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Update 1 to Version 4 - April 1998

“Bob” Hollyer and daughter Nellie Walker(née Hollyer) 1966

Being an addendum to the 1996 GenealogicalReview of the Hollyer Family, compiled by Peter

Walker and Jim Hollyer, with additionalmaterial from many family members.

Peter Walker24 Bacons DriveCuffley HertsEN6 4DU UK

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Introduction

This document is an update to my “Hollyer FamilyReview”, version 4 completed in April 1996. Idecided that new information, as it emerged,would be better dealt with by a series of updatesrather than revising the main document, which isalready of substantial size. It would also allowsome of the more obscure information to beincluded and reports on “work in progress” to bemade. A good deal of this update containsinformation on 20th century Hollyers, but there issomething new for every family.

Once again, I must acknowledge the active helpand contribution made to this work by Jim Hollyer,who has continued to track down many contacts inthe USA and Canada - and further afield via theInternet.

Progress since May 1996

The months since Version 4 of the Hollyer FamilyReview (“The Review”) was produced have beenvery productive in generating new information.The work can be divided into two kinds. Firstly,locating and drawing on existing published orcollected sources of data. This, perhaps togetherwith existing data, can lead to new insights intofamilies and individuals. Secondly, contacts withnew-found or existing family members has addednew information, especially about 20th centuryHollyers and some from the late 19th century.This direct family information can often not begathered by any other means. Family photos arean important example of this kind of information.

Amongst the first class of data, the following hasbeen obtained:

The Birth, Marriage and Death indexes of the

General Register Office (GRO) at St Catherine’sHouse were searched from 1925 onwards forHollyer events to bring it up to date, so that thisdata is now available for the whole period1837-1995. This has allowed the ancestry ofmany living Hollyers to be traced back to knownfamilies in the 19th century.

In turn, a number of actual certificates werepurchased to complete the information on some ofthe families. There is an important gap between1891, when the latest available census recordscan be viewed and 1912 when the GRO indexesstart showing more information, such as spouses’names in the marriage indexes and mothers’maiden names in the birth indexes. Purchasingcertificates in this period can be the only way toestablish hard data.

The index to Wills kept at Somerset House weresearched for Hollyers from 1858 to 1970 and thishas led to new links being made, as even in theindexes, the names of executors are usually found(but not after 1970) which can help establishfamily relationships.

The 19th century census is a most valuablesource of information. Below I give a descriptionof the Hollyers located as a result of thecompletion of the project to index the whole of the1881 census of England and Wales. But that isnot the only census to yield information. FromStreet Directories and other sources, addressescan be found which can help locate Hollyers in theother 10 yearly censuses. The 1851 census hasbeen extensively indexed too, as it is the earliestcensus to record peoples’ places of birth and cantherefore form an important link in the researchchain. I have searched all the known 1851indexes for places known to be associated withthe Hollyer family - and a few more besides -which has yielded useful information.

The Hollyer FamilyAn Update on Further Research

By Peter Walker & Jim Hollyer

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I also subscribed to a professional researchorganisation called FONS (Family Origin NameSurvey) which is collecting pre-1600 genealogicalinformation. From time to time, FONS writes withreferences to newly located documentsmentioning Hollyer and similar close spellings.This data, while not extensive, has largelyconfirmed what we already knew of early Hollyersin the Warwickshire area. This data issummarised in the Appendices, page 36.

In the Review, I described Frederick Hollyer, whowas a prominent photographer of Pre-Raphaeliteart and also famous people of the late 19thcentury. I learnt that some of Frederick’sphotographs were archived at London’s Victoriaand Albert (V&A) Museum. I went to the V&A tosee an exhibition about William Morris, theundisputed originator of the “Arts & Crafts”movement and a leading member of thePre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. This exhibition itselffeatured one photograph by Frederick. I alsospent an hour looking through the archivedphotographs. Without doubt, the most interestingfind was an album presented by Frederick to hisdaughter Eleanor in 1920. This contains many ofthe photographs he took of the well-known peoplewho came to his Kensington studio on Mondaysfor an individual sitting. Amongst the largenumber of sitters were H.G. Wells, J.M. Barrie andGeorge Bernard Shaw. Scientists were alsophotographed, including Lord Rayleigh, LordKelvin and Sir Francis Galton. Many politiciansand peers of the realm were also photographed,but their names have proved more ephemeral.Aside from this album, there were a few ofFrederick’s art photographs, and some of hiswell-known photographs of the families of William

Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. There is also adelightful letter from Frederick advising a clienthow to stick photographs to their frames.

Through some correspondence between Jo Fieldof Toronto, Canada and the Royal Academy inLondon, I also found that the Witt Library, which ispart of The Cortauld Institute and is situated inSomerset House, has a small collection of cuttingsfrom auction catalogues of paintings by WilliamPerring Hollyer and his daughter Eva when theycame up for sale. Eva’s paintings comprisedAdmiration, The Gardener’s Daughter (1890),Sleepy, Courting and The Proposal. Four fromWilliam were included: Sheep in a HighlandLandscape, A Stormy day in the Highlands,Startled (of a Stag & Hind, dated 1884) andHunting Dogs.

Hollyer on the Internet

Jim Hollyer and myself have made severalcontacts via the Internet. A good deal ofcorrespondence has been expedited using E Mail.I have also produced my own Home Page on theWorldwide Web which lists my family historyinterests and links to an illustrated condensedreview of the Hollyer family name. I have furtherproduced a Hollyer Art Gallery, where work by themany Hollyer artists and photographers isdisplayed. For those interested, my Home Pagecan be found on:-

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/pwalker_oftel

These pages have already attracted several newcontacts. Indeed, entering just the name “Hollyer”on one of the popular Web “search engines” can

“Between Howard andGrand Streets, New York,

1840”

In the Hollyer review, I askedif anyone had any copies ofprints by Samuel Hollyer.Here is one provided byHilda Hollyer, one of severalprints Samuel made of oldNew York.

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produce around 350 different references, my pagebeing just one.

The Internet also forms an important resource forlocating information published about Hollyers.Examples of information found in this way includes:

♦ William Hollyer, an Australian convict. Unlikemany transportees from Britain, it appears thathe voluntarily emigrated to South Australia withhis wife aboard the ship Coromandel arrivingon 17th June 1837. He was convicted offorgery on 28th May 1839 in the SupremeCourt and was sentenced to transportation forlife. He left South Australia for Van DiemensLand (now Tasmania) on the vessel Charlotteon 1st September 1839. This information wasprovided by Graham Jaunay, a researcherfrom Adelaide, Australia.

♦ The whole of the telephone directory forAustralia and New Zealand is accessible viathe Internet. I wrote to all Hollyers located inthis way (some 15 or so) but only made onenew contact. This was Sarah Jill Hollyer, whoI was pleased to be able to meet when shebriefly visited England in 1997.

♦ A Chronology of Coventry, which mentionsFlemish Weavers and Huguenots in the silkand ribbon trade in the town. I will return to thistheme below.

♦ An historical index to the St Thomas’s HospitalGazette, which highlighted an article about theMolins and Hollyer families. I have writtenabout this elsewhere in this document.

Many firms advertise on the Internet and severalHollyers who are lawyers have been identified,though this profession seems less inclined thanothers to respond to our approaches.

Family Contacts

The second class of information is that obtainedfrom family members. I am extremely grateful tothose who responded to our pleas in the HollyerReview for more information on their families.

A major addition to our data came from JohnUmney-Gray Jnr, the son of the Hollyerresearcher. Jim Hollyer visited him in Canada andarranged to copy all John’s father’scorrespondence and research papers. Due to theexcellent work that John Umney-Gray himself didin ‘publishing’ his findings to family members, littlecompletely new data came from this, but it doesgive a fascinating insight into the trials andtribulations of John Umney-Gray and his fellowresearcher John E.L. Hollyer, as they sought toextract meaning from the family members theycontacted and attempted, without success, to findthe link between their respective Hollyer families.One sequence of events, which in hindsight isquite amusing, relates to the place calledHollyhurst in Warwickshire which is supposed tobe connected with John Hollyer (born c1723, sonof John Hollyer of Radford). The originalHollyer-Sanderson pedigree refers to the place asHollyerst, suggesting a much closer link betweenthe name and the place. In referring to Hollyerst,however, to other researchers, it gets furthermisread as Hollyer St, which caused a sequenceof red herrings as folk tried to find a Hollyer Streetin Coventry. As it happens, Dugdale’s History of

Gregory Hollyer, artist, 1871-1965.

Gregory was the son of WilliamPerring Hollyer, the animal artist. Hehad ten children from two marriages.In recent months, two of his sons, Daveand Dick and his daughter-in-lawHilda, have provided valuableinformation and photos about thisbranch of the “Kent Hollyers” inAmerica.

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Warwickshire (c1650) reports that “In this parish[Bulkington] there is a place called Hollyhurst lyingsouthward from Bulkington and between Bernacleand Bedworth, it stands on a notable rising groundaforetimes much addicted to holly trees, it consistsof 3 or 4 farm houses.”

Existing contacts who have provided moreinformation include Derrick Hollyer of Dudley;Barbara Machell of Bearsden, Glasgow; EdgarHollyer of Kanata, Canada; Jo Field of Toronto;Marlene Hollyer of Durban, South Africa; andGavin Hamilton of New Zealand. New contactsincluded Judith Hollyer from New Zealand, SarahJill Hollyer from Australia, Paul A. Hollyer ofChesterfield and his uncle Jack Hollyer of Henley,Simon Hollyer of Taunton, Justine Hollyer at BathUniversity, and Stuart Hollyer of Keyworth, Notts.We made contact with Judith Ohlgren ofLafayette, Indiana, who is researching the Holliername. Several contacts were also made withmembers of the family descended from WilliamPerring Hollyer the painter: L. Richard Hollyer ofWorcester, David L. Hollyer of Huddleston VA,Hilda Hollyer of New York and her daughterLynette, who lives in London, Hilda Hixson ofChilliwick, British Columbia, her daughter KathyHamer and Sheela Smith of Buxted, Sussex.Finally, we discovered that Taras Hollyer, ofCanada, and his parents were real examples ofpeople who adopted the name Hollyer as their realUkrainian name sounded too foreign. Moredetails of what these folk revealed and some morerecent contacts are contained in the Appendices,page 29.

Analysis

Data on its own is of little value unless it helps tobuild up a bigger picture. What have we learntabout the early origins of the family? It has to besaid that many correspondents, from all the known

separate branches of the Hollyer family, oftenmention the Huguenot connection. Two separatereferences have been made to an Irish companywho provide the oft-found ‘instant’ family namehistories, who refer to the Huguenot connectionand the D’Olier family in Ireland. While I have notyet been passed any such document, SheelaSmith sent me some information on the D’Olierfamily which agrees with that I described in theReview. It can be found at page 44.

Can we ignore the Huguenot connection entirely?Perhaps not. We do know that the name Hollyerwas already common when the first Huguenotsarrived in Britain after 1572 and even more so bythe time of Isaac D’Olier’s arrival in 1688.However, the Coventry Chronology, found on theInternet, mentions that Flemish weavers andHuguenots were in the silk and ribbon trade in theCity of Coventry. We know that several earlyHollyers were silkmen in Coventry. Is this just acoincidence? Or could it be that some of theseearly Huguenots changed their name to Hollyer, aname already known in Coventry? Anotherinteresting thought relates to the Kent Holyerswho originated near the town of Cranbrook, whereFlemish weavers built a church. All this iscircumstantial and highly speculative, butsuggests we must keep an open mind on theHuguenot connection.

What is clear from the early references is that thename was flourishing in Warwickshire by the 16thcentury. In the Appendices, I have included twomaps which show the distribution of Hollyerbaptisms and marriages based on informationfrom the International Genealogical Index. Itclearly shows the huge concentration of the namein the Warwickshire area and the gradual spreadoutwards. But not all movement would have beengradual and several communities that appear tobe separate may not be. It is interesting to note

(Left) Derrick Hollyer (b. 1925), adescendant of the Lock-keepingHollyers, who has provided muchinteresting information on this family.Derrick is still active as a Civil Engineer.

(Right) Derrick’s father, NormanEdward George Hollyer, 1893-1971,who worked as a chemist for EMI.

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that in 1594, the will of Edmonde Hollyer lodgedwith the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, refers tohim as being “of St Sepulchre’s, London andWarwick”.

The 1881 Census Index

The project to index the whole of the 1881 censusof Great Britain was completed in 1996 and allreferences to Hollyer and Holyer have beenextracted. At this stage, I have not dealt with theHollier name variant which are far morenumerous. Some 56 individuals or family groupswith the name Hollyer or Holyer were recorded, ofwhich 24 are Holyers, the majority recorded in thecounty of Kent.

Amongst the Hollyers, many familiar families canbe found and some less familiar too. In the lattercases, the census data provides new primaryevidence of the association of children to parents,thus completing our knowledge of some family

groups. There are also cases of Hollyers of whomnothing is known at all, because they don’t appearin the GRO birth, marriage or death registers. Weknow that the GRO records are incomplete, but insome cases, it seems probable that the ‘stray’unknown Hollyers are perhaps Holliers who weremis-recorded. Indeed, study of the extracts showsone Holyer family that was really a Hollyer, whileanother Hollyer was recorded as Hollyee. ThePortsea Hollyers were recorded as Hollier. SamuelHollyer was recorded as Samuel Notly, whichemphasizes how difficult some handwriting can beto interpret.

I do not intend to describe here all these‘problematic’ Hollyers, but I thought it would beinteresting to describe all the known Hollyerfamilies and individuals, as, aside from theHollyers already in the USA in 1881, as far as weknow, all Hollyers living today descend from thefamilies shown in the 1881 census. There are justa few exceptions, for example Taras Hollyer

Harry Holyer 1923-1997

Harry Holyer, who carried out much researchon the Holyer family, including the ‘OneName Study’ on Holyer, Hollyer and Hollier,died on 12th December 1997. Harold JamesCollis Holyer was born on 12th October 1923 atTooting, South London, the son of Clyde CollisHolyer and Bessie Florence May Bennett. Thefamily soon moved to Newport Pagnell, Bucks,where he was baptised on 16th March 1924. Hewas known to his friends as Harry but to hisclose family as Collis or ‘Coll’. He served in the

RAF in the war. On his return from the Far Easthe took up work in a hospital where he met hisfuture wife Doreen Gladys Chaproniere andthey married on 29th January 1947. They had adaughter Janice Mary in 1950 and a sonAndrew James in 1962.

Harry joined the Civil Service in the Customs &Excise department. They moved to ManningsHeath in Sussex to be close to Gatwick Airportwhere Harry became Head of Customs at whatwas then a quiet provincial airport. However,more promotions were to follow and by thetime he retired in 1983 he had reached the rankof Controller in the Value Added Taxdepartment.

Harry was a keen genealogist, researching allhis ancestral lines and those of his wife. It wasHarry who managed to trace the Holyer familyback to John Holyer at Woodchurch and hismarriage at Canterbury Cathedral in 1737. Inrecent years he spent a good deal of timeworking for contacts in Australia by extractingrecords from Record Offices in the London area.

His wife Doreen has kindly let me have accessto Harry’s notes and files. I have decided totake over the One Name Study as registeredwith the Guild of One Name Studies.

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mentioned above, whose family deliberatelychanged their name to Hollyer. The 1881 censusindex allows us to get a unique insight to thevarious Hollyer families at one point in history, 3rdApril 1881. In the appendices I have includedmaps of Britain, London and Kent which shouldhelp locate the places mentioned below.

The “Coventry” Hollyers in 1881

Samuel Hollyer, whose three sons hademigrated to the USA in the 1850s was an 84year old widower in 1881 and living with hismarried daughter Mary Ann Evans at 30Hungerford Road, Holloway. This is where hedied a little less than 2 years later.

His successful son Frederick Hollyer, thephotographer, was at his studio in PembrokeSquare, Kensington with his wife Mary and threechildren Fred, Eleanor and Arthur.

Samuel’s son Christopher had died in 1874 in anaccident. His widow Ann and son Christopherwere living with Ann’s father, William Simmons (awidowed engraver) and William’s sister Maria at247 Hampstead Road in St Pancras.

Another branch of the Coventry Hollyers stemsfrom Samuel’s elder brother John, who moved toWales. He was at Bridgend in 1851, but died in1852. His four spinster daughters were livingtogether at 13 Chatham Place, Brighton, Sussexin 1881: Harriet, Mary Ann, Catherine Sophiaand Annie Dowell. None were ever to marry. Hisson John Sanderson Hollyer (an Iron andTimber Merchant) and his family were caught invarious places on the night of the 1881 census.He and his daughter Louisa were at home at 1Newport Road, in Cardiff, while his wife Ceciliawas visiting her Barnes relations in Oxton,Cheshire. The daughter Emmeline was visitingher brother-in-law Philip James Evans, husbandof Jessie and their 6 children at “Woodside”, inMinchinhampton, Gloucestershire. While Evansis a common name, one wonders whether there isany connection with the Bernard Evans thatSamuel’s daughter Mary Ann married.

Finally in this branch is John’s son Robert PriceHollyer, an Accountant, living at “Ivy Garth”,Shrewsbury Lane, Shooter’s Hill in Plumstead,Kent. His whole family are captured by the 1881census, namely his wife Laura and childrenAlfred John, Alice Laura, Florence Kate,

Montague Robert, Evelyn Dora, LeslieTheodore and Ethel May. Alfred John went toCanada about 1883 and was the father of JohnE. L. Hollyer who researched the Hollyer line.Montague Robert’s son Lawrence John went toAustralia and Sarah Hollyer, who visited Britainin 1997 is Lawrence’s daughter. Down thefemale lines, it is possible that the Swann andLeaver lines of Alice and Florence have livingdescendants.

