The LLoyd Family

The townland is listed as several different spellings, particularly on older sources e.g. Ardengouane, Ard na nGobhan etc, but on the Primary Valuation, townland index and  1st edition OSI maps name is Ardnagowna, and it's located just east of the town of Elphin. See the c1837 OSI map - Smith Hill, Ardnagowna townland

Elphin Church of Ireland Cathedral was damaged in the 1950s, and I believe had to be demolished not long after. This Lloyd family seem to have left the townland by the time of Griffith's Valuation, which is dated 1857 for this area, as no Llyods appear as occupants in the townland, but two do appear as immediate lessors of property in the townland - Emma, and also several listings mention your Robert J. with an 'in chancery' notation, which usually means there were legal proceedings pending on the property.

If your Lloyd family were Church of Ireland, as the inscription at Elphin Cathedral would suggest, and from the Elphin area and then unfortunately it's not looking very promising in terms of early records for them. Sources, including the recently released RCB parish list only show baptism and death/burial record for the parish going back to the 1890s. Marriages from 1845 would be covered by civil records.

There are at least two Probate/Administration entries the mentioned the surname Lloyd in connection with Smith Hill, Co. Roscommon, a William Lloyd (minor) deceased 1831, and an Owen Lloyd died 1850, but both administered, so no Wills, very late during 1866

see : this link to the Lloyd Calendar Entries on the National Archive website

Lewis 1837 mentions a Rev. J. Lloyd of Smith Hill in the list of principle occupants for the civil parish of Elphin.

Thanks! This is really useful.

I've never seen that OS map, that's great. Thanks for the lead on the administrations, though there were several branches of the Lloyd family in the area, and I'm not sure how mine were related to the others.

I'd figured there were no parish records and you're right, they left by 1850 after which they were just leasing land.property.

Where did you see about RJ Lloyd in chancery? (This would be the son of the R J Lloyd I mentioned)

I was just wondering if the records of Roscommon informary might have ended up somewhere...?

The 'in chancery' notation appears on Griffith's valuation, and usually refers to the deceased person

A good free version of this, with images and slightly later maps, is available on the AskAboutIreland website - see Griffith's Valuation

Hello my family live around the hillstreet area not to far from elphin smithhill is just before elphin town . In the protestant  cemetery  which is right next to the catholic one  . The is a tomb that is the lloyds and  quite  a few Graves and headstones with the surname Lloyd on there they lived in a place rockfield. Which use to be call Rockville they had a  big house in there but got demolished in the 50s I think hope it helps you the cemetery is called HillStreet Cemetery 

Check out the Landed Estates Database for both the Lloyds of  Rockville and their original point of origin Croghan.

You will be able to go back very far in this family tree. See also Owen Lloyd Esq. (your original ancestor) and The Battle of Boyle. I'll be adding more about this interesting family to the chronicles soon.

Thanks Rua, that's really interesting, but I have no idea how (or if) my Lloyds link up to the Lloyds or Rockville or Croghan. 

The furthest I can get back on my line of Lloyds, according to Burke's Landed Gentry, is a William Lloyd of London born sometime in the mid 1600s I would guess.

They were related to Oliver Goldsmith, through the Hicks line.

I'd really like to know more about my ancestor Robert Jones Lloyd's work at the infirmary.

Hmmm...

My recommendation regarding the Lloyds of Croghan was based on:

(a) "I believe there is/was a memorial inscription to our family at Elphin cathedral".  The first Lloyd to settle in the area,

Owen Lloyd of Croghan (1631-1664), was buried in the Cathedral Church of Elphin.

It may be safe to presume any Lloyds in the Elphin-Croghan area originate from this man in some way or another (until proven otherwise). If not direct descendants, then English cousins brought in to support their activity in the area.

(b) "My ancestors lived in "Smith Hill house"

The Lloyds of Smith Hill were a branch of the Lloyds of Croghan. (Click on this link to see the record on the Landed Estates database).

Smithhill House was in the demesne of The Palace at Elphin. It was the residence of the Reverend Oliver Jones, grandfather of Oliver Goldsmith, in the early 18th century. It was the home of Robert Jones Lloyd in the late 18th and early 19th century. He was a member of the Grand Panel of county Roscommon in 1828. He was married to Susannah Devenish of Rush Hill and died in 1832. He appears to have been a middleman in county Leitrim. 

In 1837, Smithhill House then became the seat of the Reverend John Lloyd, rector of Aughrim, (a kinsman of Oliver Goldsmith). On 28 Nov 1847, Lloyd was famously murdered by his tenant Owen Beirne of Caldra. 

One Rev. John Lloyd, who ran a school denounced by another priest as a “factory where numbers of famine Protestants are manufactured,” was also murdered, a month after Major Mahon, though whether this was for being an evicting landlord or for proselytizing is unclear. (Famine's Villains NY TIMES)

Clearly, this is why your family ran out of the place! If you run an in-depth search on the British Newspaper Archive you will find plenty of coverage of this 'Outrage in Elphin'. Beirne was hanged the very next day.

Smith Hill  house was unoccupied at the time of Griffith's Valuation (1857) when it was valued at £8 and held by Robert Lynch. In the 1870s Robert Jones Lloyd of Twickenham, London, owned 300 acres in county Roscommon and 892 acres in county Leitrim.

Hope this helps.

So, with that in mind, you can start here...

Owen Lloyd Esq. 1631  and here   Croghan & the seat of Guy Lloyd Esq.

and dig around the Landed Estates database to see if you are, in fact, any way connected to the Lloyds of Rockville who also originate from the Lloyds of Croghan House.

You might also follow the Goldsmith trail for clues. The Ordnance Survey Field Name Books record that Goldsmith's father was born at Ardnagowna. See also Ballyoughter House  (where Oliver Goldsmith's father was also supposedly  born and where Oliver Goldsmith himself spent part of his childhood) which is also in the parish of Elphin.

As for Roscommon Infirmary...

You are probably in luck, as the Old Infirmary is the Roscommon County Library. Why not get in contact with them to see what records they hold on Robert Jones Lloyd. Also, check out http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Roscommon/

Best of luck!

Roscommon County Library

"As most people have an interest in the history of their own locality, a small local history collection has been placed in each branch library. 

The main collection is held at Library Headquarters in Roscommon town. 

Roscommon library also has an extensive collection of local history files which include copies of articles from journals, newspaper cuttings, maps etc relating to all aspects of Roscommon history, culture, archaeology, people and places. These files can be consulted in the library and copied if required.

We have a local studies area where researchers can consult the literature and use the microfilm reader and designated local studies computer."

http://www.roscommoncoco.ie/en/Services/Library/Local_Studies_and_Archi…

my

Thanks. I know all about Rev John Lloyd and his murder. He married Emma Lloyd of Rockville hence the connection by marriage.

And yes I know how we are related to Oliver Goldsmith and his supposed birthplace(s). Yes Robert Jones Lloyd of Twickeneham was my great great grandfather.

My knowledge of their lineage com es from an 1847 edition of Burke's landed gentry and the transcription of their memorial tablet in Elohim cathedral seems to back this up (i.e. Going back to William Lloyd of London)

I have researched them for many years but have found no connection to the Lloyds of Croghan. As you say they may be distant cousins.

Thanks, I will contact the library regarding infirmary records. 

Lutrinae,

Are you still monitoring this conversation?  I am a Lloyd but Y-DNA testing has shown that at some point my forefathers were O'Kelly of the Ui Maine.  There were not many Lloyds in Ireland and your family seems to be closely connected to one of the O'Kelly families.  My family tops out with a Richard Lloyd b1796 in Wales.  There is a possible birth record for him that lists him as the illegitimate son of "Richard Lloyd, Officer".  My goal is to try to link this Irish Lloyd family back to Wales.  I would be delighted to find a patrilineal descendant who would be willing to do a Y-DNA test.

Thanks

Steve

Hi Steve,

Yes, i’m sure my father or one of my brothers would be willing to take a test, in fact i’ve been wanting to do so for some time, but i’ve not been able to afford it so far. Perhaps one day! Any particular testing company you’d recommend? 

FTDNA is the only company doing extensive Y-DNA testing.  It is quite different than the autosomal tests you get at Ancestry, 23andMe, MyHeritage et al.  These tests are more expensive than the autosomal tests so we would want to be sure there will be a benefit before spending the money.   Do you have a family tree online that I could look at?  I would be looking for a branch that migrated back to Wales or perhaps the mysterious "Richard Lloyd, Officer" c. 1770.  

We have done extensive research on the Ui Maine O'Kellys and our theory is that my line is either the O'Kelly of Mullaghmore or Aughrane.  The Augrane family were protestants.  Their lands were south of Elphin and by the looks of things the Lloyd family influence was more to the north.  It might be a long shot but at the moment that is all I have available.

Steve

Hi Steve.    My name is Mervyn Lloyd and I live in Co Leitrim. I feel I may be connected to your line of the Lloyds so would much appreciate if you could contact me so we could exchange notes my email address is mervynlloyd@gmail.com .Best Regards.   

Hi Steve.    Sorry wrong email address  correct address     mervynrhlloyd@gmail.com.   

I don't know if you are still looking for Lloyd of Smith Hill connections, but we have been contacted by several over the past few years, when searching for their Devenish connections. We live in the old Devenish house a couple of miles from Smith Hill, where Susannah Lloyd nee Devenish was born, and which remained in the family from when it was built c.1700 until it was lost in c.1885. We were visited by a Doctor Johnston from Queensland, descended from a sister of Rev. John Lloyd, about a decade ago, and are soon to be visited by a Devenish from New England. As you can imagine, we have built up a substantial record on the Devenish family, and their broader network, to which you are welcome to refer: let us know what you still need help on, or call in when you are in the area.

Good Luck!

Hi, I have recently discovered my great great great great grandmother was Alice Lloyd of Rockfield Sligo married in 1796 at Elphin Roscommon to Edward Powell. I am trying to discover how she fits into the Lloyd family. Any help gratefully received. I will be in Ireland in May 2020.

Sue

Hi Sue:

Thank you for your query to the message board and you will note that there has been a lot of activity on the thread that you posted to.  

You might note that the Roscommon County Library is a good place to start with and a visit there on your trip is worth-while.  I would recommend that you contact them via email before your trip as they may be able to have information/documents available to you when you visit.  

The website address is:http://www.roscommoncoco.ie/en/Services/Community/Library/Local_Studies…

If you need any further assistance, please let us know.

Kind regards,

Jane

Hi 

I have recently written a book ' The North Shannon Yacht Club' which refers to the Lloyds. Firstly Major William Lloyd of Rockville House who owned an 1846 steam yacht by the name of Chang-sha. She still exists and information can be found from heritage boats Ireland website. His children were William Hutchinson Lloyd (b.1885) and Coote Rochard Fitzgerald Lloyd (b. 1887), better known as 'Cootey'. The sons were involved with the Motor Yacht Club of Ireland.

There was an extensive canal network extending inland from the 'Silver Eel' pub which was intended to supply coal and turf to Rockville House. 

Guy Lloyd was a member of the same extended family and lived at Croghan south of Carrick-on-Shannon. He was also a member of the North Shannon Yacht Club

When the North Shannon Yacht Club was founded in 1896 they adopted the two headed eagle from the Lloyd coat of arms for the club ensign and burgee.

Vincent Delany

delanyvincent@gmail.com