Samuel Jones-Loyd, 1st Baron Overstone (25 September 1796 – 17 November 1883) was a British banker and politician.
Background and education
Loyd was the only son of the Rev. Lewis Loyd and Sarah, daughter of John Jones, a
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
banker.
He was educated at
Eton and
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
.
Banking
Loyd's father had given up the ministry to take a partnership in his father-in-law's bank and became the founder of the London branch of Jones, Loyd & Co. Loyd joined his father's bank, and took control of the bank after his father retired in 1844. On his father's death in 1858 Loyd inherited an estate worth
£ 2 million. In 1864 the bank became incorporated with the
London and Westminster Bank.
Political career
Loyd sat in parliament as
Whig member for
Hythe from 1819 to 1826,
and unsuccessfully contested
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
in 1832. As early as 1832 he was recognized as one of the foremost authorities on banking, and he enjoyed much influence with successive ministries and
chancellors of the exchequer
The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...
. Loyd is considered one of the great figures in British monetary history, particularly with respect to the
Bank Charter Act 1844. He was also opposed to
limited liability
Limited liability is a legal status in which a person's financial Legal liability, liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a corporation, company, or joint venture. If a company that provides limi ...
and the introduction of a
decimal currency. In 1850 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Overstone, of Overstone and of Fotheringhay, both in the County of Northampton. Lord Overstone was a member of
The Club (Literary Club) and the
Political Economy Club and served as
High Sheriff of Warwickshire in 1838 and as
President of the Royal Statistical Society from 1851 to 1853. In 1847 and 1848, he served on the committee of the
British Relief Association, which raised almost half a million pounds on behalf of the famine victims in Ireland. (see, Christine Kinealy, Charity and the Great Hunger. The Kindness of Strangers'. Bloomsbury, 2013)
Family
Lord Overstone married Harriet, daughter of Ichabod Wright, in 1829. They had one son, who died as an infant, and a daughter.
His seat was
Overstone House,
Overstone,
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...
built in 1862–4 to a design by
William Milford Teulon, brother of the more eminent - and notorious 'Rogue' - Victorian architect
Samuel Sanders Teulon. Lady Overstone died on 6 November 1864. Overstone remained a widower until his death on 17 November 1883, aged 87. The barony died with him as he had no surviving male issue. His will was proven on 31 December at £2,118,803 17s. 5d. (roughly equivalent to £ in ).
The majority of Overstone's fortune was passed on to his daughter,
Harriet. She was the wife of
Robert Lindsay, who
assumed the additional surname of Loyd and was created Baron Wantage in 1885. Overstone's relative
Lewis Vivian Loyd, the son of his second cousin William Jones Loyd,
[Alwyne E Loyd (December 1990)]
Lloyd and Loyd 1690-1990
Cil-y-cwm history and heritage. via archive.org inherited part of the estate, including the manor of
Withybrook, Wolvey, Warwickshire.
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
*
*
The Overstone Papers in Senate House Library, University of London* http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cats/14/2017.htm
* http://www.berkshirehistory.com/bios/rjllinsay.html
* http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~villages/berks/ardington_lockinge.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Overstone, Samuel Jones-Loyd, 1st Baron
1796 births
1883 deaths
People educated at Eton College
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
Loyd
Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
High sheriffs of Warwickshire
Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society
Loyd
UK MPs 1818–1820
UK MPs 1820–1826
UK MPs who were granted peerages
Sheriffs of Warwickshire
Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria