Background
Born in Knutsford, Cheshire, Holland was the son of the physician Peter Holland (1766–1853) and his wife Mary Willets.
Born in Knutsford, Cheshire, Holland was the son of the physician Peter Holland (1766–1853) and his wife Mary Willets.
He studied medicine at Edinburgh University (Master of Arts, 1811).
Peter"s sister Elizabeth was the mother of the novelist Elizabeth Gaskell, and Mary was the niece of the potter Josiah Wedgwood. He had an extensive practice and was Domestic Physician to Caroline, Princess of Wales (briefly in 1814) and Physician Extraordinary to William IV and to Queen Victoria. He was also Physician in Ordinary to Queen Victoria in 1852.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in January, 1815 and served on the council three times.
He was created a Baronet in 1853. Holland gained fame through his travel writings, having travelled to Iceland and through the Balkans and the Iberian peninsula, while the British were at war with France.
He was also a talented society physician, and between his good looks, his charm, and his experiences and conversation, he was much in demand. Holland died on his 85th birthday, 27 October 1873, at his house in Brook Street, London.
Henry Holland, 1st Viscount Knutsford (1825–1914)
Francis James Holland (1828–1907)
Elinor Anne Holland (1826–1829)
Emma died on 2 February 1830.
Caroline Holland (1834–1909), author of Notebooks of a Spinster Lady, publication posth. 1919
Gertrude Holland (1840–1898).
Royal Society.