David Quidnunc on 13 Mar 2003  •  Link

Information from Latham & Matthews

Philip Holland and his wife (first name unknown) are friends of Pepys and his wife in 1660. Pepys calls Mrs. Holland a "plain dowdy" on 6 June 1661. Her mother is a Quaker.

The Hollands lived in Bridewell parish, not far from Pepys's father, John. Their sons are mentioned near the tail end of the diary.

He served in the First Dutch War (1652-4), and commanded the Assurance on the 1659 Baltic mission under Edward Mountagu. L&M call him "prominent" in the Commonwealth navy. (Vol. 1, p. 167)

This isn't mentioned in the diary, but in 1665, he was put in charge of a "fire ship" (a ship filled with explosives, set on fire, then floated among enemy ships as a weapon, according to Webster's New World Dictionary).

Ironically, the name of that ship was the "Loyal Merchant," but Holland deserted the English for the Dutch and later took part in the Medway raid. He was arrested in 1672, but he was released when he agreed to spy for the English government.

-- L&M, Vols. 1,2; Companion volume (10); Index volume (11).

Phil on 14 Jul 2003  •  Link

Husband of Mrs Holland: http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…

Bill on 11 May 2013  •  Link

HOLLAND, Philip,—was appointed commander of the Loyal Merchant in 1666.
---Biographia Navalis. J. Charnock, 1794.

Bill on 3 Jun 2013  •  Link

1672 April 28. Whitehall. Warrant to Sir John Robinson to take into custody Philip Holland, suspected of being a spy employed by the Dutch, he having deserted in the last Dutch war and served the enemy by conducting their ships into our rivers.
---Calendar of State Papers, domestic series, of the reign of Charles II.