Arthur Howe Holdsworth
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Arthur Howe Holdsworth (1780–1860) of Mount Galpin in the parish of
Townstal Townstal (anciently ''Tunstall,William Pole (antiquary), Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John de la Pole, 6th Baronet, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.285 Townstall'', e ...
and of Widdicombe in the parish of
Stokenham Stokenham ( təʊ̯kən'hæm not stəʊ̯kənəm being a break with other comparators in England) is a village and civil parish in the English county of Devon. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 1,895. Places in the parish As ...
, both in Devon, was an English merchant and politician.


Background

The Holdsworth family's roots lay in Yorkshire, and a vicar ancestor moved to Devon in 1620. The vicar's son Arthur entered trade and, aided by the Champernowne family, began a lucrative trade with
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
. By 1672 he was mayor of Dartmouth and an imposing figure on the local business scene. In the following two centuries the Holdsworth family came to dominate the mercantile and cultural life of Dartmouth. They were leaders in the trade with Newfoundland and with
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, where they owned estates. Their interests extended into trade with the Baltic, the
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
and America. "The family continued to prosper," according to David K. Brown in his book ''The Way of the Ship in the Midst of the Sea'', "helped in 1725 by the award of 'The Waters of the Dart' from the
Duchy of Cornwall The Duchy of Cornwall ( kw, Duketh Kernow) is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch obtains possession of the duchy and the title of 'Duke of Cornwall' at ...
in 1725 which entitled them to levy tolls on all goods landed between
Salcombe Salcombe is a popular resort town in the South Hams district of Devon, south west England. The town is close to the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, mostly built on the steep west side of the estuary. It lies within the South Devon Area of ...
and
Torbay Torbay is a borough and unitary authority in Devon, south west England. It is governed by Torbay Council and consists of of land, including the resort towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham, located on east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme ...
, a rich perquisite which lasted until 1860. The Holdsworths and their relations held most of the important posts in and around Dartmouth: Freemen, Mayors, Governor of the Castle since 1725, Rector of Stokenham and Brixham, etc. The family home was Widdicombe House, near Torcross, built in 1785 and enlarged in 1820. They also owned Brookhill, Dartmouth."


Life

He was from a Devon mercantile and trading family, the son of Arthur Holdsworth, a Member of Parliament in Devonshire, prominent shipowner and merchant. The son, Arthur Howe Holdsworth Holdsworth, was an active businessman with interests in shipping and an inventor with many patents to his name, most relating to shipbuilding and boats. He was a shareholder in the
Bristol and Exeter Railway The Bristol & Exeter Railway (B&ER) was an English railway company formed to connect Bristol and Exeter. It was built on the broad gauge and its engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It opened in stages between 1841 and 1844. It was allied with ...
and was a prime force behind Devon's expansive shipping interests.. He resided at Widdicombe House and Mount Galpin in Dartmouth located near Kingsbridge within the Stokenham Priory estate, owned by the Holdsworth family for many years. He served as the last Governor of Dartmouth. In 1809 he was Governor of
Dartmouth Castle Dartmouth Castle is an artillery fort, built to protect Dartmouth harbour in Devon, England. The earliest parts of the castle date from the 1380s, when, in response to the threat of a French attack, the civic authorities created a small enclosu ...
, a position held by his father Arthur from 1760 to 1777. He was elected member of Parliament for
Dartmouth Dartmouth may refer to: Places * Dartmouth, Devon, England ** Dartmouth Harbour * Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States * Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada * Dartmouth, Victoria, Australia Institutions * Dartmouth College, Ivy League university i ...
in 1802, holding the seat until December 1819, when he vacated it in favour of
Charles Milner Ricketts Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...
, a cousin of
Lord Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. He held many important cabinet offices such as Foreign Secret ...
. He returned to the seat in 1829, but was defeated by
John Seale John Clement Seale ACS ASC (born 5 October 1942) is an Australian cinematographer. He won an Oscar for his work in the 1996 film ''The English Patient,'' in addition to a BAFTA and Satellite Award. He is a member of both the Australian Cin ...
in 1832, after the
Reform Act In the United Kingdom, Reform Act is most commonly used for legislation passed in the 19th century and early 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...
partially disenfranchised the constituency. Following Holdsworth's stinging defeat for his Parliamentary seat in 1832 by
Sir John Henry Seale, 1st Baronet Sir John Henry Seale, 1st Baronet (1780–1844) of Mount Boone in the parish of Townstal near Dartmouth in Devon, was a Whig Member of Parliament for Dartmouth in 1838. He was created a baronet on 31 July 1838. He owned substantial lands in D ...
, whose family had challenged the Holdsworth family's hold on the Corporation, all the Holdsworth family members left Dartmouth. The acrimony between the Holdsworths and their Seale family adversaries even forced the move of the 1839 marriage between Holdsworth's daughter Catherine Henrietta Elizabeth Holdsworth and civil engineer
William Froude William Froude (; 28 November 1810 in Devon – 4 May 1879 in Simonstown, South Africa) was an English engineer, hydrodynamicist and naval architect. He was the first to formulate reliable laws for the resistance that water offers to ships (suc ...
from Dartmouth, where the Holdsworths had long worshipped, to the
Brixham Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish, the smallest and southernmost of the three main population centres (the others being Paignton and Torquay) on the coast of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. Commercial fish ...
parish church instead. At his death in 1860, Holdsworth left an enormous estate.


Family

Arthur Howe Holdsworth in 1807 married Catherine Henrietta Eastabrooke (1789-1878), daughter of John Eastabrooke and his wife Catherine Henrietta, widow of Robert Carr. His middle name was a tribute to the British Admiral
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, (8 March 1726 – 5 August 1799) was a British naval officer. After serving throughout the War of the Austrian Succession, he gained a reputation for his role in amphibious operations aga ...
, a family friend who served as one of two members of Parliament from Dartmouth from 1757 to 1782, overlapping the service in Parliament of Arthur Howe (1780–1786). The Holdsworth family later intermarried with other prominent West Country families, including the St. Aubyns of
St. Michael's Mount St Michael's Mount ( kw, Karrek Loos yn Koos, meaning " hoar rock in woodland") is a tidal island in Mount's Bay, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The island is a civil parish and is linked to the town of Marazion by a causeway of granite s ...
, Cornwall, the Bastard family of Devon (whose members Edmund Bastard,
Edmund Pollexfen Bastard Edmund Pollexfen Bastard (12 July 1784 – 8 June 1838) was a British Tory politician, son of Edmund Bastard and his wife Jane Pownoll. He married Anne Jane Rodney, granddaughter of Admiral Rodney. He succeeded his father as Member of Parli ...
and John Bastard sat with him for Dartmouth) and others. Arthur Howe's Holdsworth's eldest son Arthur Bastard Eastabrook Holdsworth lived at Widdicombe House after the death of his father. Arthur Bastard Eastbrook Holdsworth's daughter Alice Mary married Edmund St. Aubyn at Dartmouth, Devon, in 1847; his daughter Georgina married in 1868 at Stokenham, Devon, Thomas Levett-Prinsep, eldest son of Thomas Levett-Prinsep JP of
Croxall Hall Croxall Hall is a restored and extended 16th century manor house situated in the small village of Croxall, Staffordshire (close to the southeastern border with Derbyshire and historically part of it). It is a Grade II* listed building. The man ...
,
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
. They had one son.Visitation of England and Wales, Vol. 14, Joseph Jackson Howard, Frederick Arthur Crisp, England College of Arms, Privately Printed, 1906
/ref>


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holdsworth, Arthur Howe UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dartmouth 1780 births 1860 deaths English merchants 18th-century English people 19th-century English people 19th-century British businesspeople