Sixty-four holograph letters and three formal notes from [Sir] Jos[eph] Banks, from Soho Square [London], from Spring Grove [Isleworth, co. Middlesex], from Revesby Abbey [Lincolnshire], etc., to John Lloyd at Hafodunos, at Soughton, Northop, at Wygfair, St. Asaph, etc., 1778-1814 and undated (personal and family news and news of acquaintances, and more specifically an invitation to a Royal Society club dinner (1778); Lord Mahon's book on electricity [Principles of Electricity, 1779] and his promise of another in which he would refute Mr. [Benjamin] Wilson's deductions, news of Lord Mulgrave and [Sir Charles] Blagden, and a request for a specimen of saxifraga umbrosa from Ireland (1780); a paper on new double stars to be read to the R[oyal] S[ociety] by [William] Herschel, the death of [? Dr. Solander] and a request for a specimen of Crataegus Aria from the cliffs near the top of Pen Man Mawr [co. Caernarvon] (1782); a balloon flight across the English Channel by [John] Jefferies and [François] Blanchard [this letter is dated January 1784 but this is probably a mistake for 1785, the flight having been made in January of that year], the resignation of the clerkship of the R[oyal] S[ociety] by Robertson and a contest for the post between Messrs. Coppard and Gilpin (1785); [William] Herschel's visit to Germany to take a telescope of his own making as a present to the University of Gottingen, Herschel's progress with his forty feet [telescope], the discovery of a new comet by Caroline, Herschel's sister, a 'bill intended by the manufacturers to restrain the growers of wool' and a meeting to be held in Denbighshire to consider the bill, the teaching of classics in England as compared with the continent (1786); the receipt of a box of plants from the Snowdon area, Danish and Roman antiquities found in the bed of the river Witham [co. Lincoln], the danger of wheat which was imported from America being infected by insects unknown in this country (1788); comments on Shetland sheep and a request for a specimen (1791); the political situation with comments on democrats, constitutionalists, the Whig club, etc., (1793); a visit from David Pennant, the ill treatment of recipient by a riotous mob at Denbigh, the presence of 'dangerous mobs in many counties' caused by 'the first Raising of the Militia', the price of corn, damage estimated at £ 750,000 by floods in Cambridgeshire, Lloyd's service to the country as a magistrate and the value of this office to the constitution, sheep rearing, the discovering of gold in Ireland (1795); the result of the [parliamentary] election in [co. Caernarvon] with mention of the contestants Sir Robert [Williams] and Lord Penrhyn, acknowledgement of receipt of copies of 'Shon Gwialen', the ill effects of apple insect, good wishes to recipient should he 'undertake the arduous task of becoming Knight of your shire', criticism of Thomas and David Pennant (1796); a request by Lloyd for a copy of the map which accompanied Dr. [Christopher] Packe's Ancographia sive Convallium Descriptio (1798); [Frederick] Hornemann's journey to Africa [on behalf of the African Association], the effects of prolonged drought, comments on Adam Smith's theory of 'perfect freedom in trade' (1800); the abundant crops and the price of grain (1801); the result of the [parliamentary] election in co. Kent, the West India docks in the Isle of Dogs and the Wapping Docks, the health of the members of the Royal Family whom the writer had seen at Weymouth (1802); the possibility of an invasion of England by Buonaparte (1803, 1805); Lloyd's wish to become a trustee of the [?British] Museum (1804); the death of [Alexander] Aubert at Lloyd's home, the draining and selling of land by the writer (1805); the writer's anger on seeing the spires of Lincoln minster pulled down, a request for Lloyd's help in procuring answers to a questionnaire concerning alleged damage to cathedral fabrics, comments on 'the Political Hurricane' which had taken the King out of the hands of a Whig administration, the political changes in England, wire worms, the anniversary of the Club, astronomical data (1807); the cultivation of cranberries, news of crops (1808); receipt of a Brazil coin and of tokens for his sister's [Sarah Sophia Banks] collection, Sir H. Englefield's circular letter and canvass of the Society of Antiquaries (1811)). 'Shon Gwialan' probably refers to the pamphlet entitled 'A Letter to the Right Reverend Dr. Warren on his conduct as Bishop of Bangor', published in 1796, in which the writer, 'Shon Gwialan', attacks the bishop of Bangor for alleged nepotism, etc. The identity of the writer has not been discovered.

