Tracing the de Holland family was one of them. Usually in those times, people did not have a surname. They were known as ........de Saxony, meaning that person came from Saxony, or another would be FitzHerbert, meaning the child of someone named Herbert. So when it came to tracing the de Hollands, initial research had them originating in Holand in Lancashire in England.
A little more research provided the fact that they originated from Holland, in fact they were members of the Flemish aristocracy.
Dirk III (also called Diederik or Theodoric) was Count of Holland from 993 to May 27, 1039, until 1005 under regency of his mother. It is thought that Dirk III went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land around 1030, hence his nickname of Hierosolymita ('the Jerusalemite' in Latin).
Working down the generations
The first deHoland in England seems to be Siward (The Warrior)
Holand or Holande was the spelling used prior to the 15th century. The family settled in Upholland, a village about four miles west of Wigan. The manor of Upholland is listed in the Domesday Book as "Holland". The ancient township of Upholland at one time was numbered among the market towns of Lancashire. A castle and priory adorned this place when the de Holandes were its lords. The castle has disappeared. The church remains, along with diminutive ruins. All that remains now of the Monastery buildings are fragments of some ivy clad ruins, but the Chapel of the old Priory still exists, and is now a Parish Church of Upholland.
Siward was the son of Count Dirk VI de Longworth who was born in Gravenhage in 1114 and died in Rijnsburg in 1157. His wife was Countess Sofie van Salm von de Rheineck from Germany.
They had two sons, Floris III Count of Holland and Siward de Longsworth de Holand who married Julana de Robert, the daughter of Robert le Croc de Longsworth.
The story of Floris III is rather interesting and give an example of how all the lives of those in the higher eschelon became intertwined. It seems that Floris III stayed in Holland.
Her brother was Wlliam de Warrenne who married Adelia the Countess of Surrey and grandmother of Ela of Salisbury!
Henry's father was King David I of Scotland and his wife Matilda of Hungtington
David I's father was King Malcolm of Scotland. David was also the sister of Matilda wife of King Henry I and Alexander I King of Scotland who married Sybilla Corbet of Alcester none other than one of King Henry's mistresses!
On September 28, 1162, Floris married Ada, sister of king William I of Scotland, also known as William the Lion. The county of Holland adopted from him the rampant lion in the coat of arms and the name of William.
Floris III was a loyal vassal to Frederick I Barbarossa. He accompanied the emperor on two expeditions to Italy in 1158 and 1176–1178. Frederick thanked him by making Floris part of the imperial nobility.
The emperor gave Floris the toll right of Geervliet, the most important toll station in Holland at that time. This was actually the legalisation of an existing situation, because the counts of Holland had charged tolls illegally since the start of the 11th century.
Many farmers came to Holland to turn the swamps into agricultural lands. Dikes and dams were built and the border between Holland and the bishopric of Utrecht had to be determined. There was a dispute between Floris and the bishop of Utrecht about a new dam in the Rhine at Zwammerdam in 1165, which had to be settled by emperor Frederick. The brother of Floris, Baldwin became bishop of Utrecht in 1178.
War broke out between Flanders and Holland. Count Philip of Flanders wanted to have Zeeland. Floris was captured in Brugge and had to accept Flemish overlordship in Zeeland as ransom in 1167.
During his reign Floris III had troubles with West Friesland and a war with Philip count of Flanders concerning their respective rights in West Zeeland, in which he was beaten. In 1170 a great flood caused immense devastation in the north and helped to form the Zuider Zee.
In 1189 Floris accompanied Frederick Barbarossa upon the third Crusade, of which he was a distinguished leader. He died in 1190 at Antioch of pestilence and was buried there.
Two sons of Floris III became Count of Holland: Dirk VII in 1190 and William I in 1203.
Meanwhile back in Lancashire
Siward married Julianna de Robert and they had a son Matthew de Holland who married Hargaret Harcourt and they had a son called Robert de Holland
That Robert married Cecily Columbers and they had a son Thurstan de Holland who married Lady Margaret De Kellet and they had a son Robert de Holland who married Elizabeth de Samlesbury.
His story from wikipedia
The first recorded Holland was a knight named Sir Robert de Holland of Upholland, indicating that the family might have its origins in Upholland. Robert had a son, Robert de Holland, 1st Baron Holand, born around 1283, who became a favourite knight of Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster.
After fighting for Thomas in the Banastre Rebellion, a civil war started by rival barons, he acquired large plots of land, because of his role in the war, and he was even given the high honour of being a member of the House of Lords in the English Parliament.
However, Robert's loyalties changed at the Battle of Boroughbridge, a campaign incited by Thomas of Lancaster, to overthrow the King of England: Edward II of England. Robert secretly betrayed Thomas and defected to the King's army, which Lancaster deemed treacherous.
After the battle, Thomas was beheaded by Edward's forces. In 1328, however, Lancaster's partisans declared Robert a traitor, took him prisoner, and executed him. Robert's children, Thomas Holland and Sir Otho Holland, carried on his legacy.
Robert de Holland, 1st Baron Holand (c. 1283 – 1328) was an English nobleman, born in Lancashire.
He was a son of Sir Robert de Holland of Upholland, Lancashire and Elizabeth, daughter of William de Samlesbury.
He was a member of the noble Holland family and a favourite official of Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster and had been knighted by 1305. His favoured treatment by the powerful earl caused his rival knights in the area, led by Sir Adam Banastre, Sir Henry de Lea, and Sir William de Bradshagh (Bradshaw), to start a campaign of violence towards him and the earl's other supporters known as the Banastre Rebellion.
The rebels protested against the earl's actions and authority by attacking the homes of his supporters and several castles, including Liverpool Castle. Sir Robert later assisted in the hunt for fugitives after the rebels had been routed in Preston by a force under the command of the Sheriff.
The manors of Thornton and Bagworth were acquired by him in 1313. From 1314 to 1321 he was called to Parliament as a member of the House of Lords. In 1322 his part in the Battle of Boroughbridge, when he defected from Lancaster to the King, was deemed treacherous and cowardly and led to his disfavour.
Although King Edward III of England would later pardon him, the partisans of the Earl of Lancaster considered him a traitor and had him executed.
The execution occurred in 1328 by beheading in Essex; his head was sent to the new earl and his body to Lancashire to be buried. Not a nice ending!
His marriage and his children
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| Melbourne Castle was started by de Holland in Melbourne, Derbyshire. |
Robert and Maud had nine children:
- Robert de Holand (born c.1311–12 [aged 16 in 1328, aged 30 and more in 1349] – died 16 March 1372/3). He married before 25 June 1343 (date of fine) Elizabeth Hetton. Our lineage
- Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent, KG (died 26 or 28 December 1360), of Broughton, Buckinghamshire, Hawes (in Brackley), Brackley and King’s Sutton, Northamptonshire, Horden, Durham, etc., Captain and Lieutenant of Brittany, 1354–5, Warden of the Channel Islands, 1356, Captain of the Fort of Cruyk, Normandy, 1357, Captain of St. Sauveur-le-Vicomte [Manche] in Normandy, 1359, Warden of the Town of Barfleur, 1359, Joint Captain and Lieutenant of Normandy, 1359, Captain and Lieutenant-General in France and Normandy, 1360. He married Joan Plantagenet, the 'Fair Maid of Kent'. One of the founders and 13th Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1348.
- Sir Otho Holand, KG (died 3 September 1359), of Ashford, Chesterfield, and Dalbury, Derbyshire, Yoxall, Staffordshire, Talworth (in Long Ditton), Surrey, etc., Governor of the Channel Islands, 1359. He was one of the founders and 23rd Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1348.
Sir Otho Holand (c. 1316–3 September 1359) was an English soldier and a founder Knight of the Garter. He was alternatively called Otes or Eton Holand or Holland.
