Thomas Lloyd was born in England about 1779, reportedly in Birmingham.339 He was apprenticed to Hawkes and Gold, Saddlers, in 1795, with a term to last until he turned 21.342 The father of partner William Hawkes, John, was a shoemaker.351 He came to America sometime during the first few years of the 1800s, perhaps as early as 1801, when a Thomas Loyd arrived at Philadelphia aboard the ship Hindostan,352 sailing from Liverpool.353 That passenger, travelling alone, had baggage of four trunks, a bed and bedding, and a portable writing desk — which would have been a curious accessory for a man who could neither read nor write,346 but might have served some other purpose or have been inaccurately described in the ship manifest. (There were only a handful of passengers aboard the Hindostan, which was a merchant vessel bound for Philadelphia. Regular cross-Atlantic passenger travel would only become established a few decades later.)

Thomas Lloyd married Catharina Oblinger by about 1805, before the 1806 birth of their first child, Mary Ann. Catharina was known to have been in Philadelphia about this time, along with her sister Elizabeth, who married in 1807 in Germantown, near the Northern Liberties area where later records show Thomas Lloyd and his suspected relative and fellow-cordwainer Joshua Lloyd. Census and directory listings for Thomas begin in 1810. In that year, the U.S. census354 shows “Thos. Lord” in nearby West Northern Liberties as head of a household including members fitting the ages of his wife, daughter Mary Ann, son Samuel, and three further unknown young adults. (These might include Joshua and John Lloyd, or other relatives.) In that year, the Philadelphia Directory355 shows Thomas Lord as a shoemaker, living on Fourth Street above Coates (now Fairmount). In 1811,356 the Directory shows him on nearby Maria (now Olive).

In 1811, he applied for membership in the Monthly Meeting (parish, congregation) of the Philadelphia Southern Division of the Society of Friends. For that purpose, he requested a referral certificate from the Hardshaw Monthly Meeting in Warrington, Lancashire. His request and the minutes of the Hardshaw Meeting357 are both of interest:

“Thomas Lloyd who sailed from Liverpool several years since & appears to be now resident in America has forwarded the following address to this Meeting - over.

Dear Friends
For want of attending to the monitions of grace in my own mind I have been so far misled astray as to accomplish my marriage by the assistance of a hireling priest to a woman not in membership with friends; for which I am sincerely sorry & do condemn the same I hope my future conduct will evince the sincerity of this my acknowledgment
8 mo. 3d 1811 Thomas Lloyd

The Meeting being further informed that he now resides at Philadelphia direct the clerk to transmit on its behalf a few lines now produced containing the import of this minute to the Monthly Meeting of Philadelphia for the Southern District requesting them to visit thereupon in its behalf & send information of the result.”

Obviously, it is curious that there is a gap of five to ten years in his Friends membership and the referral certificate request, which ordinarily would have been part of the routine shortly after his arrival in America. One wonders what prompted him to reconnect with his religion at that time.

Thomas’s appears in the Philadelphia Directory comes in 1813358 at Strawberry Street, about ten minutes’ walk from the Friends Southern District meeting place. His neighbors include other shoemakers and cordwainers, who like him have just moved to or started businesses in that location. By the next year, both Friends records359 and the Directory show him moving back to North Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Directories show listings for Thomas Lloyd as cordwainer from 1813 through 1864, with occasional gaps, notably for most of the 1820s. It appears that, somewhat before 1820, he may have separated from his wife. The language of the 1818 baptism of their childen202 is peculiar in listing under “Parents” her, described as wife of Thomas Lloyd, where the surrounding entries list both father and mother of children. All three of these children were in or near Berks County in early adulthood, while I have found no traces of Thomas in that area. That part of Berks is, notably, relatively close to Catharina’s ancestral roots.360

In 1830, Thomas was apparently in the Lower Delaware District of Philadelphia, close to present day Center City and in the area of his Philadelphia Directory business listing.212 In the same year, he signed, with a mark, a deed granting land of which his wife Catharina had inherited a share.346 She also signed with a mark. Curiously, the 1830 Federal census listing does not contain a female in her age bracket, but does include a number of younger females, consistent with later listings.

Census listings for the Moyamensing district of Philadelphia in 1840361 show a Thomas Lloyd with family in age brackets corresponding to those of the 1850 census, in which he appears in the Southwark district of Philadelphia, listed as a cordwainer born in England.340 In 1860, he was in the 17th Ward of Philadelphia, listed as a shoemaker born in England, along with Hannah M. Lloyd, born about 1834.198 Hannah Lloyd’s death certificate362 reports that she was born in 1831, that her father was Thomas Lloyd, born in England, and that her mother was unknown, born in Philadelphia. Because by the time of her death she was in a nursing home and reportedly senile, it is possible that the records of parentage are confused. If it is correct that Thomas Lloyd was Hannah’s father, it is unlikely that his then current wife Catharina would have been the mother, being by the time of her birth some fifty years old, too late for childbearing. Such circumstances could explain why Catharina did not appear in Thomas Lloyd’s household in 1830 census listings,212 though she was demonstrably alive at that time.

Thomas Lloyd died in 1865. His death certificate reports that he was born in Birmingham, England.339

All in all, Thomas seems to have been quite a wanderer and not overly constrained by convention in his behavior.