The “City” Hollyers in 1881

The “City” Hollyers is the name I have given tothe family and descendents of Richard Hollyer(1728-1778) who left Coventry and settled inthe City of London, where many becameGlaziers, Builders, Plumbers and Decorators ofvarious kinds. They too are well recorded in the1881 census. A very large number of Hollyerstoday descend from this branch of the family.The line is notable for its continuing use ofmiddle names derived from wives’ maidennames: Jarman, Shallis and Hartley.

Richard Hollyer had two lines of descent: his

9 Pembroke Square, Kensington,where Frederick Hollyer had his

photographic studio.

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son Matthew who married Mary Hartley and a sonJohn who married Sarah Shallis. John had twograndsons (by his son Richard and LouisaValentine) whose families were recorded in 1881.These were Richard John Hollyer and his wifeHarriet (née Roscoe) and John Jarman Hollyerand his wife Helen.

Richard John Hollyer had died in 1876. He hadbeen an Undertaker working with his brotherAquilla and his father Richard (who had formerlybeen a Goldsmith/Jeweller) from premises inIslington. In 1881, the census for 47 Wall Street,Islington shows his wife Harriet (as aNeedlewoman) and their surviving childrenRichard, Louisa, Elizabeth and Cecilia. Theirdaughter Rose, shown in the 1871 census aged 8months, died later that year and, based onevidence from the birth indexes, there may havebeen two other children Kate Emma (1867) andJoseph Henry (1872). But it is the 1861 censusthat tells us something important about this family,for at that time at 4 Glebe Terrace, Islington, wefind a family of Undertakers, Richard senior,Richard John and Aquilla along with the othersiblings Louisa and John Jarman. (Louisa wasmarried with sons John and William Jackson). Butthe family’s servant was none other than.....Harriet Roscoe. That together with the fact thatRichard John and Harriet’s first born Richardseems to have been born the year before theymarried completes the picture. For all that, themarriage seems to have been successful. Thereare no known descendants of this family.

John Jarman Hollyer and his wife Helen andchildren Loraine Laura, John Richard andGeorge Arthur were at 7 Elms Road, Aldershot,Hampshire in 1881. In the 1870s two otherchildren, Charles Henry and Albert Edward, haddied. John Jarman was shown as a Musician. Inthe 1861 census he was shown as a Pianist,though in 1851 at age 16 he had been assistingthe undertaking business. John Jarman Hollyerdied in 1891 but his many descendents lived atAldershot and Farnham for many years. Theremay be Hollyer descendants still living in theBirmingham area, from the family of JohnReginald Hollyer (1929-1987) great grandson ofJohn Jarman. Derrick Hollyer once spoke to JohnReginald on the phone, enquiring of his ancestry.

The other line of descent from Richard(1728-1778) via his son Matthew comprises threefamily groups in 1881. All three are from the familyof George Hollyer (1803-1842) the Painter and

Glazier who was the son of Matthew HartleyHollyer II and thought to be an illegitimate son whononetheless lived at the family’s business addressat Warwick Lane and took over his father’sbusiness. The three family groups were MatthewHartley Hollyer III & Helen Rosalind (née Shields),George Hollyer & Lucy (née Lucas) and HenryHollyer & Louisa (née Frankshaw).

In 1881, Matthew Hartley Hollyer III was at 33Tracey Street, Lambeth with his wife HelenRosalind (née Shields) and three sons; hisdaughter Helen Harriet having married in 1878.Matthew was shown as a Lead Light Glazier, whilehis three sons also followed traditional familytrades: Matthew George was a Carpenter,Alexander Charles was a House Painter, whileHenry William was a Plumber. Matthew Georgemarried in 1883 to Ann Ingle and they went on tohave 13 children, several of whom emigrated toAustralia and South Africa. Alexander Charlesmarried in 1882 to Louisa Syrett and had 4children, while Henry William married in 1896 toEmily Louise Ingle (presumably related to AnnIngle, wife of Matthew George?). Together thishas produced a very extensive family descent andmany Hollyers living today descend from thisfamily.

The second family group was George Hollyer andLucy (née Lucas). However, this family was splitin three in 1881. Altogether they present a rathersad story. George was a Plumber and Painter. Hemarried Lucy Lucas in 1849. Between 1849 and1872 they had 9 or perhaps as many as 11children. A large proportion died young and theylost three children in one month in 1868. In 1871,George was not with Lucy at the census and shewas shown as head of the family, so it is possiblethat they had separated. (If this is so, perhaps thelast child Alice Mary was not of George). In the1881 census, Lucy is with daughter Alice Mary in97 D Street (later Droop Street), Chelsea whereshe was a nurse. She shows herself as being awidow. Yet her husband George was not dead.He was a patient at the Kensington Infirmary,though still described as a Plumber. He stateshimself to be a widower. It’s one thing to beseparated, but quite sad for each to believe theother is dead. The only other child of this familyshown in 1881 was daughter Lucy who at 23 wasa servant at the Hoxton House Asylum inHackney. There are no known descendants of thisfamily.

The third family in this group is that of Henry

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Hollyer and Louisa (née Frankshaw). Henry haddied just the autumn before the 1881 census; hehad been a House Painter. In the census, Louisais found at 12 Kirby Street, Holborn working as aCharwoman (household cleaner) with her 7children: Elizabeth, Henry, Richard, Louisa,Emma Lydia, Benjamin Basil and Robert. Theirother child Jessie had died in 1875. Both Richardand Robert went on to have families and a numberof living Hollyer descendants are known fromthese lines.

The “Lock-Keeper” Hollyers in 1881

Henry Hollyer, the lock toll collector and his wifeSarah had two lines of descent through their sonsJohn Samuel and Frederick Henry, both of whomfollowed in their father’s footsteps as LockKeepers. Both lines are represented in 1881.

John Samuel was at “Hollyer’s Lock” at Linslade,Bucks with his daughter Helena Kate andgrandson Frank Harold. John Samuel had beenat Linslade Lock in each of the censuses1851-1871 and would be there in 1891 too. Asidefrom Helena Kate, the other 5 surviving childrenhad ‘flown the nest’. Frank Harold was (Helena)Kate’s son.

John Samuel’s son Charles Mills Hollyer was at2 Regents Park Place in St Pancras in 1881working as a Clerk in a Wine Merchants. He wasonly a few months away from getting married toMiriam Mattocks. They went on to have 3 childrenand the youngest Alfred Ernest became a WineMerchant’s traveller, which I assume was similarto his father Charles as the latter was laterdescribed as a Commercial Traveller. AlfredErnest emigrated to South Africa in 1948. One of

his two sons, Eric Bryan, an Electrical Engineer byprofession, married twice - the second time toMarlene, who sent much interesting informationabout this family, see page 55.

Charles’s brother Ernest Edward was in 1881 anAssistant Clerk to the Toll Collector atWeighbridge House, Grand Junction Canal Officeat Paddington, close to the area now known as“Little Venice”. It was in Paddington that hemarried Emily Sweet in 1887. They had a family of8. Ernest became the Lock Keeper at Bull’sBridge Lock, Brentford, where the Grand JunctionCanal meets the Brentford Canal near to itsconnection to the River Thames. There are manydescendants from this family, mainly through thetwo sons Norman Edward George and HaroldVictor. Derrick Hollyer is one of Norman’s sons.

We now turn to the other son of Henry and Sarah,Frederick Henry Hollyer. In 1881 he was theCanal Clerk at the Toll House, Grand JunctionCanal at Brentford with his wife Harriett and sonFrederick Edward who was a Jeweller’sForeman - he was to be in the Jewellery businessall his life. His descendants were mainly femaleand there may not be any Hollyers todayconnected with Frederick Edward.

Brentford Lock is the subject of one of manysketches that Frederick Henry made in hisnotebook that he started as early as 1845. Formany years, he was the Lock-Keeper atBraunston Lock at the important northern end ofthe old Grand Junction Canal and it was here thathis children were born. The 1881 censustranscription does seem to have missed the otherson Joseph Henry, or more likely, he wastranscribed under a completely different name.

In the 1881 census, Ernest EdwardHollyer (1862-1930) was a clerk at thePaddington Canal Office. About 20years later, he was the proud fatherof 6 children and a Lock-Keeper atBrentford. Standing to the right of hiswife Emily is Stanley. In the middleare Frank, May and Nora. Seated atthe front are Norman and Harold.Compare Norman’s photo with thaton page 5.

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He married in 1889 to Emmeline Fanny MargeriteWaring and they lived all their lives in Droitwich,not so far from Braunston. Joseph ran the BrineBaths there and even wrote a book “The BrineBaths of Droitwich”. When he died, his son HenryBerkeley Hollyer appears to have taken over asthe baths manager. Berkeley in later years tookquite an interest in the Hollyer ancestry and morethan anyone else seemed convinced that therewas a Huguenot link. As far as I know, Berkeley’sson and grandsons are keeping the Hollyer namegoing in this branch.

The “Kent” Hollyers in 1881

It’s now the turn of my family. As described in theReview, the Kent Hollyers are all connected withthe Holyers originally from Woodchurch in Kent. Ishall address here the descendants of JohnHollyer (1771-1824) who, in my line, appears to bethe first to have adopted the double L spelling.The other Kent Holyers are described in the nextsection. John had two main lines of decent thatwere still active in 1881, via his sons Josiah andJoseph. Both these sons were described in theReview. Josiah himself died in 1864 and his sonWilliam Josiah pre-deceased him in 1857.William’s son George Thomas died in 1863 at theBear Hotel, Cliffe where he was living with hisgrandfather Josiah. So, by 1881, the onlydescendants of Josiah were the family of WalterHollyer, the army quartermaster, the illegitimateson that William Josiah had by Sophia Taylor in1853. The story of this family is describedelsewhere in this Update. Suffice to record herethat in 1881, recently returned from India, thefamily were stationed at Carisbrooke on the Isle ofWight. Walter was then a Sergeant Major,

accompanied by his wife Rose Ann and theirthree children born in India: Elizabeth Jane,Walter Ernest and Edith. A further son Charleshad been born in Karachi in 1880 but must havedied soon after birth.

A far greater number of Joseph Hollyer’s familywere captured in the 1881 census. Josephhimself at 74 was still described as an Embosseron Glass when recorded at 308 Camberwell NewRoad with his wife Amelia and the two remainingunmarried daughters, Clara Augusta and MaryEdith. Clara never married, but Mary Edithmarried Francis Paine Hill just a few months afterthe census and her musical family has beendescribed in the Review.

Some of Joseph’s married daughters were nodoubt around in 1881, but amongst the maleHollyers collected are the families of four ofJoseph’s sons: William Perring, George,Joseph Wilson and Charles Greig.

William Perring, the animal artist, had started hisfamily in Walworth, close to his father andbrothers, in 1865 with the birth of Eva, who herselfgrew up to be a painter. He and Grace Emily, hiswife had four more children in South London:Maud Beatrice, Edith Blanche Gregory,Gregory and Clive Perring. The family thenmoved to the West Derby area of Liverpool around1874 where William Stanley and Grace Ameliawere born. What made them move up North is farfrom clear. Even less clear is why in 1880/1 thefamily moved to Bettws-y-Coed, the picturesquetourist spot in Caernarvonshire, North Wales. Itwas here that their daughter Hilda Gwen wasborn, where they were recorded in the 1881

A sketch of BrentfordLock, by Frederick

Henry Hollyer(1825-1895). Furtherdrawings from his

sketchbook are in theAppendix.

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census and where, remarkably, he and his familyof 8 were photographed. The next year VernaMadeline was born in Liverpool, whereas theirlast daughter Olive Estella was born in Fulham,West London. As described in the Review, Evamarried her young cousin Joseph Richard,though Eva lived most of the 30s with herspinster sister Maud, who was also a painter. Allthe other children married. Gregory, asdescribed in the Review, emigrated in 1890 toCanada and then moved in 1900 to the USAwhere many descendants now live. WilliamStanley also went to the USA. Edith marriedDibney Rooke, who must have been part ofGrace Emily’s family. Grace married GeorgeColville Oke which seems to be yet another linkbetween the Hollyer and Oke families.

George’s family were in 1881 at 7 Station Road,Brixton, one more of the many South Londonaddresses that we know he lived at. A 37 year

old Artist on Glass, he was accompanied by hiswife Elizabeth (née Reed) and his survivingfamily of 5: Mary Louise, Charles George,Stanley, Edgar and Helen. No less than fivechildren between Charles and Stanley had died.George and Elizabeth were to have three morechildren, but of these only Adrian Cecil (Bob)survived beyond childhood. As described in theReview, Mary Louise, Edgar and Helen all wentat different times to Canada. Mary Louise’sdaughter Mary Graffy married her cousinCharles Stanley Hollyer and many of their familyremain in the Toronto area. Many descendantsof Charles George are known, though few nowhave the Hollyer name - myself included!

Joseph Wilson Hollyer also followed the familytrade as an Embosser on Glass. He had marriedEllen Emily Linsell in 1875 in Lambeth andtheir first child Ernest Wilson was born in 1876in Lorrimore Road, Walworth, a stones-throw

This remarkable picture of the family of William Perring Hollyer is one of the mostinteresting photographs to come to light since 1996. It shows his family of 8children and his ‘in-laws’ at Bettws-y-Coed in North Wales in 1881, where he andhis family were recorded in the census of that year. Standing at the back areWilliam Perring Hollyer, Olive Rooke and Thomas Benjamin Rooke. In the middleare Grace Rooke, with grandaughter Grace Hollyer on her knee, then Maud, whileStanley and Hilda are on their mother’s lap (Grace Emily Hollyer, née Rooke).Seated to the right are Maud Rooke and Eva Hollyer. The three children seated infront are Perring, Edith and Gregory.

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from the Hollyer workshops also in LorrimoreRoad. Soon after, Joseph Wilson moved toBirmingham and it was there at 78 CharlesHenry Street that the family were found in the1881 census. However, the record is missingtwo family members. It shows Joseph and hiswife Ellen and two children: Ernest Wilson, 4,and George Albert, 2, who had been born atthat address in 1879. But where was AmeliaEllen, who had been born in Birmingham in1878? She is not listed elsewhere, so one canonly presume it was an error by the enumerator.She was the grandmother of Margaret Wilbournwho did so much to research the Kent Hollyers inthe 1970s. Another error was the absence ofClara Edith. The 1881 census was supposed torecord everyone on the night of 3rd April 1881and Clara Edith was born the day before.Perhaps in this case, the enumerator did somedata collection before the actual day - somethingthat was quite common in the 19th centurycensuses and explains why in some casespeople were recorded twice at differentaddresses. Joseph and Ellen went on to haveone more child Florence in 1882, but there areno records to say what happened to eitherGeorge Albert or Florence. Both Ernest Wilsonand Amelia Ellen went on to marry, but as Ernestonly had two daughters, none of thedescendants of this family carry the Hollyersurname.

It’s back to the Hollyer heartland of SouthLondon where the last of Joseph’s sons is found.Charles Greig, another Embosser on Glass wasat 322 Camberwell New Road, a few doors away

from his father Joseph. He was accompanied byhis wife Ellen and their 11 month old daughterAmy Nellie. Strangely, this was not their onlychild found in the 1881 census. Ethel Maud,aged 2 was with Ellen’s parents Richard andEllen Garland at 1 Addington Square,Camberwell, along with their own remaininggrown up family of 6. Charles and Ellen had hadother children too. They had married in 1875and we know their first daughter was VioletFlorence born in 1875, but she died soonafterwards. There are records of two otherchildren born in Camberwell and Lambetharound this time who may both be from thisfamily: Hilda Grace 1876-79 and Ellen Grace1879-1879. Perhaps given the death of theseother children, Ethel Maud had been left with thegrandparents where living conditions werebetter. The family went on to have 4 morechildren: Beatrice Amelia, Clara Augusta,Joseph Richard and, as late as 1894, CecilGarland, but he died young. With just one sonsurviving to adulthood, this family had fewopportunities for descendants carrying theHollyer name. As it turned out, Joseph Richardmarried his much older cousin Eva, but after thatwe have no record of what happened to him.There is no other information about anydescendants.

The “Kent” Holyers

The “Kent” Holyers and Hollyers are of coursethe same family, but the Hollyers describedabove are those descended from my 4xGt

George Hollyer’s glasswriting and embossing

business was wellestablished by 1881.

Four of his sonseventually assisted in

the business atLorrimore Road,

Walworth.

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The Holyer FamilyA guide to those in the 1881 census

This is not a family tree of the Holyer family. It contains those families (shown inmauve) who have been identified in the 1881 census and shows how they descendfrom John Holyer and Elizabeth Gregory. Note: it does not show the “Kent”Hollyers who also descend from John, son of William Holyer and Sarah Batchelor.

