[From the Journal of the Architectural, Archaeological and Historic Society for the County and the City of Chester and North Wales - New Series Vol X. pp 86-100 1904]

GEORGE LLOYD, BISHOP OF CHESTER 1605-1616

By THE REV. F. SANDERS, MA, FSA

(Read 24th February, 1903)

GEORGE LLOYD was the sixth of the seven sons of Meredith ap John of Llanelian-yn-Rhos, in Denbighshire. LJanelian is a village 5.5 miles south-east of Conway, and is celebrated for an old Parish Church and a Cursing Well. The family of Lloyd claimed to be of high antiqui quity. Meredith Lloyd deduced his descent from Griffith, youngest son of the celebrated Ednyfed Vychan, the trusted counsellor of Llewelyn ap Iorweth, who played a conspicuous part 1n the negotiations between England and Wales in the time of Henry III. In legendary history Ednyfed is very famous, and stories are told how he slew three English chiefs in a hard fight, and was, consequently, allowed by Llewelyn to bear as his arms "three Englishmen's heads couped." He is still more famous with the genealogists. Himself of noble descent, he became the ancestor of many leading Welsh families, and among them of the house of Tudor. The frst wife of Ednyfed was Gwenllian, daughter of Rhys, ap Griffith, Prince of South Wales, and, it was from this marriage that the Lloyds boasted thelr origin. They, therefore, belonged to one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales, which play so important a part in Cambrian genealogies. The wife of Meredith was Janet, daughter of Hugh Conway, whose pedigree was as long as that of her husband.

On the death of Meredith Lloyd, his eldest son Rowland succeeded to the family estate, his younger prothers having been scattered abroad to seek their livelihood. At that period it was not thought derogatory for the younger sons of gentle families to be apprenticed to trades. Accordingly, we find the second, third, and fourth brothers, David, Morgan, and Edward, embarked in commercial careers. David prospered and became Mayor of Chester in 1593. He married, first, Alice daughter of Adam Goodman, of Chester ; and second, Alice ¹ daughter of Richard Bavand, Alderman of Chester. The next brother, Morgan, seems also to have been successful, at any rate he became Mayor of Beaumaris; Edward, the fourth brother, a mercer in this city, was drowned, leaving no issue. The fifth brother, William, lived abroad; he may have been the wild adventurous member of what was evidently a steady family. Of the youngest brother, John, I can find no particulars. The subject of this Paper was born in ot about 1560, almost at the beginning of Elizabeth's reign. He is said to have received his early education in Wales, and then to have proceeded to Cambridge: but an important step in his educational progress has been omitted. From June 1575, to September 1579, he was a King's Scholar at Chester, It is easy to imagine how he came to our city. His brother David was getting on in business and rapidly risng in importance in the place. The young George is developing scholarly tastes; the church may surely claim one brother out of seven. And so the future Bishop is packed off to Chester, finds a home in his brother's house, and receives his erudition in the school attached to the Cathedral, in which he was afterwards to be enthroned.

Lloyd proceeded from Chester to Cambridge, where he matriculated at Jesus College, 1st October, 1579. His surname appears in the University Register as Floyd or Fludd. He took his B.A. degree in 1582, and his M.A. in 1585, as a Fellow of Magdalene. He was, no doubt, ordained before the latter date, but he did not become a B.D. till 1593.

It is not surprising that, on leaving Cambridge, Lloyd soon found his way back to Chester, where his family influence could stand him in good stead. Anyhow, he obtained the position of Divinity Lecturer in the Cathedral (an office created in 1582, when Queen Elizabeth succeeded in wresting £150 a year from the spoilers of the Dean and Chapter, and restored it to its proper owners)- The Divinity Lecturer was bound to give two prelections weekly, for which he received a stipend of £40. The date of Lloyd's appointment to this position does not seem to be known , but I strongly suspect that it was in 1594 in succession to the Rev. Thomas Hutchins. A very interesting note on the death of Mr. Hutchins, and the application of Mr. Christopher Harvey for the vacant post, was written by the late Mr. J. P. Earwaker, and will be found in No. 1 of the Second Series of the Cheshire Sheaf: Lloyd probably held the Divinity Lectureship for some years.

