Christopher John Holland-Martin (16 November 1910 – 5 April 1960) was a British banker and Conservative Party politician.

Early career

The son of the Chairman of

Martins Bank Martins Bank was a London private bank, trading for much of its time under the symbol of "The Grasshopper", that could trace its origins back to Thomas Gresham and the London goldsmiths, from which it developed into a bank known as Martin's Bank ...

, Holland-Martin was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

and

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He followed his father's profession but in 1939 was commissioned in the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many war ...

( Territorial Army). Invalided out of the Army, Holland-Martin was appointed Military Secretary to the

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...

, Cyril Newall from 1942 to 1944. He briefly held the same post in relation to the

Governor of Kenya This article contains a list of chairmen, administrators, commissioners and governors of British Kenya Colony. The office of Governor of Kenya was replaced by the office of Governor-General in 1963 and then later replaced by a President of Kenya ...

in 1945.

Post-war

After the war, Holland-Martin was appointed a Director of Martins Bank. He also became involved in politics and was made Joint Honorary Treasurer of the Conservative Party from 1947; two years later he married Lady Anne Cavendish MBE, daughter of the

Duke of Devonshire Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has b ...

Parliament

At the 1951 general election, Holland-Martin was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

. His experience in financial matters was often in evidence in House of Commons debates, although he was generally low profile. He remained involved in business throughout his time in Parliament.

Disqualification question

In 1955 he was caught up in a minor constitutional crisis over his local directorship of the

Bank of New Zealand Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's Big Four (banking)#New Zealand, big four banks. It has been operating since October 1861, and since 1992 has been owned by National Australia Bank (NAB), retaining local governance with a New Z ...

. With the bank's shares vested in the Crown, the directorship was technically an 'office of profit under the Crown' and as such a disqualification from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. Holland-Martin immediately resigned his office while the law was changed and an act of Parliament, the ( 4 & 5 Eliz. 2. c. 12) was passed to indemnify him from the consequences of having acted as a Member of Parliament while disqualified.

Death

Later in the 1950s Holland-Martin became involved in many African-related mining and exploration companies. While on a visit to

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

in January 1960, he suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

and was confined to bed at Government House; he was returned to Britain but died at his home in

Colwall Colwall is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Herefordshire, England, situated on the border with Worcestershire, nestling on the western side of the Malvern Hills at the heart of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, AONB. Areas of ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

in April, aged 49.

References

*M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" Vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981) *Obituary, ''The Times'', 6 April 1960.
Genealogy of Robert Martin (1908–1987)
a genealogy of the family as in

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

. Retrieved 10 August 2007. Christopher Holland-Martin MP was the sixth but fifth surviving son of Robert Martin Holland, later Holland-Martin (R Licence 14 August 1917), and younger brother of Admiral Sir

Deric Holland-Martin Admiral Sir Douglas Eric Holland-Martin, (10 April 1906 – 6 January 1977) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel from 1957 to 1959. Naval career Educated at West Downs School, Holland-Martin ent ...

, who was married to Rosamund Holland-Martin.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holland-Martin, Christopher 1910 births 1960 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Royal Fusiliers officers People educated at Eton College UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 People educated at West Downs School Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Shropshire