Lloyd, Evan

(1734-1776)

   Born near Bala, North Wales, he graduated M.A. from Jesus College, Oxford, in 1757, after which he took holy orders. About 1762 he became vicar of Llanvair Dyffryn Clwyd in Denbighshire, where he devoted himself to writing satirical humor. The Powers of the Pen: A poem addressed to John Curre, Esquire (1765), attacked the poet Samuel Johnson (see entry). In another he satirizes William Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester, in a thinly veiled poem The Bishop, The Curate: A poem, inscribed to all the Curates in England and Wales (1766) which attacks the way curates are put upon by their higher-ups. The Methodist: A Poem (1766), which attacked a neighboring squire, resulted in a libel suit and a term of imprisonment, where Lloyd formed a firm friendship with another prisoner, John Wilkes, the political agitator. "The Conversation: A Poem" appeared in 1767. Epistle to David Garrick, Esq. (1773) resulted in a warm friendship with the actor. He died unmarried and was buried in the family vault at Llanycil Church, Merionethshire; his epitaph was written by Wilkes.

   Sources: Anglo-Welsh Poetry, 1480-1980. Raymond Garlick and Roland Mathias, eds. Poetry Wales Press, 1984. Anglo-Welsh Poetry, 1480-1990. Raymond Garlick and Roland Mathias, eds. Poetry Wales Press, 1993. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (http://library.stanford.edu). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbia grangers.org). The New Oxford Book of Eighteenth Century Verse. Roger Lonsdale, ed. Oxford University Press, 2003. The Oxford Book of Satirical Verse. Geoffrey Grigson, ed. Oxford University Press, 1980.