According to Tanner, Lloyd was presented, in 1596 to the Rectory of lianrwst, by Lord Keeper Egerton. During what years he held this living, I do not know.

In 1597 he was appointed Rector of Heswall, and he appears, from certain entries in the Registers of that parish, to have resided there some years : "9 October, 1599. John Lloyd, filius Docter Lloid (baptised). 1 May, 1604. Edward Loid (baptised)."' 19 June, 1607. Henrye lloid, sonne to the Right Reverend Father in God George Byshope of Cester (buried),"

The last entry seems to show that Lloyd retained the Rectory of Heswall in commendam with his Bishopric.

In some books Lloyd is said to have been presented with the Rectory of Halsall, in Lancashire, about this time. I suspect that Halsall is a mistake for Heswall.

On the death of John Meyrick (another Welshman) Doctor Lloyd (he became a Doctor of Divinity in 1598)was as chosen to succeed him as Bishop of Sodor and Man. He was, presumably, nominated by William, Earl of Derby (the Lord of Man), who was, I think, closely connected with Chester. But the State papers make no mention of the Earl's nomination, and are so worded as to convey the impression that the Queen herself presented Lloyd to the Bishopric. If this were the case, it looks like a decided encroachment on the Earl's rights, as the original grant of the island to Sir John Stanley conveys the patronage of the See absolutely, without any mention even of approval by the Crown of England. ^fpc Elizabeth's presentation was accompanied by a request to the Archbishop of York to confirm and consecrate the Bishop-designate.

A curious letter from Lloyd to the Archbishop, on the subject of his Consecration, is found in Archbishop Hutton's Correspondence :—

My moste humble dutie remembred unto your Grace. My verie good Lord, the Bishopricke of Manne being bestowed by her Highness' gracious favor upon me, though Unworthie, I had in purpnse, according?e to my dutie, to have attended your Grace upon this occasion; but fyndinge my bodye weake by reason of my late travill from London. and my purse emptyed with long sute there, I was told by this messemger to acquaint your Grace therewith. and to understand by him your pleasure for my consecration, according to the teanor of my letters patents ; wherein, as my very good Lord, the Bishop of Chester, ² hathe by his letters solicited your Grace for your honourable favor and respect of my poore estate so you may humblie pray your Grace that you wold be pleased to give me as mach ease, both for travill and expence, as you may considering the smallness of the Bishopricke, and tyme of the yeare umpleasante for me and moste of all for all for my Lords, the Bishops of the province to attend you for this necessary ymploymest. In which respects My most humble request that your Grace will be pleased to grant your commission to my Lord of Chester, to authorise him to joyne with twoe other Bishopps near unto him (of whose voluntary readiness I doubt not) for the performinge of this action. And so recommendinge myself now and alwaies to your Grace's good favor and honorable supporte in that poor place, wishinge your Grace's long continewance in all health and happyness, I humblie take my leave. Chester, this iiijth of January. 1599. ³

Your Grace's in all humility to command, GEORG. FLOYD.

To the moste Rev. Father in God, my verie good Lord, the Lord Archbishop of York, his Grace, give these."

The result of Lioyd's request is unknown, as the records of his comsecration are missing. He was probably, consecrated im the spring of 1600, and at Chester. If so, we see another special reason for his name being remembered in Chester. It is useles to speculate as to the two Bishops who joined with Vaughan in hallowing him. Proximity suggests the two North Wales prelates, Hughes of St Asaph and Rowlands of Bangor. If so, consecrators and consectated were all alike Welshmen.