He was born in Brackley, Northamptonshire the son of Robert de Holland, 1st Baron Holand and Maud la Zouch of Upholland, Lancashire. One of his brothers was Thomas Holland, who became the 1st Earl of Kent and was also invested a founder Knight of the Garter.
Otho's father was illegally beheaded by Lancastrians when
Otho was 12 years old. Otho joined his brother Thomas in Edward III's military expedition to Normandy in 1346 and fought at the Battle of Caen. There the Constable of France surrendered himself to his brother who sold him to the King. Back in England the Constable was given to Otho to guard until he could ransomed but Otho allowed his prisoner too much freedom (by allowing him to cross to France on parole) and was heavily censured as a result.
In 1348 he was invested, along with his brother Thomas, as a founder knight of the new Order of the Garter and allocated stall 23 at the home of the order in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. In 1355 he again joined his brother Thomas on a campaign in France, but was taken prisoner in Dauphiny and ransomed. He was made Governor of the Channel Islands in 1359.
He died childless in Normandy in 1359. His estates went to his brothers Robert and Thomas.
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| Isabel de Holland |
- Alan de Holand, of Great Houghton, Yorkshire, living 13 October 1331 (date of fine). He was killed sometime before 30 October 1339 by William Bate, of Dunham-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire.
- Isabel de Holand. Mistress of John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey.
- Margaret de Holand (died 20 or 22 August 1349). She married John la Warre, Knt., of Wickwar, Gloucestershire.
- Maud de Holand (living 1342). She married (1st) John de Mowbray, Knt., 3rd Lord Mowbray; (2nd) Thomas de Swinnerton, Knt., 3rd Lord Swinnerton.
John de Mowbray, 3rd Baron Mowbray (29 November 1310 – 4 October 1361) was the only son of John de Mowbray, 2nd Baron Mowbray, by his first wife, Aline de Brewes.
He was born 29 November 1310 at Hovingham, Yorkshire.
Mowbray's father, the 2nd Baron, sided with Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, at the Battle of Boroughbridge on 16 March 1322 against Edward II, and was taken prisoner at the battle. He was hanged at York on 23 March 1322, and his estates forfeited.
His wife and son John were imprisoned in the Tower of London until Edward II was deposed by his wife, Queen Isabella, and Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. The Mowbrays were released in 1327.
The 3rd Baron de Mowbray was reportedly in Edward III's good graces, being present in France in the War of the Breton Succession for the sieges of Nantes and Aguillon. He was also on the English side at the Battle of Neville's Cross in the Second War of Scottish Independence.
He died of the plague at York on 4 October 1361, and was buried at the Friars Minor in Bedford
He was born 29 November 1310 at Hovingham, Yorkshire.
Mowbray's father, the 2nd Baron, sided with Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, at the Battle of Boroughbridge on 16 March 1322 against Edward II, and was taken prisoner at the battle. He was hanged at York on 23 March 1322, and his estates forfeited.
His wife and son John were imprisoned in the Tower of London until Edward II was deposed by his wife, Queen Isabella, and Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. The Mowbrays were released in 1327.
The 3rd Baron de Mowbray was reportedly in Edward III's good graces, being present in France in the War of the Breton Succession for the sieges of Nantes and Aguillon. He was also on the English side at the Battle of Neville's Cross in the Second War of Scottish Independence.
He died of the plague at York on 4 October 1361, and was buried at the Friars Minor in Bedford
- Elizabeth de Holand (died 13 July 1387). She married Henry Fitz Roger, Knight., of Chewton, Somerset, descendant of Herbert of Winchester.
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| Eleanor |
- Eleanor de Holand (died before 21 Nov. 1341). She married John Darcy, Knt., 2nd Lord Darcy of Knaith.
So quite a mix of spouses. All with stories to tell.
The Holland family's involvement in the founding of the Order of the Garter
When he and his brother left duty in France, they returned home to England, and were two of the founding knights of the Order of the Garter, England's highest order of chivalry to this day.
At the end of his life, Otho died childless, but his brother Thomas, had children. His eldest son, another Thomas, became the 2nd Earl of Kent after he died.
