Thomas Brand Hollis (1719 – 9 September 1804), born Thomas Brand, was a British political radical and dissenter.

Early life

Thomas Brand was born the only son of Timothy Brand, a

mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader, ...

Ingatestone Ingatestone is a village and former civil parish in Essex, England, with a population of 5,365 inhabitants according to the 2011 census. Just north lies the village of Fryerning, the two forming now the parish of Ingatestone and Fryerning. Ing ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, and his wife Sarah Michell of Rickling. He was educated at Brentwood School and

Felsted School (Keep your Faith) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Chris Townsend , r_head_l ...

. He attended the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. There he was a friend of Richard Baron: both were nonconformists influenced by Francis Hutcheson. He turned down the chance to study at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1741, but did befriend the political philosopher and writer Thomas Hollis through the inns of court. In 1748–9 Brand toured Europe with Hollis,. He made further European travels from 1750 to 1753. In June 1756 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

Heir to Thomas Hollis

On his death in 1774, Hollis left his estate, at

Corscombe Corscombe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, in the Dorset Council administrative area. The parish includes the small settlements of Benville and Toller Whelme to the south and in the 2011 census had a population of ...

and

Halstock __NOTOC__ Halstock is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, situated approximately south of Yeovil in Somerset. It lies on the route of the ancient Harrow Way. In the 2011 census the parish had a populatio ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, to Brand on condition that Brand added the name of Hollis to his own name.

Political activity

Brand Hollis sided with the revolutionary activity in Great Britain's American colonies. He corresponded with

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

and

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

, and had Jefferson's

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was drafted in 1777 by Thomas Jefferson in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and introduced into the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond in 1779. On January 16, 1786, the Assembly enacted the statute into the s ...

reprinted in a local newspaper, the ''Chelmsford Gazette''. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1782. In 1774 Brand Hollis was briefly elected to Parliament as the member for Hindon, Wiltshire, by spending 15 guineas per vote. On petition the election was declared void due to bribery by the winning candidates. He and his fellow candidate, Richard Smith, were prosecuted, fined one thousand

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, and imprisoned for six months. In a rerun of the election Brand Hollis withdrew his name but Smith was re-elected. Brand Hollis was in 1780 a founder of the

Society for Constitutional Information The Society for Constitutional Information was a British activist group founded in 1780 by Major John Cartwright, to promote parliamentary reform. It was an organisation of social reformers, many of whom were drawn from the rational dissenting c ...

, and a local member of the

Yorkshire Association Christopher Wyvill (1740–1822) was an English cleric and landowner, a political reformer who inspired the formation of the '' Yorkshire Association'' movement in 1779. The American Revolutionary War had forced the government of Lord North t ...

. He worked with John Jebb on a plan for electoral reform, radical and incorporating ideas from

James Burgh James Burgh (1714–1775) was a British Whig politician whose book ''Political Disquisitions'' set out an early case for free speech and universal suffrage: in it, he writes, "All lawful authority, legislative, and executive, originates from the ...

. He became a Unitarian, and campaigned against the

Test Acts The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and nonconformists. The underlying principle was that only people taking communion in ...

The Hyde

Brand Hollis resided at The Hyde, a country house in Essex bought by his father in 1718, and improved for him in 1761 by William Chambers. In July 1786, he entertained there his friend

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

, the first American ambassador to the Court of St. James's. Adams stayed for several days, as recorded in his memoirs.

Death and aftermath

On his death in 1804 Brand Hollis left Corscombe and his own property in Ingatestone to John Disney, a personal friend. Disney erected a monument to him in Ingatestone Church, and published his ''Memoirs of Thomas Brand Hollis'' in 1808. The Hyde was demolished in 1965, following damage in a fire.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hollis, Thomas Brand 1719 births 1804 deaths People from Ingatestone Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Glasgow Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1774–1780 Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the Royal Society British politicians convicted of crimes