John & Elizabeth

William & Sarah (Batchelor)

Abraham & Susannah (Crittenden)

Sarah Holyer

William Gregory & Mary (Illenden)

William Morris & Hannah (Hawkett)

William & Mary Ann (Weston)

John & Sarah (Taylor)

Richard & Elizabeth (Davies)

Susan Holyer

Nicholas Collis & Eliza (Butler)

Charles Collis

Henry Nicholas Collis & Ann (Carpenter)

Richard Butler & Fanny (Cladingbowl)

Henry & Mary Ann (Taylor)

Richard Henry

Walter & Elizabeth (King)

William & Mary (Highsted)

Walter & Eliza Harriet (Kebby)

William & Mary Ann (Parsons)

Richard & Mary (Bailey)

John & Jane (Godden)

Walter & Francies (Harris)

George & Eliza (Russell)

William & Alice (Holyer)

John Parsons

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Grandfather John Hol(l)yer and Sarah Pearse.The remaining descendants of John Holyer andElizabeth Gregory remained faithful both to thesingle L spelling and their native Kent (& Sussexborders) during most of the 19th century, thoughthere was a gradual migration to the double Lspelling in some branches. Even today, Holyersare concentrated in the southern counties. As withthe Hollyers, there are some Holyers born in Kentshown in the 1881 census who have not yet beenidentified to be ‘located’ into the family tree.

The chart on the previous page is designed toassist understanding of who these Holyers were,as the Hollyer Review did not say much aboutthese families other than my direct ancestorsWilliam and John Holyer.

The family of William Morris Holyer and Hannah(née Hawkett) was at Rolvenden, Kent. By thistime William Morris was using the name Maurice.Morris was the maiden name of his motherHannah, who married James Holyer (1787-1865).James is believed to be the illegitimate son ofSarah Holyer born before her marriage to James

Tolhurst in 1793. Sarah’s father was WilliamHolyer (1741-1810) and it is in his will that hespecifically mentions James as being Sarah’sson. William Morris was a brickmaker and in 1881he was accompanied by his younger childrenHarry, Thomas, Frank, Mary, Anne, Catherineand Eliza. One of his other sons Moses was anagricultural labourer at Bethersden, Kent. Harry’sdescendants include Paul Hollyer and his cousinHilary Lane, who have both been in contact withme. Thomas has many Hollyer descendantstoday in the Ashford, Kent area. Note that downboth these lines, the double L spelling waseventually adopted.

The next group of Holyers are the descendants ofWilliam & Mary Ann (née Weston), many of whomare associated over several generations with thelicensed trade (ie Publicans) in Ramsgate, Kent.This is also the line that has used the middle nameCollis right down to the present day, leading tospeculation that Mary Ann Weston was in someway part of the Collis family, perhaps the daughterof Sarah Collis. The family myth is that Williamran off with the squire’s daughter, but no definite

This is one of the Holyer publicans, standing outside his premises in Ramsgate. Itis probably an elderly Nicholas Collis Holyer (1835-1912). Note the name HOLYERpainted above the two doors. As an aside, this photo not only shows the type ofsignwriting that my Great Grandfather would have been familiar with, but on theoriginal photo you see the ornate glass etched windows traditionally used in pubs,which was the staple trade of my Gt Gt Grandfather George Hollyer and his sons.

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link has ever been established. What is certain isthat Mary Ann was left the entire estate of JosephCollis, the sister of Sarah Collis, much of it in trustfor her children, who all had Collis as a middlename. Nicholas Collis Holyer, his wife Eliza andtheir 7 younger children Charles, Florence,Emily, Albert, Lily, Clara and John were atRamsgate at their pub. Their eldest son HenryNicholas was also a publican and in 1891 kept theArvido Arms in Ramsgate. However, some yearsearlier he had moved to London and married hiswife Anne Carpenter in 1874 in Marylebone. Inthe 1881 census they were still in Lambeth,London with their daughter Anne. Nicholas andEliza’s second son Richard, his wife Fanny andtheir first son Earnest were at another pub inRamsgate where Richard was a Barman. Thereare many descendants of this line of Holyers. Theson Charles was the grandfather of Harry Holyerthe Holyer researcher. Charles’s adventures aredescribed later. Alfred also became a publican inRamsgate and one of his grandsons, John Holyer,married a woman called Morag, who, after herdivorce, was my personal secretary for a numberof years; proving that it’s a small world. Finally, inthis group of Holyers, we find Nicholas’s brotherCharles Collis Holyer at 13 Park Street, Ashford,Kent, where he was a Draper’s Porter.

The next Holyer family is that of Henry and MaryAnn (née Taylor) who were at Speldhurst, near

Tunbridge Wells, where Henry ran a butcher’sshop. He was the only son of John Holyer andSarah (née Taylor) who first set up as a butcher inTunbridge Wells, where he is recorded in 1839having a shop in Chapel Place. In 1848 we wasrenting a butcher’s shop in Bath Square in thefamous “Pantiles” in Tunbridge Wells. It was thisshop that Henry took over and rebuilt. Henry andMary Ann were accompanied by Henry’s twochildren Sarah and John from his first marriage toEliza Nunn and his five children by Mary Ann:(Mary) Jane, William Henry, Grace, FrederickJames and Gertrude. Mary Jane’s daughter,Helen Offer, corresponded with Harry Holyer inthe 1970s. Frederick James’s third son Gerald(died 1976) was a butcher at Patcham, nearBrighton, demonstrating the strong Holyertradition of the butcher trade for over 230 years.

One of Henry’s cousins, Richard Henry was atOld Romney, working on the land. He waswidowed. He was the son of Richard & Elizabeth(née Davies); Richard having been a Miller atBrenzett, Kent. He is mentioned on his father’sgravestone at Woodchurch.

The sole representative of the previousgeneration was Susan Holyer (b. 1808), daughterof William Gregory Holyer and Mary (née Illenden)who at 74 years of age was working inMarylebone, London as a Housekeeper.

The Holyer Family

Unfortunately, Harry Holyer didnot leave us information on whothese Holyers were. By a process ofguesswork, however, I wouldventure that we are seeing 4generation of Holyers: the eldestbeing Nicholas Collis Holyer(1835-1912), next Charles Holyer(1862-1947), then Nicholas CharlesHolyer (1886-1918) and then one ofthe latter’s children: eitherHenrietta Elizabeth (b.1907) orNicholas Charles Collis (b. 1911)

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We now move to a group of Holyers who descendfrom a different branch to those above; namelythrough Abraham & Susannah (née Crittenden).Abraham (1745-1815) was the 5th child of Johnand Elizabeth Holyer and, not surprisingly, abutcher. They had 8 children at Woodchurch, butthe only male to survive to have offspring wasWalter (1768-1853) who married Elizabeth King.Walter and Elizabeth had 10 children, of whomonly their 8th, Walter with his wife Eliza, were stillalive in 1881 and were recorded with the double Lspelling. Walter and Eliza were at Brighton, whereWalter was a Porter at the West Pier. He seems tohave been married twice, as in the 1851 census heis a Butler in Paddington, London with his family innearby Chelsea (wife Hannah and daughtersElizabeth and Mary whose baptisms are in the IGIagainst Walter and Hannah). The secondmarriage to Eliza is a little confusing, as the nameon the 1869 marriage certificate is Harriet Kebby,but I feel sure that Eliza and Harriet are the sameperson. Although they were at Brighton in 1881, itwas at Paddington again that Walter died in 1896.

Walter & Elizabeth (née King) had a son William(1800-1874), a labourer and local non-conformistpreacher. He married Mary Highsted in 1820 andthey had nine children. They were obviously proudof this family as William’s gravestone atWoodchurch records the fact of their having had 4sons and 5 daughters. The families of the foursons were recorded in the 1881 census,presumably the daughters were married and sowould not be shown as Holyers.

Their eldest son William, by this time aged 59,was a Gamekeeper at Kennardington, Kent. Hehad married a Mary Ann (née Parsons) and theyhad 4 children at Warehorne, Kent. Again, the 3sons were shown in 1881. The eldest George wasapart from his family at Tonbridge, Kent were he isshown as a Brickmaker, but also a ‘Patient’. Hiswife Eliza and their two children George Thomasand Norah Kate (both born at Lydd, Kent) were atFrant along George’s younger brother JohnParson Holyer, also a Brickmaker. Frant, to thesouth of Tunbridge Wells, was then in Kent, but isnow in East Sussex.

The remaining son of William and Mary Ann wasWilliam, an agricultural labourer, who was with hiswife Alice and their children Elizabeth, Clara andAlfred at Woodchurch.

The second of the sons of William and Mary (néeHighsted) was Richard, 54 and his wife Mary at

The New York Times17th May 1987

HOLLYER Daniel Davenport, MasterMariner, 82 years of age, died peacefullySunday, May 3, 1987 at Mount Sinai Hospital,New York City. The dearly loved andcherished husband of Hilda, loving father ofLynette and Peter, devoted grandfather ofMargaret, Larissa and Michael; loving brotherof Claire. Captain Hollyer was licensed andqualified to sail any ship, any ocean. He startedwhen sailing ships were still afloat,commanded a vessel in the assault on theFrench coast in World War II, served on theoceanographic ship “Atlantis” out of WoodsHole and had a distinguished career as one ofthe finest and most able commanders ofAmerican passenger and cargo vessels. His lastcommand was the “H. S. Hope”, a fullyequipped hospital demonstration and trainingvessel serving in various countries of theworld. He treasured the friendship of its stafffor the rest of his days. Daniel was an amateurmusician and played the piano, harpsichord,flute and recorder for his own pleasure andthat of his friends. He enriched our lives withhis love of classical music, fine literature andgood chess, having been a longstandingmember and supporter of the Marshall ChessClub. He was endowed with wit and wisdomand with a character of exceptional grace andnobility. Those who knew him loved him andwill sorely miss him. We shall not soon see hislike again. To honor his memory, contributionsmay be made to the Greenwich Village Societyfor Historic Preservation, 47 Fifth Avenue,NYC 10003. Private service.

Daniel Hollyer 1905-1987

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Appledore, Kent, where he was yet another ‘AgLab’. This family was difficult to place at first, asthe census reversed their birthplaces. He wasshown as born in Iden, Sussex and she atWoodchurch, whereas the reverse was the truth,as shown in the 1861 census.

The third son of William and Mary was John, buthe seems to have died a few years before. Hemarried Jane Godden in Woodchurch in 1852and she, with three of their children: Stephen,Susanna and Esther, were at Woodchurch, whiletheir eldest daughter Agnes was a DomesticServant with the Hart family at Westwell, Kent.Although the ages don’t quite match up, theWilliam Holyer, aged 20, Private at MaidstoneBarracks is probably their eldest son. He had beenshown as aged 13 in the 1871 census atWoodchurch.

Finally, the fourth son and the last identifiedHolyer, was Walter, another ‘Ag Lab’, with his wifeFrances at Woodchurch. They do not appear tohave had any family. They are both buried atWoodchurch, one of the four Holyer gravestonesthere.

The “Portsea” Hollyers in 1881

The Portsea Hollyers were shown as Holliers, andalong with a number of other Hampshire Hollierfamilies, were, in 1881, mainly on the Isle ofWight. Thomas and his wife Sarah Eliza werewith their children Thomas Francis and Esther.

Thomas was shown as a Beer House Keeper,while son Thomas was a Plumber’s Apprentice. Ihave never been in contact with any of this family,but at least one line of descent exists: Alison Jane,great granddaughter of Thomas Francis marriedin Portsmouth in 1993.

Other Hollyers

The only remaining Hollyer shown in the 1881census who we know something about is SarahHollyer, widow of Charles Hollyer. Charlesdescended from a family which for severalgenerations were living at Binfield in Berkshire.Sarah was at 20 Lodge Road, Marylebone, aGeneral Servant aged 50 living with Eliza Hudson,a Lodging House Keeper

This completes the review of the known Hollyerfamilies in 1881.

Skeletons? - we have skeletons!

I am often asked whether I have uncovered any“skeletons in the cupboard” during all my familyhistory research. Much depends on what qualifiesas a “skeleton” - we don’t know what families of thepast tried to hide. A thorough reader of the HollyerReview will note that many present day Hollyersdescend from what is thought to be an illegitimateson of Matthew Hartley Hollyer II. In today’ssociety, this would not be considered shocking,though attitudes have varied over the years.Perhaps, however, the story of Walter Hollyer

“Skeleton in the cupboard”? - Walter Hollyer’s birth certificate

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(1853-1924), from the “Kent” Hollyer family,qualifies as a rather more unusual tale that mightqualify as a “skeleton in the cupboard”.

The tale begins with Margaret Wilbourn’s researchin the 1970s into the Kent Hollyer families. Shewas fascinated by Josiah Hollyer as he had keptthe Bear Inn at Cliffe, close to where she lives inSussex. Josiah was not a direct ancestor ofMargaret’s, but was the brother of Joseph theHerald Painter, her direct ancestor - and mine too.One of Josiah's sons, William Josiah also becamean Inn Keeper. He married in 1842 to ClaraMargaret Divers, but she died 3 years later in1845, most probably from the effects of childbirth.William Josiah remarried in 1848 to Louisa MaryWood. He died in 1857 at the New Steine Hotel inBrighton, while Louisa died three years later.Margaret Wilbourn noted that William Josiah left awill which was proved in the Prerogative Court ofCanterbury. Before stating the bequests to hisson George Thomas and his wife, he mentions aWalter Taylor, son of Sophia Taylor, who was toreceive £1 a week until he became 21 and then£250 lump sum. Sophia was left all the furnitureand effects at the house at 24 Clifton Street,where she presumably lived. Just this evidencealone is enough to suggest that Walter Taylormight have been the son of William Josiah bySophia Taylor.

It was a marriage certificate of 1869 that clinchedthe theory. A Walter Hollyer, who said he was 18,married Florence Godley, 16, at St NicholasChurch, Brighton. Walter Hollyer quoted his father

as William Josiah Hollyer (deceased), a HotelKeeper. So Walter Taylor was using the nameHollyer! Note that as he was 18, he would havebeen born around 1851, but curiously there wasno birth record for a Walter Taylor in 1851, norindeed one for a Walter Hollyer.

That is where the story stayed until I wascontacted by Gavin Hamilton from New Zealand inlate 1995. He told me that his sister-in-law MavisHamilton was born a Hollyer. Her ancestor was aReginald, who had lived in Africa and had marriedinto the Mandy family. I immediately thought thatI knew all about this family from my earlierresearches into the South African Hollyers, butafter a little more study it became clear that thiswas a new family for me, but one with anextraordinary coincidence. This arose from thefact that Eric Bryan Hollyer (descended from theLock-Keeping family 3) who had emigrated withhis father to South Africa in 1924 later marriedMarlene Mandy - Mandy being her surname fromher first marriage. But there is no connectionbetween Reginald Hollyer and Eric Bryan’s line.

Gavin stated that Reginald was born in Readingaround 1895 and was the youngest of 11 children.From my lists of births from the GRO indexes, Isoon managed to obtain the birth certificate ofReginald from 1893. He was the son of WalterHollyer and Rose Ann Rielly. The birth took placeat Reading Barracks where Walter was a QuarterMaster in the Royal Berkshire Regiment. This ledme to search the 1891 census for ReadingBarracks, where I discovered that Walter was then

Walter’s two marriage certificates

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37 and born in Islington. He was accompanied byRose Ann and 8 children, three of whom had beenborn in India, which explained why I had beenunable to piece together the family of 11 from myUK records.

It took a while to register what all this might mean.My first reaction was that this Walter Hollyercouldn’t be the same as “Walter Taylor”, since weknow that William Josiah’s son married FlorenceGodley, not a Rose Ann Rielly. Also, he was bornin Islington, not Clerkenwell. But then doubtsstarted to creep into my mind. Firstly, there wasno other Walter Hollyer registered around thattime, nor one in Islington under any name.Looking at a map I noted that Myddelton Squarelies right on the boundary of Clerkenwell andIslington. Things got more complicated when Irealised that the birth certificate was, of course,fraudulent in that William Josiah never did marrySophia. He was married to Louisa Mary who wasof course mentioned as his wife in his will written in1857, just before his death. What’s more, ifWalter really was born in 1853, then he could onlyhave been 15 when he married Florence Godley -would this marriage have been legal?

Another point of interest surrounds Sophia Taylor.Did William Josiah live a double life, in Londonwith Sophia and in Brighton with Louisa? Not clear- and the 1851 census seems to show 18

Myddleton Square as a lodging house. HadSophia been moved to London during thepregnancy? However, we know that by 1857Sophia was living in Brighton and it was there thatWalter grew up.

I was lucky to find that the 4 children that Walterand Rose Ann had in India were indexed in theoverseas births at St Catherine’s House. I boughtthe birth certificate for their eldest child Elizabeth,perhaps thinking that the mother might have beenFlorence and that Rose Ann had been a later wife,perhaps after Florence had died. But not so.Elizabeth’s birth certificate quotes Walter andRose Ann as the parents. At that time, in 1874,Walter was a sergeant in the 66th Regiment atBelgaum in India.

So I was left with a mystery. If the two Walterswere one and the same person, then he appearsto have married once in 1869 and again around1874. There are no UK death records for aFlorence Hollyer; could she perhaps havetravelled to India with Walter and died there?Further complications arise from Rose Annherself. She gives her birth place as Cavan,Ireland in the 1891 census, yet in the 1881 censusshe quotes Manchester! At this stage I decided Ineeded to draw on professional help. JohnDagger specialises in Army and Indian recordswhich fitted the bill perfectly. Over some months

Part of Walter’s service record, showing date and place of birth

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in 1996, he was able to piece together a good dealof surviving Army documentation which enablesus to solve some of the mystery. This is what hefound:

Walter Hollyer enlisted in the 66th Regiment atWestminster on 30th June 1869, just 3 monthsafter he married Florence. He gave his age as 18.The Regiment arrived in Bombay in March 1870.Walter Hollyer, aged 20, a ‘bachelor’, marriedRose Ann Rielly aged 15 at Belgaum on 5th March1874. No deaths of a Florence were found - buthad there been, Walter would have been a‘widower’ on his second marriage. Variousrecords showed him and his expanding familyover the years. An important service record of1884, after he had returned to Britain, stated thathis birth date was 11th September 1851 and birthplace ‘Middleton Square, Islington, London’.

This leaves no doubt that there was only oneWalter. Further research in the 1871 censusshows that Florence was once again using hermaiden name Godley and had returned to live withher parents, but was clearly shown as beingmarried. In the 1881 census, Florence is alive andwell, but quotes herself as being unmarried. It issaid that in the 19th century, a marriage could beassumed to be dissolved if one was deserted bysomeone abroad for a period of 7 years. This mayhave been what happened with Florence, but itdoesn’t explain how Walter was able to describehimself as a bachelor in 1874. And what ofWalter’s birth? Was it 1851 or 1853? Did heconveniently add two years to his age? If so, hewas not always consistent in using this inflatedage. If he was really born in 1851, then the 1853birth certificate would have been obtained for atwo year old child, adding another error to thefalsified name on the certificate.

It is course possible that sometime between 1871and 1874, the marriage of Walter and Florencewas dissolved - one can see several possiblereasons - but I have checked the list of divorcesfrom 1869 right through to 1885 and there are noHollyers. Whatever the circumstances of Walter’sbirth and marriages, he seems to have been aremarkable individual, entering the Army andrising through the ranks until he became an Officerin 1881. Walter died in Epsom in 1924 aged 72(1851 to the end?), while Rose Ann died in 1927aged 68. Walter has certainly added a deal ofcolour to the Hollyer story.

Hollyer surgeons in 17th centuryLondon

I mentioned above that through the Internet, JimHollyer discovered the existence of an article inthe St Thomas’s Hospital Gazette about theHollyer and Molins families. I subsequently got acopy of the 1962 article from the hospital library. Itsuggests that no less than 3 generations ofHollyers: Thomas Hollyer Snr, Thomas Hollyer Jnrand James Hollyer were surgeons at the hospitalin the 17th century. We do not know how thisfamily links into the known Hollyer families.Thomas Snr had married a Lucy Knowles, whowas a niece of James Molins. The Molins familytoo had 3 generations as surgeons at the hospitalbut their appontment there became embroiled inthe politics of the English Civil War. ThomasHollyer Snr operated on the famous diaristSamuel Pepys to remove a stone in 1658. Thearticle also records that the Hollyer house, besidethe hospital’s front gate, was demolished bygunpowder in order to create a fire-break andthereby save the hospital during the disastrousSouthwark fire of 1676. The complete text of thisarticle is as follows:-

OUR FORERUNNERS

4. The Molins and the HollyerFamilies. Cavaliers, Roundheads andCutting for the Stone

SIX members of one family on the surgical staff in onecentury was quite an achievement, even for St.Thomas’s which has seen more than one surgicaldynasty.

James Molins began it. He was appointed on January11th, 1605, largely on the recommendation of theQueen, to the vacancy created by the death of ThomasCrowe He took over his predecessor’s stock of“certeyne salves by him made for the service of thishouse “for which he paid Crowe’s widow £3 6s. 8d.His salary was only £30 p.a. until 1631 when it wasincreased to £36 but he received various sums foroperating for stone until a payment of £15 p.a. wassubstituted for individual payments. He wondistinction as a lithotomist and became first Wardenand then in 1632 Master of the Barber SurgeonsCompany. During the 34 years he served the Hospitalhe trained a new generation of Surgeons including hisson Edward and an apprentice, Thomas Hollyer, wholater married Edward’s niece, Lucy.

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Edward Molins succeeded his father in 1639 but didnot enjoy the position for long. A hot-headed Royalist,he rushed off in 1641 to join the King’s forces at York.This was not the first time he had acted impetuously.Earlier in the same year he had been reprimanded bythe Court of the Barber Surgeons and fined fortyshillings because he came into the Court “with his haton his head and his armes on his side, and told theCourt he would doe noe obedience to the Court; andswore by God’s Wounds he would submit to noe manliving”.

Edward’s behaviour was not calculated to appeal to theGovernors of St. Thomas’s Hospital, whosesympathies, like those of the City of London, werelargely Roundhead, but who tried to keep the Hospitalout of politics. However, they kept his post vacant andthe work was done by Thomas Hollyer who held theposition of Surgeon for Scald Heads, which gave himthe status of Assistant Surgeon. Hollyer applied in vainfor the post of Full Surgeon, until 1644, when a letterwas received from the House of Commons asking theGovernors to displace Edward Molins “for that heewas lately taken at Arundell Castle in armes against theParliament” and recommending Henry Cleere in hisplace. The Governors refused Cleere and obtainedpermission to appoint Hollyer because he had beenconnected with the Hospital for 14 years and hadsupplied the place in Molin’s absence.

All went smoothly at St. Thomas’s until 1660 whenEdward Molins returned from the wars and, with theKing’s support, demanded his place back. Faced withthe problem of four Surgeons and only three places, theGovernors proposed to divide the same salariesbetween the four. Instead of the £40 p.a. then beingpaid for general surgery and £15 p.a. for lithotomy, theSurgeons were to have £30 p.a. each and Molins andHollyer were to cut for stone alternate years, the onewho did the work having £15 p.a. What Hollyer

thought of this is not recorded but it failed to satisfyMolins who threatened to sue Hollyer for his salaryever since election. The Governors, “to keep amitybetweene them (being uncle and nephewe),” persuadedthem to submit to arbitration. Eventually it wasdecided to have four surgeons equally paid until onedied, when the number was to be reduced to three again.

The first to die was Edward Molins in 1663, but inspite of the previous decision he was immediatelysucceeded by his son, James, and the number ofSurgeons was not reduced till the death of ThomasAllen in 1666. James Molins was the last the of Molinsfamily to be appointed. He was an M.D. of Oxford andSurgeon in Ordinary to Charles II and James II. Politicsseem to have bedevilled his career as they did hisfather’s and he disappears from the Hospital recordsafter politically inspired staff changes in 1683.

Thomas Hollyer remained in office till 1670 whenill-health caused him to hand over to his son, ThomasHollyer, Jun. Thomas Hollyer, Sen., is chieflyremembered now as the surgeon who operated onSamuel Pepys. Pepys did not, of course, undergo hisoperation for stone among the poor of St. Thomas’Hospital but as a private patient at the home of hiscousin, Mrs. Turner. It took place in March, 1658, andtwo prescriptions written for “Mr. Peapes” arepreserved in the British Museum. Before the operationhe was ordered a soothing draught of liquorice, marshmallow, cinnamon, milk, rosewater and the whites offifteen eggs with syrup of althea. After he had been cuthe was ordered lemon juice, syrup of radishes and mist.alba. Pepys was enormously proud of the very largestone removed and spent 24/- on a case for it. Healways had great respect for Hollyer, although he didsay that he once found him “a little fuddled and so didtalk nothing but Latin”.

Thomas Hollyer, Jun., succeeded not only to hisfather’s place as Surgeon but also to his house beside

This is the family tree ofthe Molins and Hollyer

surgeons as produced byMr McInnes and

published in the StThomas’s Hospital

Gazette in 1962.However, it seems

probable that Thomasand James were brothers,

not father and son.

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the front gate of the Hospital in Borough High Street.This house was destroyed in the disastrous Southwarkfire of 1676. As the old shops and houses, largely oftimber, roared up in flames the primitive localfirefighting equipment was almost useless. The firecould only be halted by making a break in its path. Inorder to save the Hospital, Hollyer’s house was blownup with gunpowder. The Hospital buildings werepreserved at the expense of the windows, shattered bythe explosion.

Practically nothing seems recorded of the last Hollyer,James, who was elected in 1686. He appears to havedied in 1690, but the changes in the Staff in thesixteen-eighties make it difficult to be certain of theduration of appointments. James Hollyer was probablyone of the sons of Thomas Hollyer, Jun. Muchresearch remains to be done on this family of which atleast one other member (Edward Molin’s brother,William) was a surgeon, although not on the Staff ofSt. Thomas’s.

E. M. McINNES

Hospital Archivist

The author of the article, Mr McInnes, was thehospital archivist in the 1960s. He was not agenealogist and offers no hard evidence thatJames was indeed the son of Thomas Hollyer,Jnr. What genealogical evidence can be broughtto bear on this family?

The most valuable evidence comes from theLondon Marriage Licences, since both Thomas’sand James married by Licence. It is said that thewell-to-do preferred marrying by Licence as thisavoided having ones names read out as Banns inchurch in front of all and sundry common-folk. On29th December 1638, Thomas Hollier ofChristchurch, London, surgeon, widower, agedabout 29 was granted a licence to marry LucieKnowles of St Andrew, London, spinster, 16, withthe consent of her father Thomas Knowles, alsoof St Andrew, Linen Draper. Curiously, themarriage licence quotes the marriage to takeplace at Stoke Newington or Tottenham HighCross, then both small villages north of London.However, the International Genealogical Index(IGI) tells us that the marriage actually took placeat “St Mary, London”, which is rather vague. Thismay be St Mary Woolnoth in the City. Thomasmust have been born around 1609 andunfortunately the IGI has no Thomas baptisedaround this time which might help identify hisancestry.

The IGI records some 8 children of Thomas andLucy between 1640 and 1661, including James in1649. James’s marriage licence of 11thDecember 1676 says he was of Christchurch,London, chirurgeon (the old name for surgeon)aged 27. His wife was Martha Brookes of AllHallows the Less, London, spinster, 22. She toomarried with her father’s consent and the weddingwas to be at Camberwell. Thus we can concludethat James was not the son of Thomas Jnr, but ofThomas, Snr and brother to Thomas, Jnr. The IGIrecords that James and Martha went on to havethree children between 1677 and 1680.

Thomas, Jnr’s marriage licence of 29thDecember 1666 states that he was a chirurgeonof St Andrew, Holborn, 24. His bride was MaryRichardson of St Giles in the Fields, spinster,aged 16. Her father gave consent and themarriage was to be at St Pancras, Highgate orKentish Town. In fact, it took place on 1st January1666/7 at St Pancras Old Church. No children ofthis marriage are in the IGI. However, eventhough Thomas’s own baptism is not the IGI, wecan deduce from his birth c1642 that he would bethe son of Thomas and Lucy.

Another marriage licence connected with thisfamily exists. Thomas and Lucy had a daughterSusanna, baptised 22nd December 1657. She isalmost certainly the Susanna Hollier, spinster,about 19, who married with her father’s consenton the 26th February 1677. The marriage to JohnLloyd a merchant and widower, 32, was to takeplace at Christchurch or St Leonard’s accordingto the licence of 25th February 1677/8- it actuallytook place at St Leonard’s.

It remains to mention that one of Thomas Hollyerswas the originator of at least one version of theHollyer Coat of Arms. Burke’s General Armoryrecords that two versions of the Hollier crest havebeen noted connected with Thomas Hollier,surgeon of London. One is from a monumentalinscription, which suggests that Thomas (whichone though? - probably the younger) died in 1690.Is this inscription still extant? The other referenceis from a manuscript by the Harleian Society. Bothseem to have the bear’s paw in the crest, butassociated with the Arms with the buck’s head.An earlier Hollier Arms had a crest of the handand fish.

The IGI shows a number of Holliers associatedwith Southwark and Camberwell after this time

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and Kent’s Directory of 1826 shows an E. Hollier,surgeon at 52 Bridgehouse Place, Southwark.Thus it seems probable that any descendants ofthe surgeons used the Hollier spelling.

The City Hollyers and St Paul’sCathedral

In the previous document, I quoted from a letterfrom Lilian Rosalind Hollyer in which she hadreported that her grandfather had done repairwork at St Paul’s Cathedral. I remarked that I hadnot found the commemorative tablet that she hadmentioned and the Cathedral staff had not beenable to find any record of any work being done bythe Hollyers. Lilian’s grandfather was MatthewHartley Hollyer III and if Matthew’s sons were alsoinvolved, as Lilian reported, then these eventswould have had to have been around 1880.

I have since found that, whatever the facts mightbe that Lilian described, the City Hollyers had hadinvolvement with the Cathedral over 100 yearsearlier. In the manuscripts in Lambeth PalaceLibrary there are the papers of Robert Mylne(1734-1811) who was Surveyor to St Paul’sCathedral. Amongst these papers are twodocuments relating to Hollyers, dated 1770. Thefirst is a draft Articles of Agreement with MatthewHollyer (1754-1804), who is described as Glazierto St Paul’s Cathedral, while the second is theaccount for work done, submitted by RichardHollyer (1728-1778), who was Matthew’s father. Ihave not yet inspected these documents. It maybe that the family had a long standing relationshipwith the Cathedral, which would be remarkable

over a period of 100 years. Alternatively, it couldbe that Lilian recalled a true family story handeddown over a longer period than she realised.

Adventures abroad

Harry Holyer's grandfather Charles may well havethought that joining the family business as apublican did not offer all that he hoped for in life.At some time in the 1880s he met the Fagg familyand in particular, Rosa Fagg. Several of the Faggfamily had already emigrated to Queensland,Australia and given that this was the time of thegold-rush, Charles and Rosa decided to go too.They sailed on the 2000 ton "Merkara" on 15thDecember 1885 from London under CaptainPhillips. He was described as a 23 year oldCarpenter, while Rosa was 24. They wereaccompanied by a 5 year old girl Daisy, who weassume must be a daughter of Rosa’s.

Charles & Rosa settled in Bundaberg,Queensland, where they had several children:Nicholas Charles in 1886, Florence Eliza in 1887and at least two more who we only know throughtheir death records: Edith died 1888 and Georgedied 1891.

It would appear, however, that Australia was notquite the land of milk and honey that they mighthave imagined. Charles made friends with agroup of socialist thinkers who fell increasinglyunder the influence of William Lane. Lane hadbeen born in England in 1861 and had worked inCanada and the United States as anewspaperman before he migrated to Australia inthe mid 1880s. He joined the Brisbane Courier

This photograph taken atBundaberg, Queensland in1893 shows the some of themen who decided toemigra te to “NewAustralia” in Paraguay. Itis thought that the man inthe centre is William Lane.Charles Holyer is amongstthem and I would suggesthe is the person 2nd fromthe right in the middle row.

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and the Brisbane Evening Observer, and laterestablished a Queensland Labour paper, theBrisbane Worker. Lane was an enthusiastic andenergetic social reformer and played a large partin the formation of the Australian LabourFederation. He realised that socialism of the kindhe wanted would not be brought about by eitherpolitical or industrial action. He therefore decidedto set up a new colony called New Australia inParaguay, far enough away from Australia tomake commitment total. On 16th July 1893, thesailing ship Royal Tar left from Sydney with some250 Australians all hoping for a new challengingand prosperous life in a promised land farremoved from the strikes, poverty andunemployment of their own country. Everyonehad to sell everything they owned, with a minimumsubscription of £60 - which somewhatincongruously meant that the really poor anddestitute could not join. Initially life in NewAustralia was not easy, but the land was veryfertile and could easily support the newcommunity.

Lane said at the time:-

"For this to me is what New Australia means, to thelandless, the homeless, the wifeless, the childless, tothose who long to be manly, to be true, to be what menshould be. Come out from this hateful life, the life thatis full of unspoken misery, of heart-sickening longing,of evil habits growing with the years, of sin and slaverythat lead to nothing but death. Come together, in allunselfishness, to trust each other and to be free!"

Charles and Rosa were among those first groupof settlers who left in 1893. Charles and Rosawere recorded as being accompanied by Daisy,13; Catherine, 12; Nicholas, 9; and Florrie, 6.Who was Catherine? From her age she shouldhave been old enough to have come out fromEngland with Charles and Rosa, but only Daisywas then recorded.

William Lane was however a strict disciplinarian tohis socialist ideals. He lacked tact, businesssense and administrative ability. He was forcedout of New Australia and founded another smallercommunity called Cosme. Both communitieseventually failed, mainly it is said for lack ofwomen to support the men and the community asa whole. Lane himself was driven out in 1899 andwent to New Zealand to return to the newspapertrade, repaying settlers to his death in 1917.

Charles and Rosa struggled all the way up theRiver Plate to the settlement in the centre ofParaguay, but were amongst the earliest to bedisillusioned. Prevented from returning toAustralia lest it would dissuade other settlerswaiting to make the journey, Charles and Rosawere forced to raise money to return to Englandand the publican trade in Ramsgate. Two morechildren arrived soon after: Charles Frederick inthe Autumn of 1894, but who died before the yearwas out, and Herbert William who was born earlyin 1896 but died a year later. However, their nexttwo children survived: Harold Richard born in1897 and who was still alive in 1990 and ClydeCollis (1899-1985), Harry's father.

Charles and Rosa ran the "Admiral Harvey" andlater on the "Harp" on Harbour Parade. He alsoran a grocery. All this time, it would appear thatCharles and Rosa were not actually married. Buton 24th September 1913, at St Olave's,Bermondsey, Charles Holyer, 51, married awidow Rosa Pope, 52, daughter of William Fagg,so it would seem that they didn't marry earlierbecause Rosa's first husband was still living. In1919 Charles moved to another pub inSheerness on the Isle of Sheppey. By 1922 hehad moved to Tooting in South London working asa grocer. After a year at Newport Pagnell inBuckinghamshire, he finally settled in West Hamin East London, where he continued as a groceruntil his death at 85 in 1947. He always said thathe always voted Conservative, because he knewthat socialism didn't work.

Hollyer criminals!

As recorded in the first Hollyer Review, someHollyer criminals were transported to Virginia inAmerica, though we have no information on whatbecame of them. After the American Revolution,Britain could no longer, of course, send convictsto the USA and sent them instead to the newcolonies in what is now Australia. A ‘fleet’ or groupof ships would be sent out together. Recordsshow that the 3rd Fleet of 1791, which set sailfrom Southampton, included a Stephen Hollyer,sentenced to ‘be transported for life’. This is inaddition to the William Hollyer, referred to on page4, who was transported from South Australia toTasmania. There are a number of Hollyers inAustralia today and I have written to all those inthe telephone directory. Some have madecontact, but most haven’t. One wonders whetherany of today’s Hollyers might be descendants of

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Stephen or William Hollyer.

More Hollyers in print

In the Hollyer Review, I described ‘Hollyers inprint’. A few more citations have come to light, butmostly recording the work of Samuel the engraverand Frederick the photographer. A poem byJames Hollyer has been found, see page 47.However, another new name is that of Olive E. M.Hollyer, daughter of William Perring Hollyer. Shewrote a book Dog Keeping and Breeding whichwas published in 1926. Interestingly, SheelaSmith says that Olive was yet another artist in thefamily. Olive became quite well known for herexcellent animal studies in the 1930s andobtained some commissions, but because of thedepression years life for her was a struggle.

Some other citations have been found for theHollier spelling, some of which show that thisspelling was current in France during the 19th andearly 20th centuries. Much older by far are BlaiseHollier’s medical textbooks of 1556 and 1564. Asthese were written in Latin, it is not clear what thecountry of origin might have been.

Hollyer school-mistresses

During my researches, I decided to try to find thebirthplaces of Samuel Hollyer’s family, three ofwhose sons, readers will recall, went to the USA,while another, Frederick became a prominentphotographer. I had located a good number ofnew Hollyer baptisms by scanning through all theindexed parish records in central London that areheld at the Metropolitan Archives (the formerGreater London Record Office). I managed tolocate many of Samuel and Mary Ann’s childrenbaptised at St George’s, Bloomsbury, andhelpfully the father’s address was also given.Both Christopher Charles and Frederick wereshown as born at Penton Place, Pentonville.Given that this last baptism was in 1838, I hadhigh hopes of finding his family there in the 1841census. However, all I found, at 31 Penton Placewere three of Samuel’s sisters: Mary Ann, AnnaMaria and Susannah and all three were shown asSchool Mistresses. This was both unexpectedand interesting, throwing a highlight on whatunmarried women did to earn their keep. Weknow that their father John Hollyer was describedas ‘late of Penton Place’ in his Administration

This painting of 1899 by Gregory Hollyer was sent to me by a French Canadian,Michel Beauchemin, who found my Hollyer site on the Internet. It shows theRideau locks at Bytown, Ottawa, Canada. Michel adds: At the rear we see SleighBay opening on the Ottawa river, on the bay at the right is the steamer's wharf. The"Genie Royal" building is on the right, (it was demolished in 1912). The"Commissariat building" is in front (it still exists). The building at the upper left isthe Parliament Library opened in 1876.

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(substitute for a Will) granted to his daughterSusannah in 1836, some 12 years after his death.

Hollyer silk merchants

In the Review, I quoted from a 1967 letter fromHartley John Hollyer concerning his ancestors.What he said was:-

“We, on our branch, can go back about 300 years ormore, but as far as I can recollect, my great-greatgrandfather was a silk merchant in the City of London,when, of course, the City then consisted of onlywealthy merchants such as shipping, insurance,banking, livery etc.”

I commented that this seemed confused, as weknow that Hartley John’s great great grandfatherwas Matthew Hartley Hollyer II, the renownedBuilder and Glazier. We know that all his directancestors back to Richard were Builders andGlaziers, but there were Hollyer silk merchantsback in the Coventry area where Richard wasborn. More recently, I discovered in a streetdirectory for 1820 a reference to a John Hollyer &Co, Ribbon Manufacturer, of 4 Falcon Street,Aldersgate Street, in the City of London. FalconStreet was at the south end of Aldersgate Street,near its junction with St Martins Le Grand, only a100 yards from Newgate Street and WarwickLane. Now we know that Matthew Hartley HollyerII had a younger brother John born in 1760. Hemarried Sarah Shallis in 1780 and their first sonwas a John Jarman Hollyer born 1781. (Not to beconfused with the latter’s nephew of the samename (1835-1891), the Undertaker and Violinist.)So, it looks quite likely that one or perhaps both ofthese John Hollyers may have been a Silk

Merchant in the City, even if Hartley John’s directancestors were not.

Josiah Hollyer and his hotels

In the Review, it was mentioned that JosiahHollyer (1799-1864) was a hotel keeper at Doverand later at Lewes. From Harry Holyer's notes,more is now revealed about his career. The firstreference to Josiah is in 1821 when he was aBook-Keeper at the Ship Inn in Dover. In 1823 hewas noted as a Clerk in the Ship Canal Office. Wenow know that by 1830 he was keeping theGeorge Inn at Rye, Sussex. The 1834 referencein the Dover Telegraph to ‘Mr Holyer's GeorgeHotel at Rye' is clearly Josiah and not one of his‘single L' relations. The same paper records thaton 23rd June 1836, Josiah Hollyer of The GeorgeInn, Rye would be taking over the ShakespeareHotel, Dover. This hotel was in Bench Street, butoften described as ‘near Marine Parade', as it wasin the 1837 Kent Directory. In the 1838/9 ratingevaluation, Josiah's hotel was assessed for £118s on a rateable value of £114. In the 1841census, Josiah & Martha had 7 people in the hotelon census night, though how many were guestsand how many staff is not clear. On 14th February1846, Josiah advertised in the Dover Telegraphfor the sale of a horse. In the same paper on 18thApril 1846, Josiah was recorded as being aDirector of the Dover & East Kent Building andInvestment Society. He carried out jury service on13th April 1847, but a note in the jury list then saysthat he had left Dover, so we might assume thatthis was when he moved to the Bear Hotel atCliffe, Lewes, where he stayed until his death in1864.

On the right of thisphotograph is The BearHotel at Cliffe, Lewes,Sussex, the last hotel thatJosiah Hollyer kept untilhis death in 1864. Thisview was taken c 1880.

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Joseph Hollyer's apprenticeship

It was not only information on Josiah that turned upin Harry Holyer's notes. I've always wondered howJoseph became a Herald Painter (and, it is said, aCoach Maker) when all his ancestors werebutchers. The following apprenticeship record wasfound in Dover Library:-

"Joseph Hollyer with consent of father John Hollyer ofDover, Butcher, by Indenture of 11th February 1824apprenticed to Wm. Rouse of Dover, Coach Painter, for7 years. In consideration of services, teach trades ofCoach Painter and Coach Trimmer allowing to saidapprentice:-

3/- 1st year4/- 2nd year5/- 3rd year6/- 4th year7/- 5th year8/- 6th year9/- 7th year

and John Hollyer finds his son in meat, drink, lodgingand wearing apparel, washing, mending etc.

Enrolled 20th February 1824"

This leaves a puzzle about when the father Johndied. I had some information that he died in 1824,the same year as this apprenticeship. However,amongst Harry's notes were two references fromthe burial registers at Buckland by Dover. One is forSarah Hollyer aged 72 from Canterbury, buried17th December 1841 and I know this was indeedJohn's wife. The other is for a John Hollier of StMary, Dover, aged 57 buried 3rd March 1823. I feelthis must be my 4xGt Grandfather John Hollyer, butif he died in 1823, would an 1824 apprenticeship ofhis son read as it does above? Perhaps I need todouble check the burial register in case it was really1824, as we always thought.

And a story about William...

John Hollyer's father was William Holyer(1741-1810), Butcher of Woodchurch. Anothernugget from Harry's notes was the following extractdated 11th October 1808 from the Kentish Gazette:-

"WHEREAS on Monday October 3rd 1808, was lost atWarehorn or near that place, a large black POCKETBOOK, containing notes to a considerable amount, andalso Bills of accompts. Whosoever has found the said

Painting of a Breton woman by EvaHollyer, a somewhat untypicaltheme for Eva. This was one ofseveral paintings found on theInternet.

book and will deliver it to Wm HOLYER, ofWoodchurch, with the whole contents when lostshall receive a reward of TWENTY POUNDS,and upon delivery of the book without thebanknotes shall receive ONE GUINEA reward"

I feel it unlikely that William got his moneyback, but the fact that he was prepared tooffer £20 in reward in 1808 suggested thatWilliam was quite a prosperous butcher!

Conclusions

In the remainder of this document are theAppendices and various articles aboutindividuals in the Hollyer families. I hope thateveryone who reads this will have foundsomething interesting here and that moreinformation might be forthcoming for a thirdvolume on the Hollyers.

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The Appendices

Franklin Market, New York, 1820 - an engraving by Samuel Hollyer

Page Subject

29 Hollyer Contacts34 Charles George Hollyer35 The Hollyer-Sanderson Pedigree36 Early Hollyer references37 Unknown American Hollyers38 Enfield’s Industries41 Beatrice Hollyer42 David Hollyer and the “Andrea Doria”43 Photo Gallery44 The D’Olier Family

45 Bob Hollyer in the Great War46 Robert Nelson Hollyer47 Who wrote this? / Who is this?48 Gregory’s Family49 Adrian’s Family50 William Perring Hollyer’s Family51 “Olivia and the Squire” by Eva Hollyer51 Frederick Hollyer, the photographer54 Frederick H. Hollyer, the lock-keeper55 Eric Bryan Hollyer56 How do you pronounce Hollyer?

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On page 5, I briefly mentioned the new contactsand material obtained since 1996. In thisappendix, I shall try to do justice to the assistanceand new information which these individualshave provided.

Firstly, I must thank my co-researcher, JimHollyer who has done most of the tracking downand correspondence in the USA and Canada.His leads, including world-wide contacts on theInternet have been invaluable.

Derrick Hollyer of Dudley, West Midlands, sent ahuge amount of material about his lock-keepingancestors, new photos, newspaper clippings anddetails of himself. Several of the new photoshave been included elsewhere. He lent meFrederick Henry Hollyer’s sketchbook of locktolls, described on page 54. He also noticed thearticle by Beatrice Hollyer, reproduced on page41.

Barbara Machell of Bearsden, Glasgow sent menew photos of her father Adrian Cecil (“Bob”) andher brother Cecil Thomas (“Bunny”).

Edgar Hollyer, of Kanata, Canada, sent me somewonderful Hollyer photos, many I had not seenbefore. Not all of these can be identified, leavingus with a few puzzles for the future. He alsoupdated some of the database facts for his sideof my family.

Jo Field from Toronto, Canada, sent the bookThe Earthly Paradise, an exhibition cataloguefrom 1993 from an exhibition of William Morrisand the Arts & Crafts movement. This includeda good deal of information and photos ofFrederick Hollyer, the photographer - but norelation to Jo of course! See page 51.

Marlene Hollyer (née Clayton) from Durban,South Africa sent details of her husband EricBryan Hollyer and her connections with theMandy family. See page 55

Hollyer Contacts andInformation Received

This delightful photograph, datingfrom the Great War, is of mygrandfather ‘Bob’ and his sisters Lilyand ‘Beattie’. It is one of the photosprovided by Edgar Hollyer.

Gavin Hamilton from New Zealand told meabout Reginald Hollyer, his sister-in-lawMavis’s ancestor and this led me to investigatethe story of Walter Hollyer, the twice-marriedarmy quartermaster. Since then I have spokento Mavis Hamilton, who lives in Aylesbury,Bucks, who has helped fill in some extrainformation. Gavin was also kind enough tomake contact with a couple of other Hollyers inNew Zealand, namely Judith Hollyer and herfather Peter John Hollyer. The latter retired toMurray’s Bay, Auckland in 1989, joining his

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daughter Judith who had emigrated there in1979. She is now a teacher at MahurangiCollege in Warkworth. Judith was able to tell mea good deal about her grandfather John HartleyHollyer, who was the eldest of 13 children ofMatthew George Hollyer, the carpenter, alreadydescribed in the section on the 1881 census.She provided snippets of information about JohnHartley’s siblings, much of it new and curiouslyreferring to one of the brothers as Sam, which isperhaps a familiar family name, rather than hisbirth-registered name, as I have all 13 childrenaccounted for already on my database and thereappears to be no Sam.

She reports that John Hartley Hollyer wasoriginally in the rag trade, but on his marriage tohis second wife, Dorothy Lovegrove, joined theLovegrove trade of Licensed Victuallers, (theformal name for a Publican or Bar-Keeper).Hence his family grew up in various pubs aroundLondon - Hatton Garden, Islington,Walthamstow, Hornchurch and also Oxford.Judith also gave me precise dates and places forall her current relatives. All in all, a perfectcorrespondent who has provided new data andsome facts to add to the raw data I already hadon this family.

Another descendant from the family of 13 is PaulAnthony Hollyer from Chesterfield. He was oneof several contacts made via the Internet. He isa solicitor and was able to provide detailed datesand other information on his family. Hisgrandfather was George Ernest Hollyer(1885-1969), the second of the family of 13referred to above. He also put me in touch withhis Uncle Jack Hollyer of Henley. Jack was ableto correct the information on the family of 13, as

the youngest twins (Mildred and James) do notappear in the GRO birth indexes. Sadly hereports that any family memorabilia and photoswere probably lost when his parents werebombed out in WW2, while he was servingabroad. Jack mentioned that the family of 13 didnot keep in touch. Matthew, Thomas and Jessieall went separately to Australia and Reginald toSouth Africa.

For those able to keep track of this huge family(see chart in the Review) we are lucky to havetracked down so many branches from these 13individuals: Judith, granddaughter of JohnHartley; Paul, grandson of George Ernest;Sandra Owen, granddaughter of ThomasShields; Beatrice, granddaughter of Reginald,while Derrick Hollyer was able to give meinformation on Leonard and his son Ivor. IfMatthew William went to Australia, perhaps hisson (another Leonard) is related to some of theAustralian Hollyers who are still unaccounted for.

Sarah Jill Hollyer was the one Hollyer whoresponded to my letter which I sent to all Hollyersin the Australian telephone directory (save forSandra Owen’s family which I had already hadcontact from some years ago). Better than that,Sarah was visiting Europe and the UK for a shorttime in 1997 and I was able to meet her oneevening. Sarah is the only child of LawrenceJohn Hollyer (1907-c1968), himself the onlychild of Montague Robert Hollyer (1869-1913).Montague was a bank clerk, following in thefootsteps of his father Robert Price Hollyer, theaccountant of Shooter’s Hill. Montague died ofan illness very soon after emigrating to Canadain 1913.

“New England Autumn”painted by Gregory Hollyer,one of the photographs sent tome by David L. Hollyer, whichis also on display in theHollyer Art Gallery on theWorld Wide Web.

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Sarah mentioned that her father Lawrence JohnHollyer was a member of the Stock Exchangeand his claim to fame was that he three timeswon the Stock Exchange walking race fromLondon to Brighton. He married in 1947 andemigrated to Australia in 1952 - one of the manywho took advantage of the £10 emigrationscheme. Sadly, he died in a tragic motoraccident when Sarah was just 18. His carseems to have fallen in some water and this wasnot discovered for several years. As a ‘missingperson’, the family could not get access to hisestate and times were hard for Sarah and hermother.

Sarah now works at Lauriston School as ateacher. While travelling abroad, she visited theWeber family in Switzerland. Anne ElizabethHollyer, daughter of John E. L. Hollyer, theHollyer family researcher from the past, marriedJacques Weber and settled in Switzerland.Although somewhat distant relatives of Sarah,she has kept in touch as she has so few Hollyerrelatives herself. Sarah did suggest that therewas a ‘family skeleton’ in her family though. Hermother confided in her that Sarah’s fathermarried for a very short time back in 1936, butthe marriage was perhaps dissolved orannulled. The wife was supposed to have somearistocratic connection, but I have been unableto find a record of any such marriage.

Simon Hollyer of Taunton was another E Mailcontact. Simon works as a planning officer forDevon County Council. When he first got intouch, he felt sure that the family name wasoriginal Hollier and was of French Huguenotorigin (where have we heard this before!).However, this turns out to be a family storyhanded down by someone who must have reada surname book making this connection. Simonwas not born a Hollyer, rather his mother, JaniceHollyer, reverted to her maiden name andSimon took the name too. Janice is the onlychild of Ernest W Hollyer who in turn was the sonof Harold Victor Hollyer, whose picture as ayoung boy appears on page 9.

Also found on the Internet was Justine Hollyer,at Bath University. I was able to trace her familyback to her Great Grandfather Robert Hollyer, aBullion Assayer, who was the son of Henry andLouisa Hollyer and was the youngest of thatfamily captured in the 1881 census.

Yet another Internet contact was Stuart Hollyer,a distant relative of Justine. He confirmed thathe was the son of Edwin Hollyer and grandsonof Robert Hollyer, the Bullion Assayermentioned above. He stated that Edwin was theyoungest of 6, though I had Edwin as 4th of 5,though I’m fairly sure I don’t yet have all ofRobert’s children on file. Stuart has worked as“Collections Administrator” for the BritishGeological Survey for 28 years, initially inLondon but now at Keyworth, south ofNottingham. His main role is running the nationalborehole core and sample collection. Thisclears up the mystery surrounding the citationmentioned in the Review about Sand and GravelResources.

Jim managed to come across a Taras Hollyer,again via the Internet, where a number ofmedical citations had been found. He turns outto be of Ukrainian origin and working at theFaculty of Pharmacy at Toronto University. Thisis what he said:

Actually, in terms of Hollyers, my family is inno way genealogically liked to any otherHollyer to the best of my knowledge. Thereason for this is that I am of Ukrainian descent.My family emigrated to Canada way back in the1900s or so when the Canadian government wastrying to develop Western Canada intosomething more than a wild frontier.

The Canadians were not very tolerant of otherpeople, so when my family came over, theylooked at our original name, Holiat (meaning“Goliath”, the guy who David killed) and said itwas not acceptable. So we were then named“Hollyer”. This has happened to a lot ofUkrainians up to the 1940s. If you wanted a jobother than maid, gardener, factory worker andthe like, you could just forget it if you didn’t losethe Ukrainian last name. Thankfully, we nowlive in a Canada that had a Ukrainiandescended Governor General as well as apremier of one of our provinces.

So although we are not genealogically related tothe Hollyers, I guess I am sort of like anassociate member of the family, or a “sept” ofthe Hollyer clan.

So, even if we haven’t found any Huguenot thatanglicised his name to Hollyer, we have found a

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real live Ukrainian whose family did so!

Next in line to acknowledge is JohnUmney-Gray, Jnr, son of the Hollyerresearcher. Jim visited him in Canada and wasallowed to copy his entire collection ofresearch papers and correspondence on thefamily. Given the comprehensive work thatJohn, Snr published to his circle of contacts,little new came from these papers, though aletter from Edgar, amongst these papers,prompted me to contact Edgar again, as itseemed he had some old family photographsof interest - which he did.

Judith Ohlgren from Lafayette, Indiana, saw amessage I left on the Internet concerning theHollyer name and contacted me about herHollier ancestry which has its roots inOxfordshire. No doubt her family originateswith the Warwickshire group way back, but Ihaven’t been able help as much as I’d like, asI have very little primary data about the Hollierspelling of the name.

A good deal of contact has been made with thedescendants of William Perring Hollyer, thepainter. L. Richard (“Dick”) Hollyer, son ofGregory, sent some family photos, including apoor copy of the 1881 photo shown on page11. His brother David L. Hollyer sent details ofhis family, correcting some earlier errors in thetree, and a couple of photos of paintings by hisfather to add to my Internet Hollyer Art Gallery.He also sent more information on the sinking ofAndrea Doria and articles he wrote about hisordeal on the stricken ship in 1956. See page42.

Hilda Hollyer, of New York, wife of the lateDaniel Hollyer (another son of Gregory) sentsome more photographs, including Daniel’sobituary, reproduced on page 16. She alsoprovided some good copies of two of SamuelHollyer’s engravings of New York. She put us intouch with Hilda Hixson, daughter of WilliamStanley Hollyer. William Stanley, like his brotherGregory, also emigrated to the USA. Hilda wasable to provide many photographs, includinggood copies of the 1881 photograph and wasable to identify the subjects of several more,which turned out to be ancestors of WilliamPerring’s wife, Grace Emily. However, I shouldmention that almost all the descendants of

William Perring Hollyer quote his wife’s name asEvangeline Grace, though I am bound to saythat all the records of baptism, marriage anddeath show it as Grace Emily. Perhaps that wasthe name she was known by within the family?Certainly, her first daughter Eva, the painter,was baptised Evangeline Grace Ellen.

Hilda Hixson put us in touch with Sheela Smithfrom Buxted in Sussex. She is the daughter ofHilda Gwen Hollyer and granddaughter ofWilliam Perring Hollyer. She sent some moreinteresting material on the family, including theD’Olier material reproduced on page 44. Shesays that her Aunt Edith (one of the daughters ofWilliam Perring Hollyer) researched the familyhistory at Canterbury Records Office and foundthat the family was descended from a Huguenotnoble called D’Olier. We know that this is mostunlikely. More likely, Edith, like so many othersread about this supposed ancestry from a book.One day I shall have to track down this book,which seems to have led so many people astray!

Almost all US Hollyers are either descendantsof William Perring Hollyer or of James &Alexander Hollyer, the two brothers who alongwith their brother Samuel emigrated to the USAin the 1850s. However, Jim came across a RoseMarie Hollyer, widow of Brandon FrancisHollyer, living in Fort Collins, Colorado. Brandonwas the only son of Kenneth Hartley Hollyer andValerie Hunt, who lived in the USA for a while,before they separated. Valerie, at least,returned to the UK. From the middle nameHartley, this family clearly descend from the CityHollyers, indeed Kenneth is the Great Grandsonof Matthew Hartley Hollyer III.

Dick Hollyer(b. 1919), sonof Gregory,one of themany folkwho have

contributedto the

research.

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Sandi Banta (née Hollars) sent me an E Mailconcerning her Hollars ancestry in the USA.Apparently, the name was spelt in many differentways in the 19th century, including Hollow,Hollar, Holler, Haller, Holloyer and Hollyer. It wasspelt as Hollyer in the 1840 Kentucky census.Her ancestor was named Albert and he was bornin Tennessee in 1822. She knows he had abrother Levi and an uncle Albert. Could there bea connection with the true Hollyers? This is quiteintriguing. While we know the ancestry of alltoday’s US Hollyers, Jim Hollyer has comeacross a few historical references which wehaven’t yet fitted in, see page 37.

Recently, we have made some more E Mailcontacts: Paul Hollyer of Stowmarket, whodescends from the Kent Holyers, specificallyfrom the family of William Morris “Maurice”Holyer described in the 1881 census section. Heworks in an Internet publishing firm and hasagreed to help smarten up the Hollyer pages onthe Internet.

Tony Hollyer, another Internet ‘find’ is probablyconnected with the Kent line too. We havelocated a Marc Hollyer, cousin of Justine Hollyermentioned above. Yet another descendant ofthe Kent Holyers is Mr. E. Gerada from SouthAfrica, whose Hol(l)yer line went to Malta. At thetime of writing, his ancestry is still being traced.

Peter Evans wrote to us giving interestinginformation about Frederick Hollyer’s eldersister, Mary Ann Eliza who married BernardEvans, a Landscape Painter, which we knew,but also that his cousin once removed wasHelene Smallwood who married Frederick’s son

Frederick Thomas. Bernard Evans appears tohave been quite an eccentric. Peter has kindlyprovided us with copies of a number of Hollyerwills and certificates.

Yet another contact has been Alexander Hollyer,son of Nigel Hollyer a Ship Broker. Alexander’sfamily managed to have been missed off theusual birth, marriage and death indexes on morethan one occasion, so he was able to confirmthat Nigel was the son of Brigadier Ivor Hollyer,who Derrick Hollyer had corresponded with in1979.

Apologies if I’ve missed anybody out, but I thinkthat completes the ‘Roll of Honour’ ofcontributors since the last work was published. Ithas not been all plain sailing. Jim and I haveoften chased up tardy correspondents where wesought valuable information - apologies if we’vebeen over-insistent! Some others, especiallythose contacted ‘cold’ via the Internet, havenever responded, so I guess family history is notof interest to every member of the Hollyerfamilies.

(Left) Paul Hollyer (b. 1953) fromStowmarket, taken in 1991.

(Right) Paul’s grandfather FrankThomas Hollyer (1894-1965) bornin Tenterden. He was thegrandson of “Maurice” Holyerfound in the 1881 census. Frankwas, at the time this photo wastaken (c1961), a taxi driver, seenhere with an American airmanprobably from RAF Bentwaters,one of the US air-bases nearFelixstowe.

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Obituaries and funeral notices can be valuablesources of genealogical information, as can beseen from that of my Great Grandfather, CharlesGeorge Hollyer, who died in 1930. As ithappens, by the time I came across this extractfrom the Enfield Gazette, I knew about all of hisrelatives, though his sister-in-law Mrs King isunknown to me - presumably a married sister ofhis wife Emma (née Haynes). The other mysteryis the reference to Mr G. Stockwell, Jnr. GeorgeStockwell married Charles’s sister ‘Beattie’ in1920 and they had children Charles and Ivy.Hence they could not, in 1930, have had a sonGeorge of an age to be engaged.

(Above) Charles George Hollyer and family.Bottom row: Charles, wife Emma (néeHaynes) and mother Elizabeth Hollyer (néeReed). Top row: Unknown, but probablyHelen Hollyer, sister of Charles who lookedafter her mother Elizabeth for many years;‘Beattie’, ‘Bob’ and Lilly. This photographwould have been taken at the side of theirhouse at Millais Road, perhaps around 1910.

(Below left) Charles’s grave 1930. (Belowright) 62 years on, time has taken its toll onthe grave at St James’s Cemetery, where hiswife Emma was also interred in 1931.

FUNERAL OF MR. C. G. HOLLYER

The funeral took place on Wednesday at St James’ Church,Enfield Highway of Mr Charles George Hollyer, aged 65,sign and glass writer, of 1 Millais Road, Bush Hill Park,who passed away on Friday. Deceased who had lived inEnfield for forty years, had a large circle of friends andwas a respected member of the Bush Hill ParkConservative Club.

The Rev. Boulden, Vicar of St James’, officiated at theservice and the graveside. The interment took place at StJames’ Cemetery.

The mourners were: Mrs. Emma Hollyer (widow), Mr.and Mrs. Herbert Hollyer (son and daughter-in-law), Mr.and Mrs. Henry Hollyer (son and daughter-in-law), Mr.and Mrs. Stockwell (daughter and son-in-law), Mr. andMrs. Shepherd (daughter and son-in-law), Mr. and Mrs.Walter Hollyer (son and daughter-in-law), Mr StanleyHollyer (brother), Mrs King (sister-in-law), anddeceased’s late employees. Mr Hollyer’s eldest son wasunable to attend, but sent a wreath from Toronto, Canada.

Included in the many floral tributes sent were those by thefollowing: Widow and family, Messrs. Redburn & Co.,Messrs. Whitby Limited, Messrs. Weatherburn, the BushHill Park Conservative Club, Mr. and Mrs. Rowe andfamily, Mr. and Mrs. Agen, Mr. and Mrs. Culver andfamily, Mr. and Mrs. Pegram and family, Messrs. W. andE. Songer, the Enfield Timber Company, Mrs. Fincham,Mr. Scudamore, Mrs. Whale, Mrs. King, Mr. G. Stockwell,Junr., and fiancee Maud, late Employees, Leonard, Dorisand Norman (grandchildren), and Grace, George, Veraand Doris (grandchildren).

The funeral arrangements were carried out by Blake’s, ofEnfield Town.

Charles George Hollyer

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The Hollyer-Sanderson Pedigree

It is not clear who first did the research that ledto the Hollyer-Sanderson Pedigree, but we thinkthat W. Goodwin Barnes originallycommissioned it. He married Lillie Hollyer in1868, she being the daughter of JohnSanderson Hollyer. The document itself, whichis quite large, has apparently undergoneseveral revisions. It is thought that HeleneHollyer (née Smallwood) might have revised it.She was the wife of the Frederick ThomasHollyer, son of Frederick the photographer. Weknow that several members of the CoventryHollyers have researched their ancestry,including James Hudson Hollyer in the USA inthe early years of the 20th century. Thepedigree shows the Coventry Hollyer line backto John Hollyer who married SusannaSanderson and then back down the Sandersonline to the first generation who used the nameSanderson (being sons of Alexander de Bedicwho married in 1333). Prior to that, the chartclaims ancestry back 6 generations to Robertde Bedic (Biddick, in the parish of Washington,Durham) around 1140. It is a pity that moredates and source material for this fascinatingpedigree have not survived, to allow itsaccuracy to be confirmed.

Extract ofHollyer-Sanderson

Pedigree

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Data from FONS(Family Origin Name Survey)

1. Rychard Hollyer witnesses the will of WilliamGodson of Exsall, (Lichfield 1576), also takesinventory of his effects.

2. A John Hollyer is associated with LichfieldCathedral in 1521/2, rising to Lay Priest. On21/9/1521 he is John Holyar, Acolyte secular,on 22/12/1521 he is John Holyar, Subdeaconsecular, on 15/3/1522 he is John Hollyer,Deacon secular and finally on 20/9/1522 he isJohn Holyer, Priest secular.

3. 1327: Adam de Holiere is mentioned in theEssex Lay Subsidy, in the township of Gyngg’Margaret [Margaretting?], Hundred ofChelmsford.

4. 1371: A Richard Holiere is mentioned in theClose Rolls as being a tenant paying 3d rent tothe Knight William Ferrars of Groby in the

Manor of Stebbynge, Essex.

5. The Lichfield Calendar of Wills mentionsRobert Holyar of Weddington (1537), JohnHolyar of Ansley and Thomas Holyar ofWeddington (1548), Elizabeth Hollier (1569),John Hollier (1579), Thomas Hollyer (1584),Agnes Hollier (1587), John Hollyer (1593) andEdward Hollier (1591). [It is not thought that theactual wills survive]

6. Roger Holyar appraised the inventory of theeffects of William Paget of Corley (1558).

7. John Hollere of Mowton, Norfolk isappointed to collect taxes in 1430 and 1431.Possibly the same John Hollere is granted landby Richard III in 1484.

8. In 1588, Queen Elizabeth‘s privy Councilwrites to the Town of Lynn, Norfolk, relievingthe aged and infirm John Hullier from furtherservice as Mayor of the town.

Other early Hollyer references

In the Prerogative Court of Canterburycalendars (indexes) of wills, the following earlyreferences can be found:-

1. 1594 Edmone Hollyer of St Sepulchres,London and Warwick.

2. 1618 John Hollyer, yeoman of Battramsley,Bolder, Hants.

3. 1658 Lucy Holliard, spinster, Peckham,Camberwell. (Lucy may be connected with thefamily of Thomas Hollyer, the surgeon of StThomas’s)

4. 1697 John Hollyer, Mercer of Shrewsbury.

Berkshire wills show 7 Hollyers at Shinfieldbetween 1555 and 1688: William 1555,Richard 1559, Thomas 1566, John 1681, John1687, John 1688 and Joan 1700.

London wills include Robert Hollier of StSepulchres, 1643, Thomas Hollyer, citizen and

plasterer, St Sepulchres 1628, and HenryHollier, St Botolph’s, Bishopsgate 1608.

Oxfordshire wills contain 10 Hollyerreferences at Charlton on Otmoor (C),Bloxham (B), Deddington (D) and Kirtlington(K) between 1553 and 1719: Henry 1553 (C),William 1557 (C), Thomas 1600 (C), Jane1649 (B), John 1661 (D), William 1675 (D),Thomas 1679 (C), John 1698 (D) and John1719 (K).

Leicestershire wills at Twycross: ThomasHollier 1737 and Mary Hollier 1739.

Sussex wills contain 7 Hollyer references atHooe (H) and Lewes (L) between 1549 and1632: Richard 1549 (H), Richard 1615 (H),Joane 1616 (H), George 1617 (H), Richard1630 (L), Richard 1631 (L) and William 1632(H). Perhaps these wills might have some linkto the story of the land at Battle, left to theeldest son of an eldest son of Gregory Hollyer,though if such a will does exist it seems morelikely to be a Prerogative Court of Canterburywill.

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In the Court of Arches (an ecclesiastical court)in 1684 there was a case between Mary Hollyerand William Hollyer of Binstead, Hants for therestitution of conjugal rights.

One of the earliest Holyer records in Kent is inthe Canterbury Cathedral Records,Communicants lists, which includes ‘Mother’Holyer and John Holyer from Apuldore

[Appledore] in 1569. This shows that therewere Holyers in Kent well before John Holyer,the butcher.

Amongst the Freemen of Canterbury can befound a reference to a John Hollier,Woollendraper, who was made a Freeman on23 December 1607.

Jim Hollyer has done a remarkable job tracking down all the living Hollyers in the USA. However, thislist, extracted from Broderbund’s Family Finder Web Site lists some Hollyers and Holyers formerlyin the USA who are not known to us.

Hollyer, A. J. 1600s-1900s Canada Genealogy Index CD 118Hollyer, Amosiah 1860 PA Census CD 318Hollyer, Burton 1850 KY Census CD 317Hollyer, Chas E 1910 ID Census CD 335Hollyer, George 1850 ME Census CD 317Hollyer, James 1880 OH Census CD 20Hollyer, Julius Civil War Union Soldiers Roll of HonorHollyer, Margaret 1639-1916 NY Marriage CD 401Hollyer, Marie 1937-1995 United States Social SecurityHollyer, Martha 1937-1995 United States Social SecurityHollyer, Milton 1937-1995 United States Social SecurityHollyer, Patrick 1880 OH Census CD 20Hollyer, Phineas 1850 PA Census CD 317Hollyer, Treva Private World Family Tree

Holyer, Alfred 1937-1995 United States Social SecurityHolyer, Ann 1850 NY Census CD 317Holyer, Clarence 1937-1995 United States Social SecurityHolyer, Esther 1937-1995 United States Social SecurityHolyer, Harmon 1860 IL Census CD 318Holyer, Henry 1860 IL Census CD 318Holyer, James 1937-1995 United States Social SecurityHolyer, James H. 1880 CO Census CD 320Holyer, Josis 1880 WA Census CD 320Holyer, Julius Civil War Union Soldiers Roll of HonorHolyer, Peter 1860 NY Census CD 318Holyer, Rebecca 1850 NY Census CD 317Holyer, S. E. 1880 WA Census CD 320Holyer, Sarah 1870 CO Census CD 319Holyer, Sidney 1870 CO Census CD 319Holyer, Theodore 1850 NY Census CD 317Holyer, Thomas b1800-1899 Unknown World Family TreeHolyer, Watson 1860 IA Census CD 318Holyer, Watson 1870 CO Census CD 319Holyer, William 1870 IN Census CD 319

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No. 28. - MESSRS HOLLYER ANDSONS, HIGH ST., PONDERS END

----------

This week we are privileged to afford our readersa glimpse of the world which succeeds in putting thefinal process to the useful service of the locally-built“Fords” (to the production of which we hope to referin a future issue)- the building of the body designedto whichever class of work the vehicle is to under-take. In this district the work is done by MessrsHollyer and Sons, who for very many years havebeen honoured residents of Bush Hill Park, fromwhich Mr Hollyer senior followed the interestingoccupation of a signwriter. With the attainment ofmanhood by his sons, who are body-builders bytrade, full scope was thus afforded for the profes-sions of sire and sons in a firm which has twicefound it necessary to seek more commodiouspremises on account of the expansion of its busi-ness; at the present time it is located at 114 HighStreet, Ponders End.