Lloyd would, naturally, at once proceed from the port of Chester to his island bishopric, to be enthroned in the Cathedral of St German which was not yet in ruins. But the pastoral oversight of the See of Man was no enviable post in the 17th century, and none of Wilson's predecessors seem to have been sharers of his devoted spirit. The island was spoken of as "a place of banishment"; "a melancholy retreat"; "a Patmos" - "a disconsolate residence." The episcopal income moreover, was miserably inadequate. It was, therefore, customary for the Bishops to spend most of their time in England, often rendering help to some infirm or overworked brother there. Meyrick, Lloyd's predsessor, writing to Burghley in 1599, says -

"I came the last summer to Wales: having been the year fore in Man. as I am commonly between both, not of my own choice or will; but things are so. Neither hath any Bishop, my predecessor, been otherwise this hundred years. My living is but 80lb., wherewith I travail by sea and by land."

The only trace of Bishop Lloyd in the ecclesiastical records of Man is that he presided in 1603 at a Consistory Court, when several offenders against the spiritual law received punishment. He was, doubtless, glad when in 1604, on the translation of Bishop Vaughan to London, James I. nominated him to succeed that prelate at Chester.

The congé d'élire for Lloyd's election is dated 18th December, 1604, and the Royal assent was given 5th January, 1605. He was confirmed on the 14th of the same month, and paid his First Fruits on 30th September.

Lloyd had not been long at Chester when his eldest brother, Rowland, died early in 1606. He was buried in the Cathedral

In the first year of Lloyd's rule at Chester the whole country was thrown into a state of wild excitement by the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, This led to a renewed and strict enforcement of all the laws against Popish recusants. Through the indiscreet zeal of a few fanatics the whole body of loyal Roman Catholics cruelly suffered. Heavy fines were levied upon them. They were forbidden either to educate their children at home, or to send them to any foreign school. Their houses were liable to visitations by the officers of the law, and their goods and books to confiscation. Yet, as is invariably the case, all this persecution failed to bring about the desired result. The Romanists of Lancashire and Cheshire remained unshaken in their old beliefs.

References to the dealings of Lloyd with some of the Roman Catholics of his Diocese are found in the following State Papers.

In a letter from the Council to Lloyd, dated 24th October, 1608, with respect to his stay of proceedings against the recusants, the Bishop is informed that the King does not wish these proceedings to be stopped altogether, but to be used with moderation, and only against obstinate persons.

In a letter dated 20th November, 1613, it is mentioned that the Bishop of Chester has sealed up and inventoried the goods of Anderton, a deceased recusant; but that his goods cannot lawfully be sequestered before conviction. A later paper gives an inventory of these books.

In April 1615, only a few months before his death, the Bishop enquires how he is to proceed with certain Roman Catholics who refuse to be bound for the revocation of their children from foreign seminaries.

Towards the Puritans, who were daily growing in power, the Bishop acted with great mildness, and his dealings with them were afterwards contrasted with the more vigorous conduct of his successors, Morton and Bridgeman. He suffered Nicholas Byfield, a powerful Puritan preacher and writer, to remain several years at St. Peter's Chester ; and the Nonconformist Clergymen were allowed to preach without molestation. It must be rembered however, that the word Nonconformist did not at that time mean Dissenter. A Nonconformist was a member of the Church who refused to conform to certain ceremonies prescribed by the Prayer Book, principally the use of the surplice; the sign of the cross after Baptism and kneeling at the reception of Holy Communion. They were, therefore, quite distinct from the Separatists, as Dissenters were then called.

In 1606 Lloyd was obliged to interfere in an unseemly quarrel which broke out between the Cathedral and Civic authorities, with respect to certain rights claimed by the latter. A full account of this quarrel will be found in a Paper read before your Society by the late Mr. T. Hughes, in 1874, entitled, "The City against the Abbey; Disputes between the Corporation and Cathedral authorities of Chester." This Paper appears in Vol. III. of the Journal (Old Series). It will suffice to say here that it had been the ancient custom of the Mayor and Corporation to attend Divine Service at the Cathedral] on certain days with the City Sword erect, point upwards, in front of the Mayor; a right of entrance by the west door was, moreover, claimed. On 13th January, 1606, on the ocassion of a visit of the Mayor and Corporation, one of the Prebendaries, Peter Sharp, "put down" the sword ; and ; on the Feast of the Purification, in 1607, another amed Roger Ravenscroft, shut the West door. The Civic authorities, hereupon, sent a protest to the Lord Chancellor, who, in due course, sent two judges to Chester to investigate the matter. By their award the claims of the Corporation were maintained. In this award occurs the following passage :— :

