Charles Lloyd

Charles Lloyd (26 September 1784 – 31 May 1829), Regius Professor of Divinity and Bishop of Oxford from 1827 to 1829, was born in West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire on 26 September 1784, the second son of Thomas Lloyd and grandson of Nathaniel Ryder, 1st Baron Harrowby. Thomas, a 'clergyman and schoolmaster', was Rector of Aston-sub-Edge in Gloucestershire and ran a school at Great Missenden. Charles went to Eton, his education being paid for by scholarships. He was evidently a considerable scholar, achieving a first at Christ Church, Oxford in 1806 (proceeding to MA in 1809), a BD in 1818 and a DD in 1821. Eventually, he had to leave and took a job as a tutor to Lord Elgin's children at Dunfermline. This did not last long as he was asked to return to Oxford to teach mathematics. One of his first jobs was to prepare Robert Peel for his exams. Peel later became prime minister, and remained a lifelong friend of Lloyd. Charles Lloyd soon gained a reputation as an effective teacher.

Ordained in 1808, Lloyd held the curacies of Drayton (1810) and Binsey (1818), both near Oxford. In June 1819 he was appointed under Peel's influence to the preachership of Lincoln's Inn, which he held until February 1822 when, on the nomination of Lord Liverpool, he was appointed to the Regius Professorship of Divinity at Oxford, to which was attached a canonry at Christ Church

On 4 March 1827, he was consecrated as the Bishop of Oxford, a position he longed for and lobbied hard for, imploring his former pupil Robert Peel, now Home Secretary, to use his influence with Lord Liverpool. Lloyd remained a professor at the university and set about reforming the diocese. There was a particular problem with pluralism and non-residence at the time. It was common for clergy to hold several posts and to 'subcontract' their duties to a poorly paid curate. He was also involved in the contentious legislation for Catholic emancipation, finally passed in 1829. During the Lords' debates on emancipation he delivered an important speech in favour of reform (2 April 1829), a stand which made him a favourite scapegoat of defeated conservatives. Shortly afterwards George IV snubbed him at a public function.

A monument to his memory in Oxford Cathedral was sculpted by Joseph Theakston.