Lloyd Jones left Ireland for
Manchester in 1827 in pursuit of work, where he followed his father's trade taking employment as a
fustian cutter and soon after joining the Journeyman's Union of
Fustian Cutters was appointed its Secretary. When there was some expectation of another
Peterloo Massacre, Lloyd Jones, like many thousands of others in the North, provided himself with arms, with a view to active resistance. He joined the
Salford Co-operative Society in 1829 and ran its free school until 1831. He subsequently became the chief platform advocate for
Robert Owen's plan of village companies and later, when Owen's emphasis shifted to the utopian and religious, Lloyd Jones was a paid Owenite "Social Missionary". He continued evangelising until the mission was ended in 1845. For many years, these plans were vigorously opposed by the clergy who regarded Owen's theories as immoral. Lloyd Jones had a good presence and a fine voice, with readiness and courage in controversy. He was regarded as the best public debater of his day, and was in more discussions than any other of Owen's supporters. When the
Chartists' proposal of a month's annual holiday was put forward in 1839 with a view to showing practically the importance of the labouring classes, Lloyd Jones was appointed to address the Chartists of the Manchester district with whom the strength of the movement rested. An audience of five thousand men assembled in the Carpenters' Hall and a further five thousand outside. After Lloyd Jones' speech in opposition to the "sacred month", the project was abandoned. He was later appointed a member of the first
Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress and was the first secretary of the
Labour Representation League. ==Religion==