Blue Plaque Awarded: by English Heritage, date unknown
Address: Lloyd’s Farmhouse, Farm Park, Sampson Road, Sparkhill, B11 1JZ
From forge to fortune
Born in Birmingham in 1699, Sampson Lloyd II continued to expand his family’s iron manufacturing interests after his father’s death. In partnership with his older brother Charles, he acquired the Town Mills and further developed their iron trading. He also purchased a forge in Burton upon Trent. Sampson Lloyd II became particularly wealthy, and in 1742, he acquired a 56-acre estate in Bordesley, on the outskirts of Birmingham, where he built a Georgian mansion known as “Farm” (now a Grade II listed building in Sparkbrook).
A banking revolution
In 1765, at the age of 66, Sampson Lloyd II embarked on a new venture that would have a lasting global impact. He partnered with John Taylor, a prominent Birmingham button maker, and their respective sons to establish Birmingham’s first bank: Taylors & Lloyds. Located at 7 Dale End, the background in manufacturing and trade of the two founders helped them understand the financial requirements of the booming local industries. This institution played a crucial role in providing credit to the burgeoning manufacturing industries of Birmingham. The bank quickly prospered, funding many of the city’s expanding businesses and even investing in major infrastructure projects like the Birmingham Canal Navigation Company.
Sampson Lloyd II died in 1779. His legacy is inextricably linked to the growth of Birmingham as an industrial powerhouse and the foundation of one of the United Kingdom’s largest banking institutions, Lloyds Bank.
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