Monday 11 April 2016

#10 Thomas Kemble Holland - A Man of Pleasing Manners.

Thomas Kemble Holland was my 4 x great grandfather and spent most of his life in and around the parish of Mickleton in Gloucestershire. He was born to David Hughes Holland and his second wife Jane Stokes in 1767 and was baptized in the church at Weston Subedge. He had two older half-sisters from his father's first marriage to Mary Ashwin and, in 1768, a younger brother was born and named David Hughes Holland after his father. When Thomas was only 6 years old, his father died, leaving his mother Jane to raise her own two small boys as well as her two young step-daughters. It appears that she was supported in this by Thomas's grandfather John Holland of Mickleton.

In 1791 Thomas made a very advantageous marriage to a young lady called Temperance Tomes who was from the well-respected Tomes family of Long Marston . According to Ian Tomes who is the keeper of much of the Tomes family history, at the time of their marriage Thomas Kemble Holland had property worth about £20,000. The National Archives currency converter has this at about £1 120 600 today! He was described in the family record as a 'gentlemanly man of pleasing manners, but very passionate....intemperate'. Ironic really, given that his wife was called Temperance!

Between 1793 and 1808 the couple had 10 children, 8 of whom survived past infancy. The children were all baptized in the church of St Lawrence in Mickleton. My ancestor Mary Tomes Holland, was the second oldest child and was born in 1794. By about the time the last child, Charles Wynne Holland, was born in 1809 the family story is that Thomas had squandered his fortune. I find this somewhat concerning as in 1796 Thomas had been made trustee of two inheritances for his much younger cousin Charles Wynne, who was only nineteen at the time and who was considered " unable to take on the burden" of the significant estate. The evidence certainly is that Thomas wasn't the greatest financial manager so I hope that young Charles Wynne had something left of his inheritance by the time he came of age!

By the time Thomas Kemble died in May 1815 he still owned some land in and around Mickleton and he was able to leave cash bequests of about £300 each to his living children. The Tomes family records say, with some nuance of distaste, that he 'died from the effects of hard drinking.' Thomas was buried in the churchyard at Mickleton on 19 May 1815 and was survived by his wife Temperance.

Church of St Lawrence, Mickleton
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David P Howard and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence




1 comment:

  1. Very interesting. I bet that "hard drinking" got many in those days, as it does now.

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