“Every one different”

Mr Hollyer was kind enough to give the “Ga-zette” much interesting detail of the writing art; alarge amount of his own time is spent in the pro-duction upon windows of tobacconists’ premises ofthe effective signs of the various specialities of theImperial Tobacco Company.

This class of work is of a somewhat exactingnature, as our changeable climate often results in thewindows streaming with moisture just after workhas been commenced - even the artist’s breath is

The following article was published in the “Enfield Gazette” in 1925 and describesthe business run by Charles George Hollyer (my Great Grandfather) and his threesons in Ponders End, Enfield. It has been transcribed here as it appeared, with theoriginal illustrations.

ENFIELD’S INDUSTRIES

Special interest attaches to this handsomedelivery van, inasmuch as the paintingalone cost £28; its pastoral scene, withspecimens of high-class bullocks, sheepand pigs, is as unusual as it is creditablyexecuted.

responsible for condensation in unfavourableweather!

In the shop at the time of our visit was ahandsome board 18ft by 2ft with the “WestwardHo!” lettering, and it was stated that such faciaboards are produced as long as 90ft - the sequence ofthe letters is secured by the employment of scaledrawings, and the board is painted in sections whichare subsequently secured by invisible joints of sheetiron.

The product of one of our oldest trades is usedby the sign-painter gold leaf. This substance is ac-tually 22 carat gold, and it is transferred to thinwaxen sheets to facilitate its use in a high wind.

When finished the gold has been beaten out to23 thousandths of an inch in thickness, and the

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Not only is this body (built by Messrs.Hollyer and Sons) the largest everconstructed for a ton chassis, but thevehicle itself is unique - it was speciallydesigned for the conveyance of grapes forbest possible conditions for Messrs.Rochford, the well-known growers.

sheets are 3.25 ins square; one rolled on the palm ofthe hand resolved itself into two gilt specks of thesize of pinheads.

A board with incised lettering was speciallyinteresting, inasmuch as an index finger was paintedupon the glass, which is also grained to show theletters beneath, which are cut with chisels beforebeing gilded. This is known as an “incised glassfacia,” and there is a steady demand for them byprofessional men to indicate premises where suchpractise.

A Foreign and cheaper 9-carat product is ob-tainable; treated with an alloy of copper it is knownas “foreign gold,” and is used for glass work; thedifference in shade of the two substances was veryobvious. It is also possible with the expert use ofcertain pigments to simulate gold leaf effects, butthe result bears no comparison to the fresh, refinedand attractive results secured by the use of the“genuine article.”

The paint employed by the sign-writer is merelythe best of its kind and not a substance speciallymade for the extremely delicate work.

A board with incised lettering was speciallyinteresting, inasmuch as an index finger was paintedupon the glass, which is also grained to show theletters beneath, which are cut with chisels beforebeing gilded. This is known as an “incised glassfacia,” and there is a steady demand for them byprofessional men to indicate premises where suchpractise.

The shop in which the work of painting andwriting is performed is kept at an even temperatureby the employment of an hot air installation, whichensures the evenness of the work and pliability ofthe materials.

“Carefully made” - and wonderfullyexpensive

Most interesting to the Pressman was an array of“writing brushes” with which the fine and beautifullettering is done. They are identified by the name ofthe bird whose quill holds the hair-thus “swan,”“goose,” “duck” and “crow” were encountered. Thesix sets of these diminutive implements were valuedat £5 10s. The hair used varies from that of thecamel to hair which is procured from the inside ofthe ear of an ox; this hair is also used for the short,

flat (and costly) “blending brushes,” which havemuch to do with some of the most effective work ofthe artist. “Sable” brushes actually contain the hairof the valuable little fur-bearing creature whoseskin provides the expensive coat of the fashionablelady.

A bewildering array of brushes of the morecommon type were notable chiefly for the “cute”way in which they were stored-the ordinary paintbrushes resting in water and the special varnishbrushes in oil in a dust-proof container-but allbored through the wooden portion and set uponstout removable wire rods which spanned the liquidcontainers. Normally each branch is used exclu-sively for one particular colour; hence the largenumber in use.

The body-making side

Adjacent to the painting shop is the motor bodyconstruction department, which can accommodatethree chassis at the same time, and often does, al-though in favourable weather the work can be donein the open in the best of light.

The timber used varies with the class and use ofthe body to be fitted; the floors are generally ofdeal, while mahogany, oak, beech, an four-plywoods are also requisitioned. Grooved boards ofextreme narrowness are employed to secure thecurve necessary in the construction of the tops ofthe majority of vehicles.

40

Work is done to a scale drawing, the platformbeing first put on.

Certain of these vehicles are fitted with “hoops”;these are of ash and the shape is secured by com-pression in steel clamps after the wooden spars havebeen softened by treatment in steam heaters. This is aspecial trade and is known as that of a “timberbender”; only five such firms are noted in thecommercial section of the London Telephone Direc-tory.

The vehicle is covered with sail cloth, which isstuck on with paint - in the same fashion as linen isfixed to beehive roofs, and for the same purpose - it isthen vanished and given several coats of “filler,”which is a composition made from slate dust. Thishas the effect, after treatment with pumice, of se-curing a good surface for the exercise of their art bythe coach-painter and writer.

The vehicles turned out are of a very diversifiedcharacter, as befits their nature, nearly all bodiesproduced here been to the order of Messrs. TheChaseside Motor Co., Ltd.

At the time of the “Gazette’s” visit some very“distinctive” bodies had been completed; outstandingwere a van with collapsible counter made at therear-this was a touring store for the sale of motortyres-and an ingeniously disposed stock and meat vanbuilt to the order of a Waltham Cross trader. This wasspecially made dust-proof to comply with certainregulation with regard to the sale of meat which haverecently been put in force. A big van for a localmarket gardener was another powerful-looking“transport agency.”

The works here hold yet another “record” by localindustry, for they have constructed the most capa-cious body yet made for a ton chassis-to the order ofMessrs Rochford, the well-known horticulturalists,

and for the transport of grapes to the market. Thebodies of our two fire-engines were also made byMessrs. Hollyer and Sons, in addition to that in theservice of the Ediswan Works. Our Council ambu-lance body was also this firm’s product, by Messrs.Hollyer and Sons, in addition to that in the service ofthe Ediswan Works. Our Council ambulance bodywas also this firm’s product.

“Repairs neatly executed”

Considerable repair work is done, and upon theoccasion of our visit a significant indication of therange of such was visible. In the yard was an oldArmy lorry, the body of which looked as if civilianservice had been reflective of strenuous warduties-yet it was necessary to look twice to notewhere the damaged woodwork had been repaired insuch cases where the work had been finished prior tothe visit of our representative.

At the other end of the “vehicular scale” was oneof the handsome cars of Messrs. Reeves, the well-known artists’ providers, whose works at Enfieldwere reviewed in our issue of January 2, 1924.Damaged woodwork by a runaway horse explainedits presence in Messrs. Hollyer’s shop, and already bythe use of the before-mentioned “filling” it wasimpossible to trace upon the door where a fracture(caused by a piece of the car’s iron-work being forcedthrough it) had existed but a few hours previously;and when the door had been once more painted itwould be impossible, we were informed, to discoverthe former injury, even with a lens.

Thus we have had the pleasure of tracing aflourishing business which has been promoted by oldresidents to present dimensions on account of theexpansion of a newly-created local concern-thus dovarious commercial undertakings react upon eachother and to the general good of our rapidly-developing industrial neighbourhood.

Not part of the Gazette article, but this photo,taken in the 1920s, shows Bert Hollyer(1894-1958), one of the 3 sons of Hollyer andSons, at work in the signwriting shop. Theother sons were my grandfather “Bob” andWally.

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My toughest assignment

Learning to survive in a war zone proved the perfectpreparation for motherhood, says Beatrice Hollyer

Automatic rifle fire has a particular sound. Half crack,half pop, it cuts straight through any amount of generaldin. It was a sound I knew well, from war zones and frommy nightmares. Dozing in the back of a television newscar it took me a while to realise that this time, the firewas aimed at me.

We were lucky. I had instinctively ducked at the firstshot, and a round just cleared my head and buried itselfin the car door. The car took six more. There was glasseverywhere, and blood from cuts. But no one was hit.Later, inspecting the damage, we found our metal tripodhad an inch-wide chunk missing from one of its legs. Istared at it, thinking: that could have been someone’shead.

After Croatia, we went to Geneva, where gunfire isseldom, if ever, heard. But every time I closed my eyes,I saw a tripod with a big hole in it. Gradually, the wordstook shape in my mind: I’d nearly got myself killedbefore I’d done what means most to me. I nearly diedbefore I had a family.

I had always wanted to be a foreign correspondent, andI had always wanted to have a family. I had beenreporting foreign news for 11 years, and work had beenmy priority all that time. Sure, then had been importantrelationships, but none more important than thesummons to the airport and the next challenge tounderstand and explain what was happening in thewider world. Those shots on the road to Zagreb seemed

like a warning: if I carried on chasing news around theworld, I might never do anything else.

Croatia was only the beginning of the war in the formerYugoslavia, but it was the end of war zones for me. Bythe time the foreign correspondents were holed up inthe Sarajevo Holiday Inn, I had gone to ground in a bigarmchair where I watched their reports while feeding mynew baby girl.

‘This is the biggest adventure I’ve ever had,’ I wrote tomy friends. I threw myself into motherhood with thesame passionate curiosity I had felt for my work.

My infant daughter opened my eyes to a world evenmore complex, foreign and extraordinary. I hadeverything to learn. Top of my wish list was sleep. Iknew all about lack of sleep and its destructive effectsfrom years of presenting breakfast television. Eventhough getting up for the baby was a doddle comparedwith that, I was still determined she should sleepthrough the night as early as possible. Lucy, my giftedhealth visitor, assured me it would be easy. To mysurprise, it was.

The journalist in me was eager to report from this newfrontier. Now that I had explored the mysteries of babiesand how they learn to sleep, the natural next step was totell everyone else about it.

Hearing I was at work on my first book, everyoneassumed it was about wars, or politics, or breakfast T\/.‘Babies’ sleep? Isn’t that rather...boring?’ asked a manat a party. I smiled a sphinx-like, well rested smile andtold him to call me when he had his first baby.

To be a foreign correspondent is many journalists’dream. It was mine, and I loved it. I miss it: the places,the people, the action, the camaraderie of colleagues.But not half as much as I would miss my daughter if shewasn’t here. One of my ‘congratulations on your newbaby’ cards read: ‘Isn’t it wonderful the way dreamscome true?’ As every good reporter knows, the truth cansometimes be found in the most unexpected places.

Sleep: The Secret of Problem Free Nights by BeatriceHollyer and Lucy Smith is published by Ward Lock on14th November, price £8.99.

Derrick Hollyer sent me this article published in You Magazine on 3rd November1996. It was written by Beatrice Hollyer (b. 1957) TV presenter and warcorrespondent, who descends through the South African branch of the ‘City’Hollyers. Beatrice is the Granddaughter of Reginald Frederick Hollyer whoemigrated in 1924 and Great Great Granddaughter of Matthew Hartley Hollyer III.Beatrice’s daughter Clementine was born in 1994.

Beatrice Hollyer with daughter Clementine

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Ex-City ManCharges RadarOf Doria WasNot Turning(David L. Hollyer, a former chief engineer of RadioStation WORC, and Mrs Hollyer were aboard the Italianliner Andrea Doria. He was returning from five years inEurope as an engineer with Radio Free Europe andVoice of America. In this eyewitnesss account, writtenaboard the Stockholm, which rescued the Hollyers, hesays that the radar unit on a top mast of the AndreaDoria was not revolving 5½ hours before it collided withthe Stockholm. He also was critical of what he termed“the complete lack of assistance or display ofresponsibility” crewmen showed for the passengers’welfare. Mrs. Hollyer is the former Louise Reardon ofWorcester.)By DAVID L. HOLLYERCopyright 1956 byThe Worcester Telegram

NEW YORK—My wife and I were in Cabin374 on A Deck of the Andrea Doria about 11:15 p.m.Wednesday, preparing to retire for the night. I wasalready in my upper berth in pajamas, while Louise wasjust about to get into the lower berth. Our cabin lightswere still on.

We both realized, instinctively, that we had had acollision, and all of the steps we had gone through in thelife saving drill a few days back came immediately intoour minds.

We struggled into our life jackets and as we left the cabinI grabbed my suit for Louise, who was clad only in thinnight clothes.

Cries of ‘Fire’

There was considerable confusion in the corridors, samescreaming and the inevitable shouts of “fire!” This lastseemed even possible as the corridors were filled withsmoke and acrid fumes of what I suppose was anescaping refrigerant.

We made our way as rapidly as possible up the stairstoward what had been designated as our emergency“muster station”

In 1956, David & Louise Hollyer wereaboard the Andrea Doria when it collidedwith the Stockholm and sank, thankfullywith relatively little loss of life. Davidwrote this story for his local paper in1956. In 1981, 25 years after theaccident, he wrote a long account of theevents for the Washington Star. David isone of Gregory Hollyer’s sons and todaylives in Huddleston, VA, USA. Below is aphoto of David and Louise today.

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The story of Hilda Pauline(Wendy) Hollyer wasdescribed in the HollyerFamily Review. Here is ancomputer enhanced copy of aphotocopy of an old presscutting from 1941 describingher heroism, for which shereceived the George Medal.Wendy was a grand-daughterof William Perring Hollyer anddaughter of (Clive) PerringHollyer. Sadly, Wendy diedyoung in 1955.

We owe a lot to earlier Hollyer researchers. Above left are, from left to right: John FrancesUnmey-Gray, John Elphicke Leslie Hollyer and their wives: Annette Marguerita Hollyer (néeDoucet) and Freda Elizabeth Umney-Gray (née Rands). The photo was taken at Mahone Bay, NovaScotia in 1968 when the two researchers met. Above right is John Umney-Gray in 1942.

John Umney-Gray’s grandmother was Mary EdithHollyer, who married Francis Paine Hill in 1881. Sheis seen here with her youngest son, Roland Samuel.Mary Edith was a Professor of Music. JohnUmney-Gray did extensive research on the Hill familyas well as Hollyer.

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The D’Olier FamilyWhile there is no firm evidence that theHuguenot D’Olier family is connected to anyHollyers, many people believe it to be so,probably because of some printed ‘familyhistory’. This is the documentation provided bySheela Smith of Buxted, Suusex, about theD’Olier family.

Origins: On the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in1685 the Huguenots (French Protestants) sought ref-uge from persecution by Louis XIV in the Nether-lands and England. On the accession of William ofOrange to the throne of England, many such refugeessettled in Ireland and among them were the D’Oliers.

Territory: the first records of the D’Oliers are to befound in Toulouse where the family was of someimportance as early as the fourteenth century. In themid-seventeenth century the D’Oliers were seated atCollegnes near Montauban in Dauphiny, removingfirst to Amsterdam on the revocation and settling inDublin towards the end of the century. The surnameis still closely associated with Dublin (although its

bearers are now few) owing to the perpetuation of the surname in D’Olier Street, named after one JeremiahD’Olier (1745-1817).

Meaning: The French prefix D’ or De generally implies a toponymic origin, “of (the village of) ? Olier”.However according to the French scholar Dauzat, Olier is derived from the trade of oil or olive-oilmerchant.

Ancestors: The first of the name on record is Bertrand d’Olier who was Capitoul of Toulouse in 1364.Charles Eduard D’Olier was the French ambassador to Constantinople in 1673, and was the grandfather ofIsaac D’Olier who entered the service of William of Orange circa 1685. Isaac obtained the Freedom ofAmsterdam in 1686, and arrived in Ireland shortly after, being rewarded by William with the Freedom ofDublin in 1697. Isaac had a son also named Isaac D’Olier (v 1701) who became renowned as a goldsmith,as did the younger Isaac’s son, another Isaac D’Olier (v 1747). Jeremiah D’Olier after whom D’OlierStreet was named was High Sheriff of Dublin in 1788 and was a founder member of the Bank of Ireland.Among many collaterals are noted Richard D’Olier of Dublin (m 1768, v 1770) whose sons Frederick andIsaac studied at Trinity College (1787, 1788).

Coat of Arms: 1st and 4th, yellow (Generosity), a chevron (Protection) between three bunches of grapes(Prosperity), a bordure of the arms of France; 2nd, blue (Loyalty), three doves each on a column (Peace,Strength); 3rd red (Valour); three martlets on a bend (Enduring Faith) and an ermine border (Nobility).

