Holland

SIR HENRY HOLLAND (1788 - 1873)

Holland was a relative of Elizabeth Gaskell (q.v.), and was born in Knutsford in Cheshire (Mrs Gaskell's 'Cranford'). As a boy he spent four happy years of schooling (1799-1803) in the house of his uncle, the Rev. William Turner in Newcastle, evidently at 248 Westgate Road. He was a great favourite in the Turner household, according to Turner's elder daughter, Mary. On 29 May 1800, Holland wrote a long and affectionate letter to his father Peter, who practised medicine in Knutsford (he appears as Dr Hoggin in Cranford) . The letter described Holland's life in Newcastle, including his studies in Latin, Greek and French, and contains details of what he calls the town's 'Literary Society' and its library. His own reading included James Bruce's travels in Abyssinia, borrowed from another Newcastle library.

Holland rose to become physician to Prince Albert and, in 1852, to the Queen. He was for many years President of the Royal Institution. He resolved not to earn more than 5,000 pounds a year from medical practice in order to devote time to literature and extensive foreign travel - he claimed to have visited every country in Europe more than once. He visited Iceland in 1810 and again incredibly, in 1871 (when he encountered William Morris (q.v.) in Reykjavik). These interests, his profession and a happy temperament and sociable disposition gained him a vast acquaintance. His writings include Travels in the Ionian Isles, Albania, Thessaly and Greece (1812-13); Medical Notes and Reflections (1839); Essays on Scientific and Other Subjects (1862) and Recollections of Past Life (1872).

Other 'old northists' in Victorian England included G.W. Kitchin, Dean of Durham, and Bligh Peacock of Newcastle ('a merchant and scholar, who knows the northern languages, Icelandic inclusive').Gudbrandur Vigfusson stayed with Peacock whenever he lectured in north-east England after his arrival in Britain in 1864.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
SIR HENRY HOLLAND (1788 - 1873) Holland was a relative of Elizabeth Gaskell (q.v.), and was born in Knutsford in Cheshire (Mrs Gaskell's 'Cranford'). As a boy he spent four happy years of schooling (1799-1803) in the house of his uncle, the Rev. William Turner in Newcastle, evidently at 248 Westgate Road. He was a great favourite in the Turner household, according to Turner's elder daughter, Mary. On 29 May 1800, Holland wrote a long and affectionate letter to his father Peter, who practised medicine in Knutsford (he appears as Dr Hoggin in Cranford) . The letter described Holland's life in Newcastle, including his studies in Latin, Greek and French, and contains details of what he calls the town's 'Literary Society' and its library. His own reading included James Bruce's travels in Abyssinia, borrowed from another Newcastle library. Holland rose to become physician to Prince Albert and, in 1852, to the Queen. He was for many years President of the Royal Institution. He resolved not to earn more than 5,000 pounds a year from medical practice in order to devote time to literature and extensive foreign travel - he claimed to have visited every country in Europe more than once. He visited Iceland in 1810 and again incredibly, in 1871 (when he encountered William Morris (q.v.) in Reykjavik). These interests, his profession and a happy temperament and sociable disposition gained him a vast acquaintance. His writings include Travels in the Ionian Isles, Albania, Thessaly and Greece (1812-13); Medical Notes and Reflections (1839); Essays on Scientific and Other Subjects (1862) and Recollections of Past Life (1872). Other 'old northists' in Victorian England included G.W. Kitchin, Dean of Durham, and Bligh Peacock of Newcastle ('a merchant and scholar, who knows the northern languages, Icelandic inclusive').Gudbrandur Vigfusson stayed with Peacock whenever he lectured in north-east England after his arrival in Britain in 1864.
Return to Index	On to next Author