Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.
Sir Henry Holland, 1st Baronet
27 October 1788 – 27 October 1873
Sir Henry Holland
Born in Knutsford, Cheshire, Holland was the son of the physician Peter Holland and Mary Willets. Peter’s sister Elizabeth was the mother of the novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, and Mary was the niece of the potter Josiah Wedgwood. He studied medicine at Edinburgh University.
Henry had an extensive practice and was Domestic Physician to Caroline, Princess of Wales (briefly in 1814) and Physician Extraordinary to William IV and to Queen Victoria. He was also Physician in Ordinary to Queen Victoria in 1852.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1815 and served on the council three times. He was made a Baronet in 1853.
Holland gained fame through his travel writings, having travelled to Iceland and through the Balkans and the Iberian peninsula, while the British were at war with France. He was also a talented society physician, and between his good looks, his charm, and his experiences and conversation, he was much in demand.
Holland died on his 85th birthday, 27 October 1873, at his house in Brook Street, London.
In 1822 he married, Margaret Emma Caldwell (1795–1830, known as Emma), with whom he had two sons and two daughters:
- Henry Holland, 1st Viscount Knutsford
- Francis James Holland
- Emily Mary Holland married Charles Buxton
- Elinor Anne Holland
Emma died in 1830. He later became son-in-law to the wit Sydney Smith whose daughter, Saba, he married as his second wife, with whom he had two daughters:
- Caroline Holland
- Gertrude Holland
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