Edward Lloyd (publisher)
A few years later, when taking the unusual step of making his own newsprint, he revolutionised the paper trade by harvesting vast crops of esparto grass in Algeria.
Lloyd was the only nineteenth century newspaper proprietor to take control of his entire supply chain, i.e. achieve full vertical integration.
After leaving school at 14, he abandoned work in a law firm when he discovered a much more absorbing topic from his evening studies at the London Mechanics' Institute – printing.
He wanted to spread the advantages of full literacy, numeracy and general knowledge by making enjoyable reading material affordable.
This may have led to his association with the cartoonist, Charles Jameson Grant, some of whose cartoons he published in the mid-1830s in a series called Lloyd’s Political Jokes.
Lloyd made an early killing from plagiarising Charles Dickens, with works such as The Penny Pickwick, Oliver Twiss and Nickelas Nicklebery.
The plagiarised versions cost only a penny and were sold through tobacconists and small shops in order to reach market of semi-literate readers outside the range of middle-class booksellers.
In 1861, he held a remainders sale signalling a very public end of the business, but he may have been prevailed upon later to rewrite his own history by a family that had reached the heights of the Victorian bourgeoisie.
He averted bankruptcy in 1838 yet, in 1841, he and his eldest brother Thomas paid cash when they joined the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (opticians).
The title Lloyd’s Penny Sunday Times & People’s Police Gazette suggests that this contained such “news”, along with some out-and-out fiction.
Sure, it carried police and court news but it was written with prosaic decency and had nothing in common with today's colourful tabloids.
Lloyd wanted the man of the house to be able to take it home and have the confidence to leave it for his wife and even his children to read.
To the objection that the target market did not “belong to the book-buying classes”, they said: “Why should [books] not be brought within the knowledge of the man in the street?”[17] In 1904, Robert Donald was appointed the Chronicle’s editor.
In April 1918, Lloyd George, by then prime minister, assured the House of Commons that the British army had not been reduced numerically before meeting the German onslaught in March.
From useful gadgets, like speaking tubes between rooms in his offices, to vast costly machines producing thousands of papers and miles of newsprint every day, Lloyd made it his business to research and understand anything of potential interest.
[20] Hoe conquered his reluctance to sell both at half price – a risk that was amply rewarded by the 12 orders from other London papers that soon followed.
At his processing centres in Oran and Arzew, he installed hydraulic machinery that compacted the grass into tight bales so that transport of the bulky but lightweight product was cost-effective.
A huge experimental machine, 123 inches wide and built to Lloyd's specification despite the manufacturer's doubts about its practicality, was installed in 1876.
His son Frank, who took over management of the paper mill, set up pulping plants with log-floating rights in Norway at Hønefoss and Hvittingfoss.
While he would no doubt have looked for suitable sites while travelling, the idea that he would have taken time off from his superhuman workload in London to do something that could so easily be delegated is not believable.
Mary died of cholera in August 1849 and Frederick was brought up by his father and he participated fully in the business and was one of the four children who received a larger than average share under his will.
The Victorian world would have taken an increasingly dim view of Lloyd's record and might have condemned him for not taking to a life of celibacy on separation from Isabella.
This would not have been expected of ordinary people in the 1840s but, by the 1870s, the overriding importance of social standing would have made it imperative to hide the illegitimacy of 12 of his children and desirable to draw a veil over his modest origins and racy early career.
To these were added speculative aspersions, such as his greed and meanness in business, licentious behaviour that resulted in many more children whom he abandoned, and the vulgarity of all his publications, from the penny bloods to Lloyd’s Weekly.
He was greatly respected for his incisive intelligence, untiring energy and many talents: “Personally, he was a very interesting man, his talk – shrewd, penetrating and pertinent – being a reflection of his character” (the London correspondent of the South Australian Chronicle, 1890).
Only records of his relationships with people whom he met in the course of business survive, but his ability to have warm lasting friendships with several of them (e.g. Douglas Jerrold, Richard Hoe, Tom Catling) suggests a man of considerable humanity and good humour.
Writing about his Bow Bridge paper mill and printing works in 1875, William Glenny Crory[30] described an orderly well-run operation employing 200 apparently contented staff.
In 1862–63, Lloyd's Weekly raised £3,676 (£410,000 now) for the victims of the cotton famine in Lancashire partly from the proceeds of above-average sales of the paper in December 1862.
One feature of Lloyd's life and character that seems remarkable to the modern eye, though normal enough for people of his generation, was his assumption of financial responsibility for his business.
Although the value of the shares in the family trust is speculative, it would probably have added £350,000 or so, making him worth roughly £105m in today's money on 8 April 1890, when he died.
