Edward Lloyd

Who was Edward Lloyd?

Edward Lloyd was a British publisher.

Born in Thornton Heath, Lloyd studied shorthand at the London Mechanics' Institution, then wrote a book on stenography. Before he was eighteen, he had opened shops in London to sell cheap books and valentines.

From 1835, he began publishing cheap books, many being plagiarisations of Charles Dickens' work. In 1842 he moved into publishing periodicals, including Lloyd's Penny Weekly Miscellany, Lloyd's Penny Atlas and, most successfully, Lloyd's Illustrated London Newspaper, which soon became Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper. This was enormously successful, and by 1872 was selling 500,000 copies an issue.

Lloyd stopped publishing penny dreadfuls, and concentrated with promoting his newspaper as a respectable publication for the literate working class. He founded the Lloyd News, later known as The Sunday News, and also published the Daily Chronicle. He spent his weeks touring the country, looking for suitable advertising hoardings.

Lloyd set up his own paper mills and printing works in Bow, East London, to publish his newspapers, supplied with esparto grass grown on 100,000 acres of land which he leased in Algeria.