Gordon William Lloyd was born in Cambridge, England.

He left his mark on cities around the Midwest, especially in Detroit, with his stately churches, homes and buildings.

He studied under his uncle Ewan Christian at the Royal Academy in London before moving to Detroit in 1858. He soon became one of the growing city's leading architects, designing mansions for some of Detroit's wealthiest elite, but almost everything else, from police stations to an insane asylum to a university.

Though his business his office was in Detroit, the architect actually lived across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario. Nevertheless, when he died at age 72 in San Francisco, his body was brought back to Detroit. Lloyd is buried in Elmwood Cemetery on the city's east side.