still quite young, he requested that his sons be sent to England at age twelve to study. It is possible, therefore, that he himself received some of his schooling abroad. Lloyd's mother was a Quaker but his Anglican father reared his children in that faith. Lloyd served two terms as vestryman, in 1734 and 1766, for St. Michael's Parish.

Lloyd inherited 1,900 acres of land, mostly in Talbot County, when his father died in 1719 and an additional 1,500 acres with the death of his older brother Philemon in 1729. Over the next twenty years Lloyd continued to augment his estate through patents and purchases, but the most dramatic increase in his wealth came in 1749 with the death of his father's half-brother, Richard Bennett. "Supposed to be the richest man on the Continent," (Maryland Gazette, 8 November 1749), he named Lloyd as his executor and, "as he died without issue. . ., left the Bulk of his Estate to his Executor." Lloyd inherited outright nearly 9,000 acres, as well as controlling another 3,000 acres for his daughter, in addition to substantial personalty. Lloyd acknowledged the generosity of his benefactor by naming his next child Richard Bennett Lloyd.

Talbot voters elected Lloyd as their representative to the lower house for the assemblies of 1738 and 1739-41. Before the 1744 session, he was appointed to the upper house, where he served until 1769. For three decades Lloyd also held a number of important proprietary offices. He served on the governor's council from Feb 1744 until ill health necessitated his resignation in Nov 1769. From Oct 1747 until his resignation in 1766, he was treasurer of the colony's eastern shore, and from Nov 1747 until 1754 he was naval officer for the Oxford (Talbot County) customs district. In Mar 1753 he assumed the post of western shore rent roll keeper, responsible for overseeing collection of proprietary quit rents, a position he occupied until 1768. In Oct 1753 he was sworn in as agent and receiver general for all proprietary revenues, a post he held until 1768. Thus, for a period of about fifteen years he filled simultaneously three of the major offices of profit at the proprietor's disposal.

While Lloyd's tenure was undoubtedly profitable to himself, it was of less benefit to the Lords Baltimore. "A correspondent of the Hanburys of London, and the greatest merchant in the province, Lloyd was too busy to do his job [as agent and receiver general] properly and too important to offend." (Owings, 167) As early as the mid-1750s, his administration of the office was in disarray. The proprietary establishment adopted various measures to improve Lloyd's performance but with little benefit. Lloyd was finally prevailed upon to resign in Mar 1768, although his successor proved to be even less effective.

Lloyd's mercantile business operated as a partnership between himself, his brother Richard, and his brother-in-law William Anderson, a London merchant. The firm's ships traded cargoes of Maryland tobacco, wheat, and meat to England, the West Indies, and New England. In addition to stores on the Eastern Shore, Lloyd also operated grist and fulling mills in nearby Queen Anne's County.

Edward Lloyd married Anne Rousby (1721-1769), the daughter of John Rousby (1685-1744) and his second wife, on 26 Mar 1739. The couple had two sons and two daughters, three of whom survived to adulthood.

Lloyd died at Wye House on 27 January 1770 and is buried in the family graveyard. His estate included c. 43,000 acres of land in five counties; £23,000 current money in personal property; £8,000 sterling and 33,000 pounds of tobacco in the hands of London merchants; and £17,500 sterling, £12,000 current money, and 12,000 pounds of tobacco in debts receivable. While Lloyd may not have managed the affairs of the proprietor with diligence, it was during his lifetime that his family became preeminent in wealth and power among the Eastern Shore gentry.