Sir John Holland, 2nd Baronet (c. 1669 – by July 1724), of

Quidenham Hall Quidenham Hall is a country house at Quidenham in Norfolk, England. History A dwelling is known to have existed on the site as far back as the year 1000, which passed to the Bedingfeld family around 1400. In 1572 the manor was bought by John Hol ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

was a British Whig politician who sat in the English and

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

from 1701 to 1710.

Early life

Holland was the second, but eldest surviving son of Thomas Holland of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, and his second wife Elizabeth Meade, daughter of Thomas Meade of Wenden Lofts, Essex. He was educated at Bury St Edmunds grammar school under Mr Leeds, and was at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

from September 1685 to 1687. He succeeded his father in 1698. In May 1699, he married Lady Rebecca Paston, daughter of

William Paston, 2nd Earl of Yarmouth William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

and his wife Charlotte FitzRoy, illegitimate daughter of

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

. He succeeded his grandfather Sir John Holland, 1st Baronet to the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

and Quidenham on 19 January 1701.

Career

Holland was returned in a contest as Member of Parliament for

at the second general election of 1701. He made his first recorded speech on 24 February 1702 and was a teller for the Whigs six times. He was returned again at the

1702 English general election The 1702 English general election was the first to be held during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain, Queen Anne, and was necessitated by the demise of William III of England, William III. The new government dominated by the Tories (Briti ...

and continued to be very active in Parliament, particularly as a teller for the Whigs. At the

1705 English general election The 1705 English general election saw contests in 110 United Kingdom constituencies, constituencies in England and Wales, roughly 41% of the total. The election was fiercely fought, with mob violence and cries of "Church in Danger" occurring in ...

he was returned unopposed as a Whig MP for Norfolk. He seconded the nomination of the Court's candidate for Speaker on 25 October 1705 and acted as teller for the Whigs on several occasions. He was returned again as a Whig for Norfolk at the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November the Whi ...

. In March 1708 he spoke for the

Bishop of Carlisle The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York. The diocese covers the county of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District. The Episcop ...

’s cathedrals bill, and was appointed on 11 March to the committee to draw up an address to press for continued vigorous prosecution of the war, and subsequently reported from the committee. He voted for the naturalization of the Palatines in 1709. In March 1709 he was appointed

Comptroller of the Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of ...

, and was sworn a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

on 2 June 1709. On 14 December 1709 he was asked to prepare the articles of impeachment against Dr Sacheverell, and became a manager of the impeachment. He voted for the impeachment and helped present the prosecution’s case on 28 February 1710. The Norfolk Whigs decided not to put him forward at the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

, probably because his fellow Whigs did not like his generally remiss behaviour, and he was unable to secure another seat then or at the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election was held on 22 August 1713 to 12 November 1713, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 R ...

. He was dismissed from his office in the household in June 1711 but he was paid his arrears of salary and was given an extra £250 as royal bounty in 1712. Holland did not receive anything from George I and turned against the Norfolk Whig establishment. He did not stand at the

1715 British general election The 1715 British general election was held on 22 January 1715 to 9 March 1715, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliam ...

, but challenged the Townsend-Walpole interest unsuccessfully at

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

at the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

Death and legacy

Holland died in about 1724, and was buried at Quidenham. Through his wife, Rebecca, their two sons and three daughters were great-grandchildren of Charles II. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son William.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, John 1660s births 18th-century deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown Baronets in the Baronetage of England Members of the Parliament of England for Norfolk Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Norfolk English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707 British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain