Robert Durning Holt (11 October 1832 in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
– 10 December 1908) was an English
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
-broker and local politician. He was Mayor of Liverpool and the first
Lord Mayor of Liverpool
The office of Lord Mayor of Liverpool has existed in one form or another since the foundation of Liverpool as a borough by the Royal Charter of King John in 1207, simply being referred to as the Mayor of Liverpool. The position is now a most ...
(1892–1893).
Holt was the youngest of five sons of
George Holt and Emma Durning and worked first in his father's cotton-broking business. Among his brothers were
George Holt, who co-founded the
Lamport and Holt
Lamport and Holt was a UK merchant shipping line. It was founded as a partnership in 1845, reconstituted as a limited company in 1911 and ceased trading in 1991.
From 1845 until 1975 Lamport and Holt was headquartered in Liverpool. The founder ...
shipping line,
Philip Holt, and
Alfred Holt
Alfred Holt (13 June 1829 – 28 November 1911) was a British engineer, ship owner and merchant. He lived at Crofton Estate, Crofton, Aigburth in Liverpool, England. Holt is credited with establishing the long distance steamship by develo ...
, founder of the
Blue Funnel Line
Alfred Holt and Company, trading as Blue Funnel Line, was a UK shipping company that was founded in 1866 and operated merchant ships for 122 years. It was one of the UK's larger shipowning and operating companies, and as such had a significan ...
. All were
Unitarians.
Robert Durning Holt married Lawrencina Potter, daughter of
railway magnate Richard Potter and Lawrencina Heyworth, and older sister of
Beatrice Webb
Martha Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield, (née Potter; 22 January 1858 – 30 April 1943) was an English sociologist, economist, socialist, labour historian and social reformer. It was Webb who coined the term ''collective bargaining''. She ...
. One of their sons was the national politician
Sir Richard Durning Holt, 1st Baronet
Sir Richard Durning Holt, Baronet, JP (13 November 1868 – 22 March 1941) was a British Liberal Party politician and businessman with interests in shipping.
Background and education
Holt was born on 13 November 1868 at Edge Lane, in West Derb ...
, while another was
Lawrence Durning Holt
Lawrence Durning Holt (17 November 1882 – 1961) was a businessman with interests in shipping. Together with Kurt Hahn, he founded the Outward Bound organisation.
Lawrence Durning Holt was born in 1882 to Robert Durning Holt and Lawrencina ...
, who also became a Lord Mayor of Liverpool.
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, Robert Durning
1832 births
1908 deaths
Businesspeople from Liverpool
Mayors of Liverpool
Richard Durning
English Unitarians
19th-century English businesspeople