Lancashire Hollands

Lancashire Holland Pedigree & Searchable Database

The following pedigree uses as its baseline the pedigree of Holand of Upholand contained in the William Farrer collection of MSS held at Manchester Archives. The pedigree has then been extended by information contained in the source material listed below and includes 456 descendants of Mathew de Holland who died circa 1224.

No reference has been made whatsoever to online Pedigrees on private web sites relating to the Lancashire Hollands. Much more information is yet to be added both to this page and the pedigree. A work in progress!

A fully searchable database of this extended pedigree which includes images of some of the source material used can be accessed by clicking here . This version will be more convenient for those looking to find a specific name. Click on "Search" or "Surname Index" as appropriate.

An alternative HTML version of the pedigree can be seen by clicking here which will open a new page in your browser. Just close that page to return here. To start navigating backwards through the descendants of Mathew Holland, just click on his name.

Where you see a symbol in the pedigree you can click to see any notes I added to the original Family Tree Maker entry for an individual.

Where you see a symbol in the html family tree you can click to see the sources used for an individual.

Provenance

The information provided on this page is intended to serve as a basis for discussion with other Holland family researchers and should not in all cases be taken as a statement of historical fact. Most serious researchers will be aware that before the mid 16th Century, hard facts relating to the inter relationship between Holland family members and others who held the Holland surname are difficult to prove. There are many web sites that contain pedigrees or family trees containing members of the early Holland families. Few of them cite sources for their content, and even where they do they use Secondary sources compiled much later than the events they describe.

Before 1538 there was no formal requirement to record the baptism, marriage or burial of a person. Prior to this date the most reliable information will be in the form of;

Land & property records such as title deeds.
Manor & other court rolls including civil & criminal records.
Legal documents such as wills, administrations and indentures.
Estate records detailing tenancies, wages, employees.
Family records including correspondence and contemporary pedigrees.
Gravestones & Memorials.

The original documents from the list above are usually to be found in either the National Archives at Kew, major libraries or in local County Archives. The national Libraries such as the British Library and the National Library of Wales hold important collections of material including original manuscripts. Universities also hold a wide range of primary records in collections donated to them over the years. The internet contains very little of the original primary source material necessary to underpin research much before 1600.

Use of Pedigrees

Interest in genealogy is not new and the fascination in compiling pedigrees gained traction in the early 16th century with the College of Arms commencing with what were called "Visitations". These consisted of lists for each county of the nobles, knights and gentry recording their pedigree and associated coat of arms. The information derived by the Heralds relied on the trustworthiness and indeed memories of the families involved. Great importance was attached to the process by the families involved. Correspondence with the College of Arms was common with people trying to assert their right to bear a particular coat of arms and others who challenged the accuracy of information collected by the Heralds.

Other General Sources

The pedigrees compiled by the Heralds have been published in a series of volumes many of which are available on line through sources such as The Internet Archive. Much of their content has found its way into publications many of which date to the 19th century. Victorian antiquaries, historians and genealogists were prolific publishers of material which as its source used the Heralds Visitations and access to the other source material mentioned above. Some notable antiquaries actually purchased collections of family papers and pedigrees direct from family estates. Collections passed from one collector to another over the years and in most cases eventually were donated to libraries and archives. Some major collections of interest to Lancashire genealogists were donated to Chetham's Library in Manchester and Manchester Archives and are listed below.

When comparing information between different publications it is possible to see that plagiarism was fairly common, even in the 19th century, with material being regularly copied. Given that the ability of an author to assert credibility (and therefore greater sales) relied on information being presented as fact. there is little by way of caveats in these publications where the possibility of doubt might have existed. Often an assumption on the line of ascent or descent is presented as a fact where no firm evidence existed. Inaccuracies were perpetuated in this way and great care should be used when trying to make use of the material.

Sources Used

The information contained in the sources listed below comprise both original documents and books which often cite original documents as their source. Some links access the actual document if available online and where not to the institution where the document resides.

Title

Author or Source

Location of Record

Source Reference/s

Detailed Description of Content

Link

William Farrer and other correspondence 1899-1910: letters (37)

Farrer, William born 1861. Antiquary.

Manchester Archives and Local Studies

L1/49/11

L1/56/1/5

L1/56/1/7

L1/56/2/10

Pedigrees, Letters, Coats of Arms

Collection	Archive Reference	Pedigree Content

William Farrer	L1/56/1	Holand of Upholand Co Lancaster
William Farrer	L1/56/1	Pedigree of Holland Sheet 1 (top level sheet including Hollands of Euxton) Follow letters A - F at bottom for successive generations.
William Farrer	L1/56/1	Pedigree of Holland Sheet 2. Follow letters G - K at bottom for successive generations.
William Farrer	L1/56/1	Pedigree of Holland Sheet 3 ( including Hollands of Sutton & Denton) Follow letters L - M at bottom for successive generations.
William Farrer	L1/56/1	Pedigree of Holland Sheet 4 (including Hollands of Clifton)
William Farrer	L1/56/1	Pedigree of Holland Sheet 5 (including Hollands of Denton) Follow letter N at bottom for successive generations.
William Farrer	L1/56/1	Pedigree of Holland Sheet 6.
William Farrer	L1/56/1	Holland of Sutton.

Holland Family	Coat of Arms	Comments

Sir Robert de Holland (alive in 1275)		Arms Azure semee de fleur de lis a lion rampant guardant Argent. Earliest known coat of arms. Source: A History of Lancashire Vol IV Page 93.

Holland of Euxton		Arms Azure, powdered with fleurs de lis a lion rampant guardant Argent, over all a bendlet Gules. Source: British History Online.

Holland of Denton		Arms Quarterly 1,4. Azure [semee of fleur de lys] a lion rampant guardant, between six fleur de lys, Argent, overall a bend Gules [Holland], 2,3. Sable [Argent], a cross lozengy Argent [Sable] overall a bend gobonated Argent [or] & Gules [Azure] [Kenyon] Source: Visitation of Lancashire 1567 Page 18. Image Courtesy of Chethams Library, Manchester. William Barrit Collection.

Holland of Clifton		Source: Visitation of the County of Lancaster 1533. See below.

Holland of Clifton		The formal description of the Arms & Crest for Holland of Clifton given in the Visitation of Lancaster 1533 is as below. Arms. Quarterly 1st & 4th Azure; Semme of fleur de lys and a lion rampant Argent overall a bendlet Gules Holland; 3rd & 4th sable three female heads hooded Argent. Crest. A wolf passant sable. The photograph left was taken from the Thomas Barrit collection held at Chethams Library in Manchester and is reproduced by their kind permission. It illustrates very well the colour scheme described.

Holland of Sutton		Arms. Azure, a lion rampant guardant, between six fleur de lys [semee of fleur de lys] Argent, oppressed by a bend, Gules, charged with a crescent, between the points a mullet. Source: Visitation of Lancashire 1567 Page 115. Image Courtesy of Chethams Library, Manchester. William Barrit Collection.