Thomas Holloway
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: Thomas Holloway (22 September 180026 December 1883) was an English businessman and philanthropist.


Early life

Holloway was born in Devonport,
Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
,
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
, the eldest son of Thomas and Mary Holloway (née Chellew), who at the time of their son's birth had a bakery business. They later moved to
Penzance Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...
,
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, where they ran The Turk's Head Inn. In the late 1820s, Holloway went to live in
Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...
, France, for a few years. He returned to England in 1831 and worked in London as a secretary and interpreter for a firm of importers and exporters. In 1836, he set himself up as a foreign and commercial agent in London.


Business career

Holloway had business connections with an Italian, Felix Albinolo, who manufactured and sold a general purpose ointment. This gave Holloway the idea to set up a similar business himself in 1837. He began by using his mother's pots and pans to manufacture his ointment in the family kitchen. Seeing the potential in patent medicines, Holloway soon added pills to his range of products. Holloway's business was extremely successful. A key factor in his enormous success in business was advertising, in which Holloway had great faith. Holloway's first newspaper announcements appeared in 1837, and by 1842 his yearly expenses for publicity had reached over £5,000 ( GBP). By the time of his death, he was spending over £50,000 a year on advertising his products. The sales of his products made Holloway a multi-millionaire, and one of the richest men in Britain at the time. Holloway's products were said to be able to cure a whole host of ailments, though scientific evaluation of them after his death showed that few of them contained any ingredients which would be considered to be of significant medicinal value. Holloway's medicine business slowly declined and was bought by rival Beecham's Pills in 1930.


Philanthropy

Holloway is remembered for the two large institutions which he built in England: Holloway Sanatorium in Virginia Water, Surrey, and Royal Holloway College, a college of the
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in Englefield Green, Surrey. Both were designed by the architect William Henry Crossland, and were inspired by the Cloth Hall in
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, Belgium, and the Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley, France. They were founded by Holloway as "Gifts to the nation". Holloway claimed that it was his wife, Jane Holloway, who inspired him to found the college, which was a women-only college and did not accept male undergraduates until 1965, although postgraduates were accepted in 1945.Bingham, Caroline (1987). The history of the Royal Holloway College 1886–1986. London: Constable. . Holloway also paid over £80,000 to acquire 77
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
paintings which he donated to the college at the time of its founding. Most of these pieces of art still belong to the college, and remain on display today in the college's Picture Gallery. Three of the paintings, by Turner, Constable and Gainsborough were sold in the 1990s.


Tittenhurst Park

Holloway had become extremely wealthy by the late 1860s and bought a Georgian House at Sunninghill, near Ascot, Berkshire called Tittenhurst Park. Holloway lived there with his wife, Jane. Her sister, Sarah Anne Driver, also lived there with her husband George Martin, as did Holloway's sister Matilda, an invalid who died soon after. Jane died in 1875, aged 61; Holloway died there on 26 December 1883, aged 83. A century later, from 1969 to 1971, the building became the home of
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
with his then new wife
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, having been married on 20 March 1969 in
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. Another member of
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
,
Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...
, lived there after Lennon until the late-1980s. In 1988, the property was sold to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President of the
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and ruler of
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. Since then major renovation of the manor has been carried out, and the interior no longer resembles the house lived in by Lennon and Starr.


Death

A philanthropic and somewhat eccentric donor (he had an unconcealed prejudice against doctors, lawyers and parsons), Holloway died of congestion of the
lung The lungs are the primary Organ (biology), organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the Vertebral column, backbone on either side of the heart. Their ...
s at Sunninghill in 1883, eighteen months before the opening of the Holloway Sanatorium. He is buried with his wife Jane in a family grave at Sunninghill churchyard. A display about his life was unveiled at the church in October 2014 by Royal Holloway's Principal, Professor Paul Layzell.


Bibliography

*Harrison-Barbet, Anthony. ''Thomas Holloway: Victorian Philanthropist''.


References


Sources

*Anderson, Stuart, "From pills to philanthropy: the Thomas Holloway story", ''Pharmaceutical Historian''. ''35''(2): 32-6, June 2005


External links


History of Royal Holloway and Bedford New CollegeAustralian Postal History and Thomas Holloway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holloway, Thomas 1800 births 1883 deaths 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century English businesspeople English philanthropists Patent medicine businesspeople People associated with Royal Holloway, University of London People from Devonport, Plymouth People from Sunninghill