Life

Holt was born at Hattersley

Hattersley

Hattersley is a residential area within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It is to the east of Hyde and 6 miles west of the Peak District National Park....

, near Mottram in Longdendale

Mottram in Longdendale

Mottram in Longdendale is an unparished village within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies in the valley of Longdendale, on the border with Derbyshire and close to the Peak District neighbouring Broadbottom and Hattersley. Mottram in Longdendale Parish was...

, Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

, in 1743. About 1757 he settled at Walton-on-the-Hill

Walton, Merseyside

Walton, originally known as Walton-on-the-Hill, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, is an area situated to the north of Anfield and the east of Bootle and Orrell Park. It is largely residential, with a diverse population.-History:...

, near Liverpool, where for many years he acted as parish clerk, highway surveyor, and master of the free grammar school, besides at one time keeping a ladies’ school.

He married, in 1767, Elizabeth France of Walton, but had no issue. He died at Walton on 21 March 1801. There is an interesting etched portrait of Holt by his pupil, W. Rogers, of which there are small reproductions in the Gentleman’s Magazine

The Gentleman's Magazine

The Gentleman's Magazine was founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term "magazine" for a periodical...

 and the Transactions of the Historic Society.

Writings

Holt published in 1786-8

• Characters of Kings and Queens of England in three volumes (at Google Books)

A few years later, at the invitation of the board of agriculture, he made the agricultural survey of Lancashire, and published in 1794 his results in a

• General View of the Agriculture of the County of Lancaster, with Observations on the Means of its Improvement, reprinted with additions in 1795 (at Google Books).

A paper 'On the Curle in Potatoes' procured him the medal of the Society of Arts. He compiled a few books for the use of schools, wrote one or two novels, and collected materials for a history of Liverpool, which he bequeathed to Matthew Gregson. He contributed many papers to the Gentleman’s Magazine, and for a long period communicated the monthly ‘Meteorological Diary’ to that periodical.