Mathew De Holland

Notes for Mathew de HOLLAND
The family of Holande apparently settled in Lancashire, England after William the Conqueror. Although its early beginnings, so far as w know, were ordinary, no family has risen so quickly to infamous notoriety and political distinctions through royal connections, both within and without the lineage itself. The story reads like a historical novel, with its characters interwoven into royal schemes, fortunes and bloodshed. Unquestionably, their claim on history owes itself to the adventerous lives they led. From the beginning...the family's first Knight of the Royal Garter, Sir Thomas de Holande, their daring escapades demanded national recognition.

MATTHEW DE HOLANDE (Latin, Mattheum de Holande) is known to be one of the earliest progenitors of the family to Lancashire. Holand or Holande was the spelling used prior to the fifteenth century. The family settled in Upholland, a village about four miles west of Wigan. The Manor of Upholland is listed in the Domesday Book as "Holland".

In Cockersand Chartulary by Chetham Society appear two deeds for land grants in Upholland to the then new Abbey, Cocersand Abbey, one by Matthew de Holland, the other by his son, Robert. Nov. 5, 1202 at the Lancaster Assizes Ulchtred de Chyrche in a deed released his right to fourteen oxganges of land in Upholland to Matthew de Holland, Fourteen oxganges was about 210 acres and may have included the manor house. Subsequent deeds (1212-1224) indicate that Matthