Welsh Journals

The Dolobran Family in Religion and Industry in Montgomeryshire A Lecture given to the Powys-land Club, 4th March, 1961. By E. R. MORRIS, B.A. The Lloyd family of Dolobran and its junior branch the Lloyds of Birmingham have achieved fame and respect for their record in religious life and philanthropy and above all in industrial undertakings. The Quakerism of the family and their interest in the iron industry and banking provide yet another example of the close connection between nonconformity and industrial activity, which characterised the period before the large-scale development of the Industrial Revolution in the latter half of the 18th century. The iron and banking activities pioneered by the Lloyds of Birmingham are still represented in our own day by Lloyds Bank, and the firm of Stewart and Lloyd, although the old link with the Society of Friends has long since been broken. The story of the Birmingham Lloyds, descended from Sampson Lloyd (1664- 1724), second son of the great Montgomeryshire Quaker, Charles Lloyd, has been fairly well covered by various writers, such as Rachel Lowe "Farm and its Inhabi- tants", and Samuel Lloyd "The Lloyds of Birmingham." The fortunes of their Montgomeryshire forebears in the religious and industrial life of our county have not yet been comprehensively written and placed against the 17th and 18th century background. Numerous short accounts exist, e.g., that of T. Griffiths Jones (Cyffin) in Mont. Coll., Vol. XXII, while a more romantic treatment is available in "Quaker Seekers in Wales" by A. B. Thomas. But there is need of a more adequate account based upon sources and material which have become available in more recent years, and this short study will attempt to provide this. The pedigree of the Lloyd family, as given in Burke's Landed Gentry and elsewhere, is not always correct and the dates are frequently found to be misleading-some important dates in the Lloyd history still require verification. The account of the Dolobran venture in the charcoal iron industry in Montgomeryshire, written by Mr. Stanley Davies, in Mont. Coll., Vol. 46, contains much interesting material and also selections from the diary of John Kelsall (1683-1743), clerk and confidential secretary to the Dolobran family. This diary is an all-important source of information on both the religious