BIO
Born in South London / severe illness aged 3 / early age loved classical music / read ‘Our Mutual Friend’ at 13 and was bowled over by it / worked at music publishers / wrote music / raced motorcycles / became an actor in repertory theatre / thence to Australia / touring in Australia and New Zealand /regular spot in an early Sydney TV soap / won (£15,000 in today’s money) at a Sydney dog track / returned to the UK / became a writer / first published and broadcast story, ‘Doll’ / other successes on radio and the theatre / six wonderful girlfriends (over two decades!) / worked seven years in the civil service / left London / since lived in Sussex, Devon and Somerset / still writing!
Arthur Lloyd -New Song poster
Arthur Lloyd
It is said that he wrote over 600 songs. He married Katty King who was the daughter of T C King, a Theatre Royal tragedian who played such diverse rolls as Hamlet, Iago, Quasimodo and William (in William and Black Eyed Susan).
Arthur Lloyd brought his own sons and daughters into the theatre and later in life performed and wrote little playlets with minimal scenery. Perhaps the forerunner of revue sketches etc. Since then there have been dancers, acrobats, comedians, cinema pianists, pub and club performers, singers etc. Perhaps the most famous of this latter grouping was: Harry Powell Lloyd, who was an opera singer (Welsh Opera) set designer and director (Sadler’s Wells) in the 1920’s to the 1960’s.
Horatio Lloyd
Here, I must mention my cousin, Matthew Lloyd’s fantastic website: arthurlloyd.co.uk about our family (with family tree) and which also contains a mine of info on the theatre and music hall in general. This site has now been archived to The British Library.
Born in South London / severe illness aged 3 / early age loved classical music / read ‘Our Mutual Friend’ at 13 and was bowled over by it / worked at music publishers / wrote music / raced motorcycles / became an actor in repertory theatre / thence to Australia / touring in Australia and New Zealand /regular spot in an early Sydney TV soap / won (£15,000 in today’s money) at a Sydney dog track / returned to the UK / became a writer / first published and broadcast story, ‘Doll’ / other successes on radio and the theatre / six wonderful girlfriends (over two decades!) / worked seven years in the civil service / left London / since lived in Sussex, Devon and Somerset / still writing!
Arthur Lloyd -New Song poster
A Short History of my Ancestors
- There’s two hundred years of theatre and music-hall in my family. I am also related to a Canon Fleming who was a famous orator and recorded ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ in the 1930’s for HMV and an Ambrose Fleming who invented the radio diode (valve). The theatre side started with a man called Horatio Lloyd (born 1807) who performed with Kean and Phelps. He married and had numerous children, some of whom went into the theatre. The most well known was Arthur Lloyd (my great-grandfather) who more or less went straight into the music hall and was a famous performer and song writer between about 1860 and 1900.
Arthur Lloyd
Arthur Lloyd brought his own sons and daughters into the theatre and later in life performed and wrote little playlets with minimal scenery. Perhaps the forerunner of revue sketches etc. Since then there have been dancers, acrobats, comedians, cinema pianists, pub and club performers, singers etc. Perhaps the most famous of this latter grouping was: Harry Powell Lloyd, who was an opera singer (Welsh Opera) set designer and director (Sadler’s Wells) in the 1920’s to the 1960’s.
Horatio Lloyd
Here, I must mention my cousin, Matthew Lloyd’s fantastic website: arthurlloyd.co.uk about our family (with family tree) and which also contains a mine of info on the theatre and music hall in general. This site has now been archived to The British Library.