Seth Holland (died 1561) was an English Roman Catholic churchman, Dean of Worcester and Warden of

All Souls' College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

under Queen Mary, but imprisoned in the Marshalsea under Elizabeth I, where he died.

Life

He was educated at All Souls' College, Oxford, where he was admitted B.A. 19 December 1534, and commenced M.A. 31 March 1539. He was elected a fellow of his college, and after taking orders became rector of

Fladbury Fladbury is a traditional English village located in rural Worcestershire, England. The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book, almost 1,000 years ago. It is sited on the banks of the River Avon, with many interesting and original buildin ...

, Worcestershire, and chaplain to

Richard Pate Richard Pate or Pates (1516–1588) was an English landowner and Member of Parliament for Gloucester in the Parliament of 1559 and 1563–1567. His parliamentary career is detailed in the History of Parliament. Pate was born in Cheltenham ...

, sharing in his 1542 act of attainder. Later, on leaving Rome for England in 1554, he became chaplain to

Cardinal Pole Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal of the Catholic Church and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation. Early life Pole was born a ...

. In 1555 he was chosen Warden of All Souls' College, and on 26 April in that year he was installed as prebendary of Worcester. On 12 August 1557 he was installed Dean of Worcester in the place of

Philip Hawford Philip Hawford alias Ballard (died 11 August 1557) was the parish priest (c.1536 – 1557) at Elmley Lovett, Worcestershire. He was also the last Abbot of Evesham and also Dean of Worcester. Life Philip Hawford became Abbot of Evesham Abbey by pr ...

, the last

Abbot of Evesham The Abbot of Evesham was the head of Evesham Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Worcestershire founded in the Anglo-Saxon era of English history. The succession continued until the dissolution of the monastery in 1540. List Notes References * ...

, and about the same time he was instituted to the rectory of Bishop Cleeve, Gloucestershire. Shortly before Mary's death,

, then lying on his deathbed, sent Holland to the Princess Elizabeth, with a letter in which he dwelt on his fidelity, and begged her 'to give credit to whatever he shall say on my behalf'.http://www.godrules.net/library/strype/96strype_a2.htm gives this from John Strype; Thompson Cooper in the ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' here confuses Mary and Elizabeth. As Holland refused to comply with the religious changes introduced after Elizabeth's accession, he was removed from the wardenship of All Souls, and in October 1559 he was deprived of the deanery of Worcester. He was committed prisoner to the Marshalsea, and, dying in confinement, was buried on 6 March 1561 in St. George's parish,

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, brought to the church by about threescore gentlemen of the Inns of Court and Oxford.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Seth Year of birth missing 1561 deaths 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests Deans of Worcester Wardens of All Souls College, Oxford English people who died in prison custody English chaplains Catholic chaplains