Possibly my favourite monument in Kensal Green – it’s so good it looks more like something you’d expect to find in Pere Lachaise than in any London cemetery. William Holland was a cabinet maker who founded Holland and Sons producers of fine furniture. In 1853 the company employed 350 men and the following year it acquired the prestigious firm of Thomas Dowbiggin who had made the throne for Victoria’s coronation. Holland & Son’s were cabinet makers and upholsterers to the Queen supplying furniture for Osborne House, Windsor castle, Balmoral and Marlborough House. Other major commissions for the firm came from the British museum, the Athenaeum Club and the Royal Academy. They were also a major contractor on the new Houses of Parliament. Oddly they also did funeral work their biggest commission in this line being the funeral of the Duke of Wellington. The firm continued in existence until 1942 even though William Holland died in 1853. Of William Holland himself I can find out very little.
William Holland was a cousin of Henry Holland architect. The Hollands were said to be
ReplyDeletefrom the same family as Cornelius Holland regicide whose father Ralph was master of Queen Elizabeth 1's wardrobe The family trace back to the Lancashire Hollands.