Gervase Holles (9 March 1607 – 10 February 1675) was an English lawyer, antiquarian and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1640 to 1642. He fought in the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

army in the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. Holles was the son of Frescheville Holles of

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

, Lincolnshire and was baptised at Grimsby on 13 March 1607. He was

Mayor of Grimsby Below is a list of mayors of the town of Grimsby in the English ceremonial county of Lincolnshire. The first recorded Mayor of Grimsby was in 1201. After 1835 the mayoral year usually began in November, although after 1949 it sometimes began ...

in 1636, 1638 and was called to the bar at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1639. ''Alumni Oxonienses, 1500-1714: Hieron-Horridge'', Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714: Abannan-Kyte (1891), pp. 706-747. Date accessed: 26 February 2011
/ref> In April 1640, Holles was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks. Aft ...

. He was re-elected MP for Grimsby for the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened for only three weeks during the spring of 1640 after an 11-year parliamentary absence. In Septem ...

in November 1640.History of Parliament Online - Holles, Gervaise
/ref> He supported the King and was disabled in August, 1642. He was awarded MA at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

on 1 November 1642 and served as colonel of foot to Charles I and Louis XIV. He was an antiquary and during his exile in Holland wrote on historical subjects including ''Parentela Hollesiorum'' and ''Lincolnshire Church Notes''. After the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

, Holles was re-elected MP for Grimsby in 1661 for the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

and sat until his death in 1675. In 1663, he was Mayor of Grimsby for the third and last time. He was secretary of petitions to Charles II and one of the Masters of Requests. Holles died at the age of 67 and was buried at Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. Holles married twice. His second wife was Elizabeth Molesworth and their only son, Frescheville,Westminster Abbey - Holles Family
/ref> was also Mayor and MP for Grimsby.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holles, Gervase 1607 births 1675 deaths Cavaliers Mayors of Grimsby Members of the Middle Temple English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1661–1679 Members of the Parliament of England for Great Grimsby