Family and education

The eldest son of Thomas Holland, he was born at Wem

Wem

Wem is a small market town in Shropshire, England. It is the administrative centre for the northern area committee of Shropshire Council, which has its headquarters at Edinburgh House in the centre of Wem. Wem railway station is on the Shrewsbury to Crewe railway line...

, Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

. His grandfather, Thomas Holland (died 1675, aged 57), had been a member of the first presbyterian classis of Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, and was ejected from Blackley Chapel, Lancashire, by the Uniformity Act 1662. His father, Thomas Holland, a pupil of James Coningham

James Coningham

James Coningham was an English presbyterian divine and tutor.-Life:Coningham was born in 1670 in England and educated at Edinburgh, where he graduated M.A. on 27 February 1694. The same year he became minister of the presbyterian congregation at Penrith...

, was ordained in August 1714 as presbyterian minister at Kingsley, Cheshire

Kingsley, Cheshire

Kingsley is a civil parish and a village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is approximately 5 miles south east of the town of Frodsham....

, and moved to Wem, Shropshire, in 1717. His mother was Mary Savage, granddaughter of Philip Henry

Philip Henry

Philip Henry may refer to:*Philip Henry *Philip Henry , Jamaican artist*Philip Henry , English clergyman...

.

Philip Holland entered Philip Doddridge

Philip Doddridge

Philip Doddridge DD was an English Nonconformist leader, educator, and hymnwriter.-Early life:...

's dissenting academy at Northampton in 1739. He was followed in 1744 by his brother John, who conformed; and in 1751 by his brother Henry, who was transferred to Caleb Ashworth

Caleb Ashworth

-Life:Ashworth was born at Clough-Fold, Rossendale, Lancashire, in 1722. His father, Richard Ashworth, who died in 1751, aged eighty-four, was a lay preacher among the Particular Baptists; he had three sons—Thomas, Particular Baptist minister at Heckmondwike; Caleb; and John, General Baptist...

's Daventry Academy

Daventry Academy

Daventry Academy was a dissenting academy, that is, a school or college set up by English Dissenters. It moved to many locations, but was most associated with Daventry, where its most famous pupil was Joseph Priestley...

, and became minister at Prescot

Prescot

Prescot is a town and civil parish, within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It is 8 miles to the east of Liverpool city centre and lies within the historic boundaries of Lancashire. At the 2001 Census, the population was 11,184 .Prescot marks the beginning of the...

 and (1765) at Ormskirk

Ormskirk

Ormskirk is a market town in West Lancashire, England. It is situated north of Liverpool city centre, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston.-Geography and administration:...

, where he died on 10 December 1781.

Minister

Philip first preached at Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...

, Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

; he then became his father's successor at Wem. In the autumn of 1755 he became minister of Bank Street Chapel, Bolton

Bolton

Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...

, Lancashire, in succession to Thomas Dixon. On account of the popularity of his ministry, the chapel was enlarged in 1760. He kept a boarding-school also. From 1785 William Hawkes (1759–1820) was his colleague.

In theology Holland was of the Arian

Arian

Arian may refer to:* Arius, a Christian presbyter in the 3rd and 4th century* a given name in different cultures: Aria, Aryan or Arian...

 school, influenced by John Seddon of Warrington

John Seddon of Warrington

-Life:The son of Peter Seddon, dissenting minister successively at Ormskirk and Hereford, he was born at Hereford on 8 December 1725. The Unitarian John Seddon , with whom he has often been confused, is said to have been a second cousin...

, who introduced him to the philosophy of Francis Hutcheson

Francis Hutcheson

Francis Hutcheson may refer to:*Francis Hutcheson *Francis Hutcheson -See also:*Frank Hutchison, blues musician*Francis Hutchinson, British clergyman...

. He assisted Seddon in setting up (1757) Warrington Academy

Warrington Academy

Warrington Academy, active as a teaching establishment from 1756 to 1782, was a prominent dissenting academy, that is, a school or college set up by those who dissented from the state church in England...

, and wrote the third service in a collection of forms of prayer (1763) edited by Seddon, and generally known as the Liverpool Liturgy. He took an active part in the movement for the repeal (1779) of the doctrinal subscription required by the Toleration Act

Toleration Act

Toleration Act may refer to:* Act of Toleration 1689, in England* Maryland Toleration Act, of 1649...

; after this date his views became somewhat more heterodox. In politics he was an advocate of the independence of the American colonies.

He died at Bolton on 2 January 1789, aged 67. There was a mural monument to his memory in Bank Street Chapel. He married Catharine Holland of Mobberley

Mobberley

Mobberley is a semi-rural village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, situated between Wilmslow and Knutsford. Mobberley railway station lies on the Manchester to Northwich and Chester line and was opened on 12 May, 1862 by the Cheshire...

, Cheshire, and had a son and daughter.

Works

He published sermons, including: ‘The Importance of Learning,’ &c., Warrington, 1760, (reprinted in English Preacher, 1773, vol. ix.) Posthumous was: ‘Sermons on Practical Subjects,’ &c., Warrington, 1792, 2 vols. (this collection, to which a silhouette

Silhouette

A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Although the art form has been popular since the mid-18th century, the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades...

 likeness is prefixed, includes his separate publications, and was edited by John Holland and William Turner). Some of his letters to Seddon are printed in the ‘Seddon Papers’ in the Christian Reformer

Christian Reformer

The Christian Reformer was a British Unitarian magazine edited by Robert Aspland....

, 1854 and 1855.