Bartholomew Lloyd 1822-1831

Bartholomew Lloyd was born in 1772 in New Ross, Co. Wexford. He enrolled in Trinity College on 28^th June 1787, aged 15 and became a Scholar in 1790. He graduated BA in 1792, MA in 1796, BD in 1805, and DD in 1808. He became a Fellow in 1796 and the Donnellan Lecturer in 1807.  He was appointed the Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Mathematics in 1813, despite being a Junior Fellow at the time. He began reforming the teaching of mathematics, introducing the latest developments in mathematics from French mathematicians such as Laplace and Poisson. In 1822 he became the Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, serving until 1831. He was appointed Archbishop King’s Lecturer in 1823 and 1827.

Lloyd was appointed Provost of Trinity College in 1831. His reforms included: reorganising the tutorial system, introducing three academic terms, excluding certain professors from tutorial duties and increasing their salaries.  Opposition arose as one of those who stood to benefit was the incoming Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and Lloyd’s son, Humphrey, was a leading candidate.  Humphrey would later also become Provost. The increase in salaries was greatly beneficial as professors could focus on lectures and research rather than needing additional work to make a living.  Lloyd also approved the construction of new buildings in Front Square, the construction of a magnetic observatory, and the distinction between pass and honors courses. Sir William Rowan Hamilton claimed that Lloyd’s ’Treatise on analytic geometry‘ (1819) inspired him to pursue his scientific career. He was married to Eleanor McLaughlin and they had four sons and six daughters. Lloyd died suddenly on 24^th November 1837 and is buried in the College chapel. His portrait hangs in the Fitzgerald Building in Trinity College.

Sources

1. Thomas Ulick Sadlier (1935), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of students, graduates, professors, and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860), Thom Co Ltd, page 504, https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/70795b624
2. TCD (2021), Bartholomew Lloyd, TCD https://www.tcd.ie/Provost/history/former-Provosts/b_llyod.php
3. J. Connor and E. F. Robertson (2016), Bartholomew Lloyd, St Andrews https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Lloyd_Bartholomew/
4. David Murphy (2009), Lloyd, Bartholomew, Dictionary of Irish Biography. https://www.dib.ie/biography/lloyd-bartholomew-a4854
5. Image of Bartholomew Lloyd, By Unknown author - McTutor History of mathematics: http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/PictDisplay/Lloyd_Bartholomew.html , Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47528046