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TRAGEDY OF A LIVERPOOL PROFESSOR

November 10, 2015 By Steven Horton

In 1906 a Liverpool language professor died in tragic circumstances whilst attending a conference in Switzerland.

Dr Richard John Lloyd was missing for several days before his body was washed up across the border in France, having apparently fallen into the River Rhone and drowned. richard john lloyd memorial toxteth cemetery (2) Lloyd was born in Liverpool in 1846 and worked as a port customs official.

He combined this role with his studies in literature and languages, writing several papers on the advantage of universal languages and becoming one of the leading philologists of his day, achieving an M.A. and Doctorate in Literature.

The language of Esperanto was developed by Ludwik Zamelhof in 1887 and two years later Lloyd hosted the first lecture in it at the University of Liverpool, going on to teach a course for it there in 1903. Lloyd lived local to the university, sharing his Grove Street home with his wife and two servants.

The first annual World Congress of Esperanto took place in Boulogne, France in 1905 and in August 1906 Lloyd went to attend that years gathering in Geneva. On the 29th he went for a walk in the forest out of the city but did not return as expected and a telegram was sent to his family in Liverpool.esperanto congress poster

Lloyd’s daughter and her husband travelled to Geneva to help with the search and their enquiries established that he was last seen at 8pm on the evening of his disappearance in a  village a few miles away from there. They sent a telegram home saying that they feared Lloyd had fallen somewhere, contradicting an earlier one from another source claiming that he had been found safe and well in Geneva suffering from memory loss due to heatstroke.

It was not untilrichard johnlloyd memorial toxteth cemetery the 14th September that Lloyd’s body was discovered, at Seyssel in France. It was believed that he had lost his footing on the river bank and fallen into the River Rhone near Geneva. He was buried at Seyssel but a memorial erected at Toxteth Park Cemetery where the remains of his wife Mary were interred after she died in 1909.

Lloyd’s work was carried on at the University of Liverpool by Professor William Collinson and the establishment continues to deliver short courses in Esperanto today. The language is believed to be spoken by about 2 million worldwide, of which 2,000 speak nothing else and it is also listed on Google Translate.

You can teach yourself Esperanto with this book

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Filed Under: People, Uncategorized Tagged With: esperanto, Grove Street, Switzerland, Toxteth Park Cemetery, University of Liverpool

About Steven Horton

I am a local history author and tour guide based the Liverpool region, specialising in bespoke tours tailor made to suit the individual or group. Whether it be football, Victorian murders or Liverpool sites connected to the US Civil War, I can arrange something that will suit the customers needs, not go where I want to take people.
I have published seventeen books, all of which are available via the shop page. As well as writing for the Liverpool Echo and Times, I have made guest appearances on local radio and TV. Local history is a real passion of mine, if you enjoy my site please feel free to share through facebook, twitter etc and maybe leave a comment.

Comments

  1. Bill Chapman says

    January 1, 2016 at 6:14 pm

    I hope you will allow a small correction by an Esperanto speaker who is a frequent visitor to Liverpool. There are native speakers of Esperanto, but all of them speak the languages of one parent or both as well as the language of the country where they are brought up if that differs from their parents’ mother tongues.

    I have written about pioneers of Esperanto in Liverpool and about a postcard linking Catherine Jenkins of Walton to Japanese scientist on my blog The Joy of Languages: http://thejoyoflanguages.blogspot.co.uk/

    • Steven Horton says

      January 12, 2016 at 10:03 pm

      Of course Bill thankyou for the clarification

  2. James Piton says

    January 21, 2016 at 1:58 am

    Well told (and sad) history! It’s something new to me, in this wonderful world of histories around Esperanto and its community.

    I knew about Marie Schröder, a young Danish journalist and prominent advocate of Esperanto. She died in Switzerland on her way to the 5th World Esperanto Congress to be held in Barcelone, Spain (1909).

    Being a father of two “native” Esperanto speaking preteeners, I support Bill’s remark: there is no Esperanto-only speaker.

    Greetings from Brazil!

ABOUT

Steven Horton has been a freelance writer for 20+ years. He is the author of 7 books has written for the Times, Liverpool Echo, numerous fanzines and websites, and also appeared on Radio Merseyside/City Talk, ITV News and Sky Sports News. ..read more

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