"And wee have alsoe seene and perused an order made in the said Cause, sithence the said swoords put down and church doore shut, as aforesaid, by the right Rev'ende father in god, GEORGE, lo Bushoppe of CHESTER, and others the King's Ma'ties Commissioners in Causes Ecces'iall appeasing of the said controu'sies, to p'vente further troubles, disorders, and breaches of the peace, in or towchinge the said Cause.

"Therefore, and to that ende that unitie, love, and peace betweene the said Maior and Cittizens, Prebendaries, and others the members of the said Church, maie be kept and p'served, and that all occasions of further disturbance, or misdemenor to be hereafter attempted or Committed maie be staied and p'vented for the tyme to come, We doe order that the said Maior and citizens, and their successors at all times hereafter, shall freelie and quietlie passe and repasee and goe through the said great west church doore into the said Church, at the tyme of anie funerall or attendance upon anie dead corps to be buried in the same church.

"And we doe furthermore strictly order that when, and as often as, the Maior of the same citie for the tyme beinge shall hereafter repaier to the said Church for the heringe of divine Service or Sermon, or upon anie other juste occasion, havinge his Swoorde carried before him in the said church or p'cintes or lib'ties of the same, That then and soe often, neither the said Prebendaries, nor anie other officer or Minister of the said Church shall by themselves or ame other by themselves or anie other by their or anie of their means, Concente, p'curement, stoppe, staie, or hinder the said Maior, or his swoorde-bearer, or either of them in or for the carryinge up of the said swoorde, in the said Church at anie tyme hereafter: but shall p' mitte and Suffeir the said Maier and swoord-bearer quietlie to carrie the swoorde of the said Citie, with the pointe upp, in the said Church, as heretofore hath been used and accustomed, &c. &c."

Among the Harleian MSS, is a document, dated 1608, which refers to a tax falling exclusively on the Clergy.

As they were exempted by their sacred calling from bbearing arms in time of danger, they were required to furnish, in lieu of personal Service, the whole or part of the equipment of a soldier. In the year in question, when insurection prevailed among the people, to prevent the country from being depopulated by letting land go out of tillage into pasturage, a rate was imposed by Lloyd upon his Clergy in Cheshire and Lancashire. The poorer incumbents were only called upon to furnish a caliver, or a musket "furnished": but holders of rich benefices had larger demands made upon them. Thus the Rector of Wigan had to supply "a light horse furnished "; and his brother of Halsall "a corslett furnished."

There is an interesting contemporary notice of the Bishop in a work of Sir John Harington, who under took some part of the education of Henry Prince of Wales, eldest son of James I. By way of instructing his pupil in his future duties, and counteracting the influence of the Puritans on his mind, Harington recommended to him the work of Bishop Godwin, "De Praesulibus Angliae," which had been published in 1601 : and, to make it more interesting, he appended to it some remarks of his own upon the characters of the Elizabethan Bishops. This document is full of gossip, and contains many good stories and much shrewd observation. It was written for the private use of the Prince, and was not printed till more than forty years after the Writer's death, when it was brought out in 1653, by his grandson John Chetwind, under the title :— "A briefe vie of the State of the Church of England, as it stood in Q. Elizabeth's and King James his Reigne, to the yeere 1608, being a Character and History of the Bishops of these times. And may serve as an additional supply to Doctor Godwin's Catalogue of Bishops, Written for the private use of Prince Henry, upon occasion of that Proverb - Henry the Eighth pulled down Monks and their Cells, Henry the Nenth should pull down Bishops and their Bells ; by Sir John Harrington, of Kelston, neer Bath, Knight London : Printed for Jos. Kirton, at the King's Arms in Paul's Churchyard. 1653."

