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

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

External links