The family of Robert Holborne of Harwich have, with a few exceptions, been involved in shipbuilding for centuries, continuing up until the 1930s. The earliest chronological reference found for any
shipwright
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
bearing the name ‘Holb(o/u)rn(e)’ is that of Robert Holborn who was granted
Letters Patent
Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...
in 1543, along with
Peter Pett
Peter Pett (6 August 1610 – 1672) was an English Master Shipwright and Second Resident Commissioner of Chatham Dockyard. He protected his scale models and drawings of the King's Fleet during the Dutch Raid on the Medway, in Kent in June 1667, d ...
and others skillful in
shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
. The authority for these letters patent was not by the usual ''Writ of Privy Seal,'' but ''Per Ipsum Regent,'' i.e., by "direct motion of the King,"
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
.
Shipwrights were granted direct employment by the Crown. The first list of Master Shipwrights appointed by Patent by Henry VIII included John Smyth, Robert Holborn, Richard Bull, James Baker (father of
Mathew Baker) and Peter Pett. On 23 April 1548, Robert Holborn, Smyth and Bull received similar patents, and it was added that, as shipwrights, they should instruct others, by reason of their long and good service.
Shipwrights were in high demand during the 16th century, and sometimes many members of the same family engaged in the trade, such as the
Pett family. Robert Holborn appears also to have come from a family of shipwrights. Early family wills place him among the Holborns of Erith, and he was likely an uncle or father to Richard Hoborn of Chatham.
reference : Elizabethan Ship by Gregory Robinson (Paperback 1964) Then and There Series.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holborn, Robert
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English shipwrights