Seventy-five holograph and autograph letters, notes, etc., addressed to John Lloyd at Garden Court, London, at Hafodunos near St. Asaph, at Wigfair near St. Asaph and elsewhere, 1771-1809.
They comprise letters from L'abbé Andreii, 1777 (personal); R. P. Arden, 1786 (legal and financial); Alexander Aubert, London, 1793-1800 (2) (personal); Mrs. D [ ] Aubert, Highbury House [Islington], 1799-1803 (3) (personal and social); L[ewis Bagot, bishop of] St. Asaph, St. Asaph, Blithfield, and Oxford Street, [London], 1793-1802 and undated (17) (the war against the French and tumults near Mold (1793), the death of [?the Reverend William Stodart] and proposals for filling his vacant preferments, namely Abergele, Bettws and a [prebendal stall] (1794), the appointment of a postmaster at [St. Asaph], the wretched condition of the parish of [?St. Asaph] - allowances to the poor being in arrears, roads neglected, etc., Mr. Jackson's presentation to the living of Abergele (1794), the government's measures to meet the grain shortage (1796), the renewal of recipient's lease of [ ] from the precentor [of St. Asaph], plundering in the neighbourhood of Mostyn (1797), the conduct of Mr. Fox and his friends in Parliament and the raising of supplies for carrying on the war (1797), the need for economy in the consumption of barley, oats and potatoes, and the 'high' state of the market in spite of economies and of the importation of grain (1801), the repeal of the Brown Bread Act, the King's success in filling departments of state and law after the secession of ministers (1801), 'dangerous tampering with Lord Penrhyn's Slate Quarries and amongst the Miners both in Anglesea and Flintshire' (1801), a bill to be introduced in the House of Commons concerning the conduct of the clergy (1802), appointments to the deanery of York and the chair of Hebrew at Christ Church [Oxford] (1802), the arrival [in London] of antiquities from Egypt (1802)); Thomas Baldwin, Hool, [?Cheshire], 1771 (description of a journey in North Wales – Festiniog, Bala, Talardd, Dinas Mouthy, with ascents of Arran Ben Llyn, Cader Idris and ?Arran Mouthy, notes on stratification); M[argaret] Bankes, Old Palace Yard, [London], [?daughter of John Wynne, bishop successively of St. Asaph and Bath and Wells], 1804 (the illness and death of her brother and the disposal of his estate, other family news); Mrs. Bankes, Duke Street, undated (personal and social); Miss [Sarah Sophia] Banks, Soho Square, [London], [sister of Sir Joseph Banks], 1787-1795 (4) (personal and family news, a request for a copy of Regulations of the Society of Royal British Bowmen, and for help in procuring specimens of a Macclesfield ½[d] and a Cronebane ½[d]); J. Barff, Oswestry, 1795 (financial and legal matters); Daines Barrington, London, Beaumaris, Carnarvon, etc., 1772-1787 and undated (13) (personal news and news of acquaintances, instruments from Mr. Ramsden, a promise of Gothic and Runic alphabets and of an account of Elden Hole, [Derbyshire], proposed journeys by Mr. Banks to Iceland and by Mr. Forster to the South Pole (1772), a fire at Garden Court, London (1775), the height of Snowdon, the receiving of the two Forsters [Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Johann Georg Adam Forster, who had accompanied Captain Cook on his second voyage] by the King and Queen (1775), the preparation by Forster [senior] of a specimen narrative [in connection with his voyage] for Lord Sandwich's approbation (1775), the arrival of the Gymnotus Electricus, a letter to Mr. Panton stating that Lloyd would be glad to have copies of the correspondence between Sir John Wynne of Gwedir and Sir Hugh Myddelton, Mr. Panton's kindness in allowing the writer to peruse certain Gwedir papers, Lord Bulkeley's improvements at Baron Hill, [Anglesey], an ascent of Mont Blanc (1787), Mr. Herschel's discovery of two satellites to the Georgium Sidus [Uranus], a request for the return of 'the MS. Memoirs of Owen Glendower', the returning of books, namely