A shoemaker who established his entomological reputation with his work on Lepidoptera in the area of Reading where he lived. In 1893 Holland moved to Oxford and joined the staff of the HDO where, under the tutelage of Professor E.B.Paulton, he turned his attention in the field to Coleoptera. J.J.Walker in his obituary in EMM, 66, 1930, p.187, noted: 'he was among the first to reveal the exceptional richness and interest of the beetle fauna of the Oxford district. The writer ... is greatly indebted to Mr Holland for his kindness in introducing him to nearly all the principal collecting grounds in the neighbourhood of the city when he came to reside there in 1904. His discovery of Gynandrophthalma affinis at Wychwood Forest, Oxon. in 1902 and its capture there in abundance by him in the following year is especially noteworthy'. This capture was written up in EMM, 38, 1902, p.268, where he published a number of notes on Coleoptera from 1893. Holland left Oxford in 1913 and returned to Reading where he was employed for some time by the Hon. N.Charles Rothschild in collecting in North Devon, Wood Walton Fen and elsewhere. Smith (1986), p.126, records that Holland gave insects of all orders from various localities both British and foreign, and a collection of British Carabid beetles dated 1907 and 1910, to the HDO. Member of the Reading Natural History Society which he joined in 1881. Apart from the obituary mentioned above there is another in Ent., 63, 1930, pp.263-264. (MD 5/03)
Dates
1845 - 1 July 1930