Edward Lloyd (publisher)

Edward Lloyd (16 February 1815 – 8 April 1890) was an English publisher.

Early life

Blue Plaque to William Morris and Edward Lloyd on the William Morris gallery in Walthamstow. Behind the Gallery is a park dedicated to LLoyd.

Born in Thornton Heath, Lloyd studied shorthand at the London Mechanics' Institution, then wrote a book on stenography. Before he was eighteen, he had opened shops in London to sell cheap books and valentines.^[1]

Publishing Career

From 1835, he began publishing cheap books, many being plagiarisations of Charles Dickens' work. In 1842 he moved into publishing periodicals, including Lloyd's Penny Weekly Miscellany, Lloyd's Penny Atlas and, most successfully, Lloyd's Illustrated London Newspaper,^[2] which soon became Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper. This was enormously successful, and by 1872 was selling 500,000 copies an issue.^[1]

Lloyd stopped publishing penny dreadfuls, and concentrated with promoting his newspaper as a respectable publication for the literate working class. He founded the Lloyd News, later known as The Sunday News, and also published the Daily Chronicle.^[3] He spent his weeks touring the country, looking for suitable advertising hoardings.

Lloyd set up his own paper mills and printing works in Bow, East London, to publish his newspapers, supplied with esparto grass grown on 100,000 acres (400 km²) of land which he leased in Algeria.^[1] In 1863 Lloyd bought the Sittingbourne Paper Mill.^[4]

In 1876, Lloyd purchased the Clerkenwell News, and transformed it into the Daily Chronicle, increasing circulation from 8,000 to 140,000.^[1] He also installed a new paper making machine, the largest at the time, which is capable of producing 1,300 sq ft of paper per minute. Management of Sittingbourne Mill handed to his son, Frank Lloyd.^[4]

In his spare time, Lloyd was active in Liberal Party politics and was a member of the Reform Club.^[1]

Personal life

He had three sons Arthur, Herbert and Frank, who all lived in Croydon.^[3] After Edwards death, Frank took over the paper making business, making the Sittingbourne paper mill one of the largest in the world in 1910,^[5] and founding the Kemsley Paper Mill in 1924; he died in 1927.^[4]

References