Milnes Dictionary, Hill's British Herbal, Watson's Chemistry, etc., a gift of a pamphlet ?Letter from the Hon. Daines Barrington, F.R.S., to William Heberden, M.D., F.R.S., giving an Account of some Experiments made in North Wales to ascertain the different Quantities of Rain which fell in the same Time at different Heights [a copy of which is attached]); [William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, 3rd duke of] Portland, Whitehall, 1795 (representations made by Lloyd that troops should be quartered at Ruthin, the writer's suggestion to the Secretary at War that this was necessary in order to protect the county gaol where rioters were imprisoned); John ?Binnie, St. Asaph, 1809 (personal); J. Blackburn, St. James Street, [London], [1784] (personal); C[harles] Blagden, Philadelphia, [Pennsylvania], and [London], 1778-1796 and undated (4) (mathematical instruments at the college in Philadelphia including a very fine orrery, public lectures to be delivered in the town [of Philadelphia] (1778), the evacuation of Philadelphia by British forces and news of the war in America, letters by Mr. Mills relating to volcanic appearances in the Western Isles, the discovery of two comets by Miss [Caroline] Herschel and [Pierre Francois Andre] Mechain (1790), an acknowledgement of the receipt, on behalf of the Royal Society, of a copy of Edward Jones's The Prevention of Poverty (1796), news of electrical experiments); Lord and Lady de Blaquieres, Denbigh, 1798 and undated (2) (personal and social); Thomas Bolt, Lerwick, [Scotland], 1792 (relief of poverty caused in the area by the effects of bad crops and poor fishing, comments on the opinion held by certain people that the sun was visible for twenty four hours at the summer solstice); B. S. Booth, undated (a request for a ticket to attend debates at the House of Commons); Thomas Boydell, Trevellyn, 1794 (a lease of land on Mold mountain); Dr. William Brownrigg, Ormathwaite [?Cumberland], 1778-1780 (2) (Lloyd's trip to [Cumberland] to see the black lead mines, a request for a specimen of native lead from Anglesea); [Elizabeth Harriet Bulkeley, nee Warren,] Lady Bulkeley, Stanhope Street, [London], undated (personal); [Thomas James Bulkeley, later Warren-Bulkeley, lord] Bulkeley, Stanhope Street, Old Windsor, 1788-1801 and undated (10) (personal news, the tactics of the Opposition in parliament with regard to the issues arising out of the illness of the King [George III] (1788), [William] Pitt [the younger]'s defence of the King and his three parliamentary resolutions for meeting the constitutional crisis and creating a Regency (1788), Captain Williams's canvass of the county of Carnarvon (1790), 'adventures in Copper & Slate' on the writer's land by recipient, the assassination of the Duke of Orleans, talk of sending a fleet to the Baltic (1791), the situation in the East Indies (1791), a meeting with the Duchess of York, the imminence of a French attack upon the Electors of Treves and Mayence and the emmigrants at Coblentz [1791], the destruction of the Duke of Richmond's house at Privy Garden by fire, Sir Watkin Williams's appointment to the stewardship of the lordship of Denbigh and his appointment of Mr. Wynne of Plasnewydd as his deputy (1795), a request for support for Sir Robert Williams against Lord Penrhyn in the [parliamentary election for Carnarvonshire] (1795), the King's recovery from his illness, the writer's opinion that the King could not 'go on without either Pitt or Fox as Prime Minister', his disgust with the political manoeuvering [in parliament], the danger to the country, the unhappy state of parts of the county of Carnarvon (1801), a visit to Paris); [Peter Burrell, Baron] Gwydir [of Gwydir, Caernarvonshire], White Hall [London], 1798 (an invitation to an anniversary dinner of the Honourable Society of Ancient Britons); and Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss [Sarah] Ponsonby, Plas Newydd [Llangollen, 'The Ladies of Llangollen'], undated (social).