In this book Lloyd is thus referred to, as follows ;— "Of CHESTER ; and the present Bishop, Dr. Flood, "Of this new Bishopricke, and new Lord Bishop also I have very little to say, and I need say the lesse, because your Highnesse hath heard him Preach often, and very well. I call him a new Lord Bishop, because though he made Bishop before, yet was he not thereby a Lord of the Parliament House, howbeit his Tite before sounded to the vulgar ears more universall than either Rome or Constantinople namely, Bishop of Man; but from thence he was translated to Chester the chiefe City of that Shire, that some call chiefe of men, which Shire having a speciall temporall blessing (to abound) not with milke and honey, as the Land of Promise but with milke and salt, a matter more necessary in sacrifice; I wish it may also flow in spiritual! blessings, and doubt a but that by the irrigation rather than inundation of this Flood they shall encrease in them; and as our Saviour commands to joyne peace with salt, and especially I wish that blessing to their Neighbours beyond the salt water, I meane in Ireland, who though they have milke, and are so weake in faith they cannot yet digest hard meat, yet for want of this salt and peace, they make many goe of Pilgrimage to Westchester against their wills from both Realmes, some of whom the Bishop of Chester was wont to entertaine in kinde sort, as my selfe can testifie; and this Bishop I heare doth herein succeed also his worthy Predecesser Doctor Vaughan."

The Bishopric of Chester was at this period very imadequately endowed. It was, therefore, customary for the Bishop to hold one or more livings in commendam, to enable him to ensure a sufficient income. Thus, Lloyd held the Rectory of Heswall till 1613, when he resigned it obtaining that of Bangor Iscoed. In addition to this he became also Rector of Thornton-le-Moors. I cannot asscertain the exact date of his entering on this charge but I expect that it was in 1607, the year in which the Will of William Seaborne (his Predecessor) was proved. The Bishop seems to have made Thornton his residence. This was, doubtless, nn account of its nearness to Chester which the prevalence of the plague, during a great part of Lloyd's episcopate, rendered a dangerous abode.

In 1613 the Bishop preached the sermon at the funeral, at St. Mary's, of Mr. Thomas Gamul, Recorder of Chester, "which was performed by a great multitude of people."

Lloyd died at the Rectory House of Thornton-le- Moors, st August, 1615, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. He was buried privately, in the Choir of his Cathedral, near Bishop Downham. Mr. Thomas Shute, his lordship's domestic chaplain, according to the custom of the time, preached his funeral sermon in the Cathedral the Sunday following his death.

According to Browne Willis, the Bishop was of a most amiable and lovely countenance, and of a mild and righteous nature. King James I, called him "the Beauty of Holiness." He was liberal to his friends ; merciful to the poor; and died in the prime of life, being much lamented by all.

In memory of the Bishop an alabaster Stone was Placed in the Cathedral, with a brass plate bearing a Latin \u2018scription, Both stone and plate have long since disappeared, but the inscription has been preserved. It ran as follows :—

"Immatura mors hoc conclusit sepulero cor Georgii Lloyd cujus memoriam reveretur Cestria. Natione fuit Camber: educatione Cantabr., theologiae doctor, theologorum ductor, Soderensi praefuit et profuit Episcopatui quinquenio praefectus pacto. Mater Anglia repetiit prolem et dignata est sinu Episcopatus Cestrensis, ubi undecim messibus non an procellis dolorum elapsis, quinquagesimo aetatis suae anno et primo die mensis Augusti anno Domini 1615, lacrimatus lacrimandus obiit. Nec pudet vitae, nec piget mortis."

In the Lansdowne MSS. 879, in the British Museum is a pedigree of the Lloyd family, by which it appears that the Bishop married Anne daughter of John Wilkinson, of Norwich, by whom he had a large family. The following children attained to maturity :—

(1) David, married Mary Gerrard ;

(2) John, baptised at Heswall, 1599 ;

(3) Edward, baptised at Heswall, 1604.

