GORDON LLOYD
(Gordon W. Lloyd)
He argues that it is erroneous to assume motivation and position of individuals at a particular time or with respect to a particular event based on positions and writings that they take later---excepting memoirs. The particular context of Lloyd’s remark was in response to a question of what Thomas Jefferson’s position might have been on several Constitutional provisions given his correspondence post 1800. Lloyd argues that Jefferson’s trials as President later then shaped his views while at the time of the Constitutional convention, he had not had those experiences and were not influenced by them. People change their minds and political philosophies and there is the ever present exigencies of the day that affect views.
Gordon W. Lloyd was an architect of English origin, whose work was primarily in the American Midwest. After being taught by his uncle, Ewan Christian, at the Royal Academy, Lloyd moved to Detroit in 1858. There he established himself as a popular architect of Episcopal churches and cathedrals in the region, mostly in the states of Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In addition to churches, Lloyd designed several secular works, such as commercial buildings, residences and an insane asylum. Though his office was in Detroit, Lloyd lived across the river in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
