Dolobran, in the county of Montgomeryshire (now Powys) in Wales, is a historic estate which was the earliest known seat of the expansive Lloyd family, prominent Quakers, of which in the 18th century a junior branch, the Lloyd family of Birmingham, seated at Farm, Bordesley, became prominent in and around Birmingham as iron-founders and founded Lloyds Bank, today one of the largest banks in the United Kingdom. The grade II* listed"Dolobran Hall - Llangyniew - Powys - Wales". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved on 10 January 2017. manor house known as Dolobran Hall about 8 miles north-west of the town of Welshpool, is situated in the parish of Meifod to the west of the village of Meifod and to the east of the village of Pontrobert. One of the family historians, Humphrey Lloyd (1975), estimated the historic estate of Dolobran to have comprised about 1,000 acres.Lloyd, Humphrey, 1975, p.4 In 2015 Dolobran Hall and its 70-acre estate are used for farming and industrial training by the J.M. Evans Partnership. John Meirion Evans (1926–2015) of Dolobran Hall by his wife Edith was father to Maurice, Keith and Robert.Obituary John Meirion Evans (1926-14 Sept.2015) of Dolobran Hall, published 18 September 2015 in the Shropshire Star In 2008 former farmer Rob Evans founded a company to train construction workers in the use of plant and machinery called "Training For The Future", based at "The Brick Barn Dolobran Hall"."TFTF Home - Training for the Future". Retrieved on 10 January 2017.
Lloyd of Birmingham
The Lloyd family of Birmingham, a junior branch of Lloyd of Dolobran, were iron-founders and bankers descended from Sampson Lloyd (1699–1779) of "Farm", anciently in the manor of Bordesley, now in the locality of Sparkbrook, who with his eldest son Sampson Lloyd (1728–1807) founded Lloyds Bank.
Surviving house A fragment only survives of the manor house of Dolobran which was from 1486 to 1780 the home of the Lloyds. It comprises today a three-bay brick-built house with a small wing with William and Mary panelling downstairs, and a sizeable external brick chimney to the rear with shaped late 17th century supports. This joins onto a later block built onto the house in about 1830.
Quaker Meeting House
The Quaker Meeting House at Dolobran is an important monument in the history of the Quaker movement in the British Isles. It was built in 1701 by Charles Lloyd (1662–1747) of Dolobran, whose father Charles Lloyd (1637–1698) of Dolobran was the first in the family to become a Quaker. It consists of a tiny isolated chapel built of red-brick with drip courses over the cambered windows and comprising also a two-bay cottage under the same roof. The grade II* listed structure is an early example of brick building in Montgomeryshire."Friends' Meeting House, Dolobran - Meifod - Powys - Wales". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved on 10 January 2017. Today the Glyndŵr's Way long-distance footpath passes nearby. Among the members of the Quaker meeting were the Lloyd family of Dolobran. Meetings ceased in 1828 but the building was restored by the Quakers in about 1970.Scourfield R. and Haslam R., The Buildings of Wales: Powys; Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire, Yale University Press, 2013, p.240
Descent
Lloyd
The descent of Dolobran was as follows:
David ap Llewellyn David ap Llewellyn of Llwydiarth, the younger of three brothers who inherited as his share of the paternal lands the estates of Dolobran and Coedcowrid. His great-grandfather was Celynin of Llwydiarth, "Baron of Llwydiarth", who bore for arms: Sable, a he-goat passant argent attired and langued or. By his second wife Medisis Dcuddwr, daughter of Griffith Dcuddwr he had an eldest son and heir Ivan Teg.Lowe, pp. 2–3
Ivan Teg Ivan Teg ("The Handsome"), eldest son and heir. He married Mawd Blaney, daughter of Evan Blaney (ancestor of the Lords Blaney) of Tregynon and Castle Blaney, in County Monahan, Ireland.Burke's LG, 1937, p.1392 By his wife he had a son:
Owen of Dolobran Owen of Dolobran. In about 1476 he adopted the surname "Lloyd". This was a reference to the family's ancestral estate called "Llwydiarth". He married Catherine Vaughan, daughter of Reynault Vaughan, son of Sir Griffith Vaughan, Knight Banneret.
