Hannibal Evans Lloyd

Lloyd, Hannibal Evans, 1770—1847

by Benjamin Colbert

Hannibal Evans Lloyd was born in London on 30 May 1770, the son of Henry Humphrey Evans Lloyd (c. 1718-83; ODNB) and Mary Lloyd, née Johnstone. After he lost his parents, he was raised by close relatives, becoming proficient in several modern languages and excelling in science and mathematics.

In spring 1800 he settled in Hamburg, where he remained until 1813 partly during the period of French occupation from 1806. There he met and married Lucy Anna Margaretta Lloyd, née Von Schwartzkopff (1782/3-1855) and their eldest daughter, Susette Harriet Lloyd, was also born in Hamburg around 1810. With his family, Lloyd fled Hamburg in 1813 and returned to London where he took a job in the Foreign Office and published a volume on his time abroad: Hamburgh, or, a Particular Account of the Transactions … during the First Six Months of 1813 (1813).

Lloyd remained at the Foreign Office until the end of his life, all the while enjoying a literary career as author, translator, and letterpress writer. He was particularly interested in travel and was acquainted with many travelers and explorers; his daughter, Susette, recalled being introduced to many of them by her father. His many translations of travel writings included Hans Egede Saabye, Greenland (1818), Prince Maximilien Wied-Neuwied, Travels in Brazil (1820), Egor Fedorovich Timkovsky, Travels of the Russian Mission through Mongolia to China (1827), Oscar Ludwig Bernhard Wolff, The German Tourist (1837), and Georg Tam, Visit to the Portuguese Possessions in South-Western Africa (1845).

During his last illness, Lloyd was nursed by his daughter, Suzette, who had married the widower Henry William Smith (c.1787-1872), longstanding treasurer of the charity residence, Morden College, at Blackheath. When Lloyd died on 14 July 1847, he was buried at Morden College cemetary.

Sources:

Goodwin, Gordon, and John D. Haigh. 'Lloyd, Hannibal Evans (1770–1847), philologist and translator'. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 22 Sept. 2011. Oxford University Press. Web. 21 Jan. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/16835

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