In the Public Record Office there is a reference to Isaac D’Olier being granted IrishDenization - effectively a form of citizenship - on 4th February 1698/9. This was grantedunder the Act for Encouragement of Protestant Strangers to Settle in Ireland. It looks as ifBritain was keen to alter the religious mix in Ireland!

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My Grandfather, Henry James Rasbury Hollyer(1896-1973), was always known as “Bob” to his friendsand Rob or Robin to his wife Nelly. When war broke outin 1914, Bob, while still single, joined the army, into the12th London Regiment: “The Rangers”.

He was wounded three times atYpres, Belgium, once throughthe shoulder, once in the sideand once in the leg, so he waslucky to have survived. Morelucky in a way that he waswounded, for while away fromthe trenches recovering fromhis wounds, the 12th Londonwere virtually annihilated at theSomme. Bob eventually rose tothe rank of Sergeant.

On this page, I have shownsome of the memorabilia of

the Great War that Bob left to us. From top to bottom: twoidentity tags, a box of matches, his cap badge (see alsoBob’s photo), a shoulder flash and his war medals. Anumber of photographs of Bob during the war survive andthey clearly show how he joined up as a boy and cameout as a man.

“Bob” Hollyer in the Great War

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Robert Nelson HollyerJim Hollyer’s grandfather, Robert Nelson Hollyer, like so many other Hollyers wasamong those who were tracked down by John Umney-Gray and wrote a letter explainingwho he was. This is his letter.

February 4, 1969

Dear Relative,First may I introduce myself, I am Robert

Nelson Hollyer, son of Samuel Joseph -grandson of Alexander John and also brother toMarjorie who I understand has recently informedyou that I would write and give you theinformation on my rather large family. As youcan see by the attached rough sketch I have 3sons and 3 daughters, also 27 grandchildrendivided rather evenly into 14 girls and 13 boys, 7of these boys are Hollyers and I hope will add inthe future many more names to your charts and“write-up”. I am a veteran of World War Ialthough I did not get overseas, my brothersEdward and Charles did get to France. I havebeen retired since 1960 after 42 years with theMichigan Bell Telephone Company (LaborRelations). During my career I was President ofthe Federation of Telephone Employees ofMichigan, at that time an independent union. Iserved as President from 1941 to 1944.

In 1945 I was elected President of theWolverine Chapter #10 Telephone Pioneers ofAmerica, which is a nation-wide organization oftelephone employees with 21 or more years ofservice.

My oldest son Robert is a PhD in PhysicalScience and is presently Assistant Director ofthe Physics Dept. of The General MotorsTechnical Center in Warren, Michigan. My sonWilliam is a travelling salesman for the SchwinnBicycle Co. My third son Richard has retiredfrom the United States Navy. At his retirementhe held the rank of Commander. He has sincejoined the Western Gear Co., and is in charge oftheir Washington D.C. Office. He has a Mastersdegree in Naval Architecture from MIT. I amequally proud of my daughters’ families. Mydaughter Jane's husband Dean Wise was killedin an auto accident in 1966 putting an end to avery promising career as engineer with theParker Aircraft Co. of Los Angeles. MilnerBrown owns and operates a machine shopspecializing in jigs. Claude Freese has a

supervisory position in the Ford Motor’s Uticaplant. I am very fortunate in that 2 of my sonsand all my daughters are within a 15 minute drivefrom where I live, my son Richard lives inAlexandria Va. And that is only two hours distantby air.

My sister Marjorie brought over Sundayyour “write-up” which I read with interest. Mymother told me as a child that my father’s sisterMinnie has traced our family tree to the pointwhere she was ashamed of it. I always thoughtshe spoke in jest. Let us hope at least that yourrather intensive probing doesn’t have the sameresult. Well I hope you do not have too muchtrouble trying to read my miserable writing andhoping my information does not enlarge yourchart to the point where you need a larger livingroom. I’ll close.

Respectfully,

Robert Nelson Hollyer

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Who wrote this?

Who was the James Hollyer whopublished the poem “Abraham’sSacrifice” in 1779? The poem is noteasy to read. It starts:-

From the third Morning dawn’d the Orient Light,When Abraham gain’d the destin’d Mountain’s Height;And Isaac now their Journey’s Period found,Had thrown his cumbrous Burthen to the Ground;His Load of Wood, with solemn Rite Assign’d,To burn the Sacrifice by God enjoin’d.

It goes on in a similar style for 15 longpages!

Who is this?

In the Hollyer Review, I suggested thatthis might be Josiah Hollyer, thehotel-keeper. Since then, I have receivedcopies of this photograph from severalfamily members. He is variouslydescribed as “brother of Joseph”,“Richard, brother of Joseph”, and “brotherof Gregory”. It now appears that therewas indeed a Richard Roberts Hollyer,younger brother of Joseph, who wasbaptised in Dover in 1814 and died in 1876in Stone, Buckinghamshire, where he hadbeen Steward of the local lunatic asylum.

However, I have my doubts whether this isRichard and wonder now whether it mighteven be my Great Great GrandfatherGeorge Hollyer, whose photograph, as ayoung lad with his father Joseph, appearedon the cover of the original Review.Though the photographs would have beentaken many years apart, there are anumber of similarities in facial features,especially the eyes.

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Gregory’s Family

Gregory Hollyer, whose own picture appearson page 4, had a large family from twomarriages. Two of his sons and several otherdescendants have provided information andphotographs.

(Left) Gregory’s children from his firstmarriage to Katherine McDonald, c. 1914. Backrow: Daniel (whose obituary appears on page16), Lynette, Claire (who lived to the ripe oldage of 93) and Gordon, who worked innewspapers. In front: Gregory, jnr

(Left below) A wartime photograph of threeof Gregory’s sons from his second marriage toMartha Bingham: Phil, Dick and Dave. Thelatter’s exploits on the Andrea Doria arerecorded on page 42. Dick provided many ofthe family photographs.

(Right below) Gregory & Martha’s 4th sonAlfred.

The son of William Perring Hollyer, who emigrated to Canada in 1890 and settled in the USA.

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Adrian’s Family

Edgar Hollyer from Kanata, Canada,supplied a large number of photos ofthe Hollyer family, some which wecannot identify. However, thispreviously unknown photographshows Adrian Cecil (“Bob”) Hollyerand his family around 1914. Thewoman kneeling at the back on theleft is unknown, but on the right isBob’s wife Ethel. Bob is on the left(with the family cat!) and the childrenare (Left to Right) Arthur Sidney,Ethel Lily (“Cherry”) and CecilThomas (“Bunny”). The family had another daughter, Barbara in 1923 - nowBarbara Machell - who has been a major source of information on this family.However, this wasn’t the first family history contact, as Bunny wrote to JohnUmney-Gray in the 1950s.

Like father like son! Left below, we see Bob about 1931 at their house in Heston.Below right, looking the spitting image of his father, is Bunny working in his officein the 1950s.

The youngest surviving son of George Hollyer, the Artist on Glass

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William Perring Hollyer’s Artistic Family

William Perring Hollyer (1834-1922) seen left above, was aprolific artist of animal subjects. Five of his children alsobecame artists: Eva (left), Maud, Gregory, Edith and Olive. Inthe interesting picture above right we see (left to right)William’s wife, Grace Emily, their daughter Maud, Mr andMrs DeChair and Verna, the daughter who often sat for Eva.Two examples of Eva’s work, below left, suggest this. Thelower picture is called “Sleepy” and was used on greetingscards - Derrick Hollyer sent me this image.

The identity of Mr and Mrs DeChair is not clear. HildaHixson thought she was the daughter Edith, but the personin the photo is too old for her - she seems to be of GraceEmily’s generation, so may be one of her sisters. I have triedto locate the DeChairs in the 1881 census index but so farhave had no luck.

Maud was an artist, on the whole, of village and rural scenes.I was fortunate to discover two prints of hers at an antiquesfair, which I bought. One of these is shown below right.

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I am not the only family memberlucky enough to have come across aHollyer picture. The painting, left, byEva Hollyer, is called “Olivia and theSquire” and is now owned by Jo Fieldafter she successfully bid for it at anauction in Canada. Many of Eva’spictures appear to depict scenes fromfamiliar stories of the time, but wehave yet to identify the source for thispainting and who therefore theenigmatic boy in the background is.

Some of the other pictures I found inthe Witt Library seemed to be similarin style, such as Admiration, Courtingand The Proposal. Indeed, these lastthree might all be scenes from a singlestory.

More on Frederick Hollyer

Jo Field was very kind to send me a bookcalled the The Earthly Paradise, whichwas produced to accompany a Canadianexhibition of the works of William Morris.The exhibition featured manyphotographs by Frederick Hollyer,including this photo of the drawing roomat The Grange, Burne-Jones’s 1717house in Fulham, showing Jasminewallpaper and Morris & Co furnishings.The photograph was part of a set takenof the house by Frederick Hollyer in1887. The photograph is a high qualityalbumen print and shows Frederick’s skillextended beyond art photography and his intimate ‘Monday portraits’.

This is what the book says about Frederick Hollyer:-

“Frederick Hollyer achieved public recognition for himself and his celebrated friends throughphotography. Hollyer, very much a central figure in the art and literary scene, took upphotography about 1860 to establish a business making fine reproductions of paintings,exhibitions and studio installations, and doing photographic portraiture. His Pembroke

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Square studio was a vibrant setting for thestylish recording of Pre-Raphaelite taste andtrends.

Even the “cabinet” card, a popularcommercial-studio format, received verydistinctive treatment by Hollyer; his arerecognisable by their subtle platinum-printquality, enhanced by handpainted gold borderson the mount. Burne-Jones and William Morrisand assorted members of their families served asHollyer’s subjects many times. In his formalportraits, women shun the camera and areportrayed with gentle and delicate beauty, aquality clearly possessed by MargaretBurne-Jones; Edward Burne-Jones also looksaway from the camera, thus emphasising awell-shaped head, a brow that was“extraordinary”, and a “forehead wide andrather high and calm”, which GeorgianaBurne-Jones noted with admiration. Hollyer’sexterior photographs of Burne-Jones and Morrisare seemingly more casual. One feels they werenot meant for the public eye but to capture theexperience of immediacy and the spirit of their

long-standing friendship.

Hollyer’s commercial work was straightforwardand unadulterated. His views of The Grange donot pretend to be anything but documentaryrecords. One finds these studies interesting intheir honest revelation of present conditions andtheir attempt to bring the viewer closer to theartist. Hollyer’s camera has succeeded inbringing direct insight into the professional andpersonal sides of a much-celebrated artist.

During the last decade of the century, Hollyerbecame a member of The Linked Ring, a secretsociety not unlike the “brotherhood” of thePre-Raphaelites, which had formed inopposition to the photographic Society of GreatBritain.“

------------

It does not seem that the Photographic Societyheld a grudge against him for his involvement inthis rival organisation, as they gave Frederickthe following obituary in The PhotographicJournal, January 1934:-

Edward and Margaret Burne-Jones, from photographs by Frederick Hollyer, 1882 and 1884

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FREDERICK HOLLYER, 1838-1933

It is with much regret that we have torecord the death of Mr. FrederickHollyer, who passed away onNovember 21st last, after a few daysillness, in his 96th year, at the residenceof his eldest son, Mr. F. T. Hollyer, atBlewbury, Berks, where he had beenliving for the past two years.

Mr. Hollyer was the Society's seniormember, he having joined it so long agoas 1865; his membership thus extendedover a period of no less than sixty-eightyears. He became a Fellow in 1895.

He was born in 1838 in Tavistock Place,London, [not true - he was born inPentonville!] the youngest son of SamuelHollyer, who was one time AssistantSealer to the first Lord Brougham and awell-known art collector and publisherof engravings.

Beginning by taking portraits of hisfriends, he soon realised thepossibilities of photography for thereproduction of works of art and wasone of the first exponents in this nowimportant branch of camera work.

In this connection he was associatedwith nearly all the leading artists from1860 onwards including suchwell-known names as Rossetti,Leighton, Burne-Jones, G. F. Watts,Wm. Morris and John Ruskin.

Mr. Hollyer had a strong preference fora large size plate and the strugglesinvolved with a wet plate, 24x18, wouldbe difficult to realise in these days.Perhaps even more of a task was a seriesof whole-plate views of the Thames,involving a portable tent-like darkroomin addition to the extremely heavy

camera, wet plate bath, collodion anddeveloper.

The dry plate was adopted as soon as itbecame a commercial possibility and heobtained many excellent results on theearly plates made by Cowan or Nelson.

Until the introduction of thePlatinotype process his negatives wereprinted on unglazed salted paper someof these prints, when carefullypreserved, are in existence to-day, stillin excellent condition but it was onPlatinotype paper that his finestreproductions were made, and his largeprints, some of them measuring40x30ins., are to be found in manycollections in all parts of the civilisedworld.

Although his chief activities wereconcerned in reproducing works of art,Mr. Hollyer, as a relaxation, enjoyedtaking portraits, and for some 30 yearsthe studio was reserved on “Mondaysonly” for this purpose. These portraitswere marked by quietness in tone,naturalness in expression and absenceof retouching on the negative, and mostof the well-known men and women ofthe day, authors, artists, and divineswere recorded by his camera.

Frederick Hollyer retired from activework in his well-known studio,Pembroke Square, Kensington, in 1913,and the business was carried on his twosons who had been working with him.

The funeral took place at ReigateCemetery on November 24th, when theSociety represented by the President,Mr. A. J. Bull.

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Frederick H. Hollyer and his lock-keeper’s Toll Book

Frederick Henry Hollyer (1825-1895),above left, was a lock-keeper all his life,like many others of his family. Heworked at Braunston inNorthamptonshire and later on atBrentford Lock, near the end of theGrand Junction Canal. He kept a TollBook in which he recorded charts of thetolls to be levied on various goods.Above centre is the frontispiece of thebook, with Frederick’s name and thedate 1845. Right is the page for Oats,complete with cartoon. Several pagesare decorated in this way; the sketch forFine Pollard (a form of fine bran flour)is shown above right: At the back of thebook are various sketches he made. Thecharts give an insight to the goodsbeing carried by canal in those days:Ashes, Barley, Beans, Beer, Bricks, Bran,Coal, Coke, Flour, Hay, Straw, Lime,Malt, Middlings (the courser part ofground wheat), Oats, Square Tiles, PanTiles, Fine Pollard, Rape, Salt, Wheatand empty sacks for Grain and Flour. Iam grateful to Derrick Hollyer for theloan of this toll-book.

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Eric Bryan HollyerA First Class Electrical Engineer

Marlene Hollyer wrote to me in November 1996 givingme information about about her ancestry and that of hersecond husband Eric Bryan Hollyer, left, and below withMarlene on their wedding day in 1977

Eric Bryan Hollyer was born in Wimbledon in 1921, theson of Alfred Ernest Hollyer and Muriel DorothyHighway. The picture left below is of Alfred Ernest, whowas a travelling wine merchants salesman, taking afterhis father Charles Mills Hollyer, a descendant of thelock-keeping family from Linslade.

Eric trained as an electrical engineer, taking his exams from the City &Guilds (a vocational examination board) between 1938 and 1940. Hebecame a student member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers(IEE) in 1940. In 1942 Eric completed a 2 year apprenticeship withMetropolitan Vickers Electrical Company and became deeply involvedin the war effort. The pressure of this work coupled with his intelligencecaused him to rise rapidly through the ranks. It may be around this timethat he gained his BSc degree. In 1948 he emigrated to South Africawith his family and took a job with the Electrical Supply Commission(ESCOM). He became a Professional Engineer in 1949, throughbecoming a Corporate Member of the IEE.

Although only starting with ESCOM as an Engineering Assistant, henevertheless took out two patents in 1949 in the field of electrical

control systems. He married Roma Burns in 1950. In the 1970s, he moved into the computer sideof the business and wrote many programs used by ESCOM in those years. In 1973 he was a SeniorEngineer in Data Processing, progressing to Systems Analyst in 1974 and Analyst Programmer in1982. He retired in 1985 after 36 years service.

He divorced Roma in 1975 - she later married Eric’s brother Geoffrey. Eric married Marlene Mandyin 1977. Marlene, née Clayton, had married Michael Mandy in 1964 but divorced in 1966.Curiously, this Mandy family has connectionswith Reginald Hollyer, son of the Walter Hollyerdescribed on page 17.

Marlene describes Eric as “the most intelligentperson I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.“Eric died in 1992, aged 71. He was listed in theobituary column of the IEE News of 4th March1993.

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Engraving of Edgar Alan Poe,by Samuel Hollyer

How do you pronounce “Hollyer?”

Several correspondents have commented abouthow the family name is pronounced. It seemsthat some people pronounce it Holl - yer, whileothers pronounce it Holly - er. It is almost certainthat it was the latter pronunciation that led to theearly Warwickshire families being recorded asHollier. However, most Hollyers do seem to usethe former pronunciation. In particular, it seemslikely that the single L variant Holyer (mainlyused in the Kent family) would have used thepronunciation Hol - yer, as Holy - er should havesounded completely differrent, with the long Osound as used in “Holy”. (Think about thedifference in sound between “Bony” and“Bonny”). Whatever way it’s pronounced, wemust agree that Y is never a strong consonantwhen following L, so taking account of regionalaccents, it is easy to see how the name could bemisinterpreted. Less certain is how someHollyers and Holliers had their names recordedas Holliard or Hollyard in parish records. Thisalmost suggests that the final R was givengreater emphasis than we would do today.

“Winter Wonderland” another painting by Gregory Hollyer owned by his son David.