The Order of the Garter is the most senior and the oldest British Order of Chivalry and was founded by Edward III in 1348.
The
Order, consisting of the King and twenty-five knights, honours those
who have held public office, who have contributed in a particular way to
national life or who have served the Sovereign personally.
The patron saint of the Order is St George (patron saint of soldiers and also of England) and the spiritual home of the Order is St George's Chapel, Windsor.
Every knight is required to display a banner of his arms in the Chapel, together with a helmet, crest and sword and an enamelled stallplate.
These 'achievements' are taken down on the knight's death and the insignia are returned to the Sovereign. The stallplates remain as a memorial and these now form one of the finest collections of heraldry in the world.
The insignia of the Order have developed over the centuries, starting with a garter and badge depicting St George and the Dragon. A collar was added in the sixteenth century, and the star and broad riband in the seventeenth century.
Although the collar could not be decorated with precious stones (the statutes forbid it), the other insignia could be decorated according to taste and affordability. George IV, well-known for his vanity, left 55 different Garter badges of varying styles.
The patron saint of the Order is St George (patron saint of soldiers and also of England) and the spiritual home of the Order is St George's Chapel, Windsor.
Every knight is required to display a banner of his arms in the Chapel, together with a helmet, crest and sword and an enamelled stallplate.
These 'achievements' are taken down on the knight's death and the insignia are returned to the Sovereign. The stallplates remain as a memorial and these now form one of the finest collections of heraldry in the world.
The insignia of the Order have developed over the centuries, starting with a garter and badge depicting St George and the Dragon. A collar was added in the sixteenth century, and the star and broad riband in the seventeenth century.
Although the collar could not be decorated with precious stones (the statutes forbid it), the other insignia could be decorated according to taste and affordability. George IV, well-known for his vanity, left 55 different Garter badges of varying styles.
Over the years, a number of knights have been 'degraded' (for the crimes of heresy, treason or cowardice) or even executed - such as Lord Scrope of Masham (a childhood friend of Henry V), and the 3rd Duke of Buckingham in 1521. Charles I wore his Order (ornamented with over 400 diamonds) to his execution in 1649.
Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent
Thomas inherited his father's title of Earl of Kent, becoming the 2nd Earl of Kent, and like his predecessors, Thomas was a keen warrior. When he grew up, he fought in many battles, most notably the Battle of Nájera, in which he served under his stepfather: Edward, the Black Prince.His wife, Alice Holland, Countess of Kent, was related to Edward. Like his father, he became a Knight of the Garter. After he finished his career in the English army, he had several children. Through the marriages of his children, he became a progenitor of many key figures in the War of the Roses.
- The Harrison family of Virginia: A famous American political family.
- William Henry Harrison: 9th President of the United States and American commander in the War of 1812
- Benjamin Harrison: 23rd President of the United States and American Civil War Brigadier General
- Winston Churchill: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, World leader
- George Washington: 1st President of the United States, General-in-Chief of American forces in the American Revolution
- James Madison: 4th President of the United States
- Thomas Jefferson: 3rd President of the United States
- Ulysses S. Grant: 18th President of the United States
- Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York: Duke of York, key figure in the War of the Roses
- Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick: Earl of Warwick, key figure in the War of the Roses
- Catherine Parr: Queen consort of England, Henry VIII's final wife
- Henry VII of England: First Tudor monarch of England
And us, all of those who are descendants of Montagu Durnford!!!!
Have you unearthed any further information with regard to the parentage of Siward de Longsworth. All my research in connection with Dirk VI, Count of Holland indicates that he had several sons but none named Siward. Could you let me know ? It would be very helpful.
ReplyDeleteThanks and Best Regards,
Ian Taylor ( Now Based in USA )
I have had the same issues
DeleteI’m a descendent of Thomas Holland, First Earl of Kent. You ought to write a bit about who he married and their love story. It’s pretty epic. Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent and Granddaughter of Edward I.
ReplyDelete