Australian Dictionary of Biography

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Charles William Lloyd (1830–1919)

by G. J. Abbott

This article was published:

Charles William Lloyd (1830-1919), grazier, was born at Acton Round, Shropshire, England, seventh son of Captain John Lloyd and his wife Mary, née Evans. He was educated in Bridgnorth and in 1839 entered Wenlock Grammar School. In 1843 because of his father's financial difficulties he went to live with a wealthy cousin, B. Duppa, who virtually adopted him. About 1850 Lloyd became manager of Duppa's woollen mill at Church Stretton, but left to control a friend's factory when he discovered Duppa's generosity would not be as great as he had hoped.

Lloyd's elder brother, John Charles (d.1881), had migrated to Sydney in 1841 and became superintendent of Melville Plains for two brothers of Sir William Denison. About 1848 he managed William Charles Wentworth's Burburgate stations on the Liverpool Plains, which John bought in 1853. Another brother, Edward Henry (d.1889), joined him in 1848 and became manager in 1853 when John went to England to recover his health. At his suggestion Charles joined Edward at Burburgate in September 1854.

Charles was assistant manager at Burburgate until 1858 when the brothers formed a partnership. He succeeded Edward as resident partner and general manager of Lloyd Bros. In 1856 he was one of the first to put up wire fences and to install steam-driven pumps for washing sheep. In 1860 he tried shearing unwashed sheep and scouring the wool on the station. In Pages from the Journal of a Queensland Squatter (London, 1901) Oscar de Satgé, assistant manager at Burburgate in 1859-61, was impressed by the successful lambing arrangements and the Shorthorns bred from imported bulls and cows obtained from the Peel River Co. He also recorded that in 1860 one lot of wethers 'off the shears' sold in Homebush for the high price of 21s. 6d. each. Charles's most renowned innovation was his success in 1863 in dipping sheep to protect them against scab.

In 1863 Charles retired to Sydney; he had become a magistrate of the territory in 1858 and a member of the Australian Club. In January 1865 he withdrew from the partnership because of family quarrels and on 2 May married Rachel Eliza, second daughter of Alexander Campbell. They visited England and returned late in 1866. In that year Charles was listed as owning Dripping Rock and five runs with John as his partner. In 1871 Charles held Galathra West. Later in the 1870s at Sydney he became a councillor of the Agricultural Society and in 1875 a founding member of the Linnean Society. He had moved to Tarriaro, Gulligal, Namoi River, and in the late 1880s he lived at Elizabeth Farm, Parramatta. In 1893 he was recommended by leading colonists to the Cape Colony government as an adviser on the scab problem. Aged 89 he died on 8 September 1919 at a private hospital in Sydney and was buried in the Anglican section of Rookwood cemetery, survived by five sons and five daughters.

Select Bibliography

  • Lloyd papers (State Library of New South Wales).

Citation details

G. J. Abbott, 'Lloyd, Charles William (1830–1919)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lloyd-charles-william-4028/text6397, published first in hardcopy 1974, accessed online 29 March 2024.

This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, (Melbourne University Press), 1974

View the front pages for Volume 5

© Copyright Australian Dictionary of Biography, 2006-2024

Life Summary [details]

Birth

1830
Acton Round, Shropshire, England

Death

8 September, 1919 (aged ~ 89)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

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Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

Occupation