(1) Anne, married (a) Thomas Yale, son of Dr David Yale; (b) Theophilus Eaton ;

(2) Mary, married (a) John Bruen; (6) — Paget;

(3) Alice, died unmarried 1631.

Other children of the marriage appear, by the Heswall Register, to have died in their infancy.

Mrs. Lloyd long survived her husband, living till after the siege of Chester. The following is a summary of her Will :—

"1640-8. In the Name of God, Amen. [4 Nov. 1640] Anne Lloyd of City of Chester widow, sick, &c. My bodie to be buried in the Quier of the Cathetherall [sic] Church of Chester where my loueinge husband George Lloyd late Bishop of Chester aforesaid was interred or as neere to the place as may be.

To sonne David Lloyd 30li and my great Bible

To daughter Eaton XXs

To sonne Hdward Lloyd, if he be liveing, 3oli.

To sonne Paggett xxs-

To daughter Marie Paggett 40li and to her two children which she had by Mr. Bruin 40li that is 20li a piece and to the two children she hath by her now husband Mr. Paggett 5li a piece.

To my loveinge cosen Francis Gammell Esquire xxs.

To my God-daughter Alice Gammell his daughter my best piece of plate and to my cosen Francis Gammell's eldest daughter my presse.

To cosen Mrs. Jane Wright xls. and her sister Mrs. Eliner Mynshall xls.

I leave two black gownes to twelve poore widdowes.

Codicil—4 Nov 1640. To Jane Plimley my cosen xxs. Exors: Francis Gammell and Mrs. Jane Wright. Witnesses Wm. Heald Anne Lloyd Wm. Plimley Her mark. Proved 8 Jan. 1648-9 by Jane Wright Exor. John Wright (power reserved)."'

Endorsed: "Mrs. Lloyd's Will."

The Will of David Lloyd, the Bishop's eldest son, was proved in 1672.

John Lloyd was dead in 1649, as will be seen by the extract from Gastrell given below.

Much interest attaches to the Bishop's eldest daughter on account of her successive marriage to two men whose names are of note in the early colonisation of America. Her first husband, Thomas Yale, was the grandfather of Governor Elihu Yale from whom Yale college received its name. Her second husband, Theophilus Eaton, a native of Stoney Stratford went in 1637, to Boston, in America, and founded, in 1639, the settlement of New Haven, of which he was Governor till his death in 1658. Descendants of Governor Eaton and his wife are still in existence in America.

Alice Lloyd, the youngest daughter, predeceased her mother, dying 28th June, 1631. She was buried at St. Mary's-on-the- Hill. The Arms (in a lozenge) her funeral certificate are, "Gules, a chevron between three mullets Or." In the Blazon of Episcopacy, the Bishop's Arms are given as "Sable, three horses' heads couped Argent."

The house in Watergate Street, known as "Bishop Lloyd's Palace," can scarcely have been occupied by our prelate. He had an episcopal residence on the site of the present King's School, and could not have an another in the city, especially in such a Position as Watergate Street. The house in question was probably the family residence of the Lloyd family, and may have been occupied by one or other of the Bishop's brothers The date 1615, on the front, is that of his death; and the Arms of the See of Man are also in evidence.

In Bishop Gastrell's Notitia, page 169, occurs the following :—

"Shotwick, in the Deanery of Wirhall. The rectory was granted by Leave of the Dean and Chapter, dated 30 Nov., 1608, to Mr. Henry Wilkinson (probably Mrs. Lloyd's brother) for three lives, viz. : Anne, wife of George Lloyd, Bishop of Chester, and David and John, sons of the said Bishop, paying £3 0s. 2d. per ann. for the corn tythe. David Lloyd was the only life in being in 1649."

Footnotes

1 She afterwards married, successively Thomas Gamul and Edward Whitby, both Recorders of Chester.
2 Richard Vaughan.
3 1600, new style.

fpc: The author seems unaware that Elizabeth had taken control of the Island at this period, using as excuse a court case as to succession of the Earldom following the death of Earl Ferdinando.