John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare

John Holles, First Earl of Clare

John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare (May 1564 – 4 October 1637) was an English nobleman.

He was the son of Denzil Holles of Irby upon Humber and Eleanor Sheffield (daughter of Edmund Sheffield, 1st Baron Sheffield of Butterwick. His great-grandfather was William Hollyes, Lord Mayor of London. He was educated at Christ's College, Cambridge from 1579, aged 12, after which he studied law at Gray's Inn from 1583. He was at Court until 1599.

Holles married Anne Stanhope (daughter of Sir Thomas Stanhope) on 23 May 1591 in Shelford, Nottinghamshire. Through his marriage to Anne, he inherited Thurland Hall in Nottingham which was later known as Clare Place. The family seat was at Haughton Hall in the parish of Bothamsall, which was demolished in the late eighteenth century. He served as High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire for 1591–92.

He was comptroller of the household of Prince Henry until the prince's death on 6 November 1612.

He was Member of Parliament for Nottinghamshire from 1604 to 1611 and from 1614 to 1616. He was created 1st Baron Haughton on 9 July 1616 and 1st Earl of Clare on 2 November 1624.

He died at home in Nottingham and is buried in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. He had 6 sons and 4 daughters.

Children

• John Holles, 2nd Earl of Clare (1595–1666), married Elizabeth Vere. MP for East Retford
• Robert Holles (b. 1597), married Ursula Cooper
• Denzil Holles, 1st Baron Holles (1599–1680) MP for Mitchell
• Francis (died without offspring)
• William (died without offspring)
• Eleanore Holles, married Oliver Fitzwilliam, 1st Earl of Tyrconnel, became Countess of Tyrconnel, buried in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham 11 April 1681
• Arabella Holles (died October 1631), married Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford

Ancestry

Ancestors of John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare

16. Thomas Holles               8. William Holles                       17.               4. William Holles                             18. George Scopham               9. Elizabeth Scopham                       19.               2. Denzil Holles                                   20.               10. John Denzel                       21.               5. Anne Denzell                             22.               11.                       23.               1. John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare                                         24. Robert Sheffield               12. Sir Robert Sheffield                       25. Helen Delves               6. Edmund Sheffield, 1st Baron Sheffield                             26. George Stanley, 9th Baron Strange               13. Jane Stanley                       27. Joan le Strange, 9th Baroness Strange               3. Eleanor Sheffield                                   28. John de Vere               14. John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford                       29. Alice Kilrington               7 Anne de Vere                             30. Edward Trussell               15. Elizabeth Trussell, Countess of Oxford                       31. Margaret Donne

References

• "HOLLES, Sir John (c.1567-1637), of Haughton, Notts. and Lincoln's Inn Fields, Mdx.; later of Westminster and Thurland Place, Nottingham, Notts.". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 16 March 2016.

External links

• "Archival material relating to John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare". UK National Archives.
• Portraits of John Holles, 1st Earl of Clare at the National Portrait Gallery, London