Evan Lloyd of Dolobran Evan Lloyd of Dolobran, son, who married Gwenhafar lloyd, daughter of Meredith Lloyd of Meivod.
David Lloyd (born 1523) David Lloyd (born 1523) of Dolobran, son, a Justice of the Peace, who married secondly Eva Goch, daughter of David Goch, son of Jenkin Vaughan of Bodoach.
David Lloyd (born 1549)
David Lloyd (born 1549), son, a Justice of the Peace, who married Ales Lloyd, daughter of David Lloyd of Llanarmon-Mynydd-Maur.
John Lloyd (1575–1636) John Lloyd (1575–1636) of Dolobran, son, a Justice of the Peace for Montgomeryshire, who married his cousin Katherine Wynne, a daughter and co-heiress of Humphrey Wynne of Duffryn. He lived principally at Coedcowrid, where he wainscoted the parlours and hall, and "lived there in great state, having twenty-four men with halberts, his tenants, to attend him to Meifod Church, and placed them in his great pew, under the pulpit".Lowe, p.4
Charles Lloyd (born 1597)
Charles Lloyd (born 1597) of Dolobran, son, a Justice of the Peace, who married Elizabeth Stanley, daughter of Thomas Stanley, son of Sir Edward Stanley, grandson of Sir Foulk Stanley and great-grandson of Sir Piers Stanley, whose father Sir Rowland Stanley was brother of Lord Strange of Knockyn, of Knockyn Shropshire, of the Stanley Earl of Derby family. He lived at Dolobran, which house he enlarged by adding timber buildings to the north side, making the house "L-shaped". He was a distinguished genealogist, and it was during his occupancy that an oak panel (lost after 1780) was erected over the fireplace of the old hall displaying an heraldic escutcheon showing the arms of Lloyd (with 15 quarters) impaling Stanley (with 6 quarters). By his wife he had three sons and one daughter: Charles Lloyd of Dolobran, eldest son and heir (see below) John Lloyd (born 1638), second son, who married Jane Gresham (descended from Sir Thomas Gresham (died 1549), founder of the Royal Exchange in London), presented to the parish church of Meifod a silver-gilt flagon and paten, inscribed in Latin as follows: Johannes Lloyd Alius natu secundus Caroli Lloyd nuper de Dolobran in Com. Montgomeriensis Armiger hanc Lagenum Ecclesiae suae Parochiali de Meifod in com. praedicto (ubi natus et baptizutus fuit) ad sacros Eucharistiae usus donat consecratque. ("John Lloyd, second-born of Charles Lloyd, late of Dolobran in the county of Montgomery, Esquire, gave and consecrated this flagon to the aforesaid church of his parish of Meifod (where he was born and baptised) for the service of the Eucharist"). Thomas Lloyd (1640–1694), third son, who became a quaker and preacher and assisted William Penn in the establishment of the American Colony of Pennsylvania, which he served as Deputy-Governor and President from 1684 to 1693.
Charles Lloyd (1637–1698)
Charles Lloyd (1637–1698) of Dolobran, eldest son and heir, who like his two brothers was educated at Jesus College, Oxford. In about 1660 he built a "Friends's Meeting House" or Quaker chapel, at Dolobran, which survives today. In 1661 he married firstly Elizabeth Lort (1633–1685), daughter of Sampson Lort (d.pre-1670) of East Moor in Pembrokeshire,Burke's LG, 1937, p.1392, where spelling given as "Eastmoor", given by Lowe, p.9 as "East Mear" one of the three sons of Henry Lort of Stackpole Court in Pembrokeshire, Sheriff of Pembrokeshire in 1619, of whom the eldest was Sir Roger Lort, 1st Baronet (died 1664), created a baronet in 1662.Dictionary of Welsh Biography, "Lort family, of Stackpole and other seats in Pembrokeshire" A monument in the north transept of Westminster Abbey survives in memory of Sir Gilbert Lort, 3rd Baronet (c. 1670 – 1698), the last male heir of the Lort family, and a cousin of Elizabeth Lort."Sir Gilbert Lort" Westminster Abbey. Retrieved on 10 January 2017. In 1662 he became a Quaker, having attached himself to George Fox and his followers, the founders of the Society of Friends, for which he suffered much persecution. Following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 Quakers were required by the Quaker Act 1662 to take the Oath of Allegiance to King Charles II (1660–1685). As the swearing of oaths was forbidden by the Quaker religion many refused to do so, including Charles Lloyd and his wife Elizabeth Lort who were imprisoned for their refusal. King James II (1685–1689) issued a Declaration of Indulgence in 1687 and 1688 and a Toleration Act in 1689, which finally allowed for freedom of conscience and prevented persecution. Thus Quakers became tolerated. Charles had served as a Justice of the Peace and had been proposed as Sheriff of Montgomeryshire,Lowe, quoting: Travel Journal of Richard Davies but it appears he became disqualified from holding public office by his religion.
Several references to Charles's career as an early Quaker are recorded in the Travel Journal of Richard Davies, published as "An account of the convincement, exercises, services, and travels of that antient servant of the Lord, Richard Davies, with some relation of ancient Friends, and of the spreading of Truth in North Wales": "The next morning we went to visit Charles Lloyd, of Dolobran, who tenderly received us, and several that were at the meeting came there that day, where we had a sweet, comfortable, refreshing time, in the presence of the Lord. The report of this meeting went through the country, some saying that most of that side of the country were turned quakers. Whereupon divers were sent for, before Edward, Lord Herbert, Baron of Cherbury, to a place where he then lived, called Llyssin, about 3 miles from Dolobran. After some discourse with them, Lord Herbert sent them to Welshpool to prison, for refusing to take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy which they refused, because they could not swear at all, they being six sent together, viz., Charles Lloyd, Hugh David, Richard David, Cadwallader Edwards, Ann Lawrence, and Sarah Wilson".
His possessions were placed under praemunire, his cattle were sold and Dolobran Hall was partially destroyed. Richard Davies describes Welshpool prison to which Charles Lloyd was taken as "a dirty, nasty place... He was put into a little smoky room, and did lie upon a little straw himself for a considerable time, and at length his tender wife Elizabeth, that was of a considerable family (daughter of Sampson Lort, near Pembroke), was made willing to lie upon straw with her dear and tender husband." Charles's brother and fellow Quaker, Thomas Lloyd, accompanied by Richard Davies, interceded with Lord Herbert and managed to have Charles released to a form of house arrest in a rented house in Welshpool, where it is probable his second son, Sampson, was born on 26 February 1664. Charles Lloyd was freed following the Declaration of Indulgence of 15 March 1672, and returned to Dolobran Hall, which he expanded into a "U-shape" by the addition of a timber-framed wing.
The Journal of the leading Quaker George Fox refers to Lloyd in 1666: "I passed into Shropshire, and from thence into Wales, and had a large general men's meeting at Charles Lloyd's, where some opposers came in; but the Lord's power brought them down". In 1680 or 1681 at Welshpool, Charles Lloyd with others including his brother Thomas, met William Lloyd, Bishop of St. Asaph, who wished to "win over the Dissenters by gentleness and argument". The discussion lasted from 2 p.m. till 2 a.m. next morning and continued for two days in the Town Hall, as a public meeting attended by the Lord Lieutenant, magistrates, and other local officials. The bishop was impressed with the civility of Lloyd and the Quakers.