Henry Lloyd I (1685–1763)

Henry Lloyd I (1685–1763)

Henry Lloyd I was the second lord of the Manor of Queens Village and the first of the Lloyd family to have a house built on Lloyd’s Neck. The structure, which survives in Caumsett State Park, was completed in 1711, and is where Jupiter Hammon (1711–before 1806), the first published African American poet, was born into slavery and authored his earliest works. In 1750, Henry’s eldest son urged his father to sit for a portrait at his expense. London-born painter John Wollaston executed Lloyd’s likeness from life the following year.

The original Wollaston portrait, which is now lost, likely hung at both the Henry Lloyd and Joseph Lloyd manor houses. This version, signed and dated by American artist John Mare, is a posthumous copy commissioned by Henry Lloyd I’s youngest son, Dr. James Lloyd (1728 –1810) of Boston. In 1767, James wrote to Joseph Lloyd (1716–1780) at Queens Village requesting that his brother oversee the packing of their father’s portrait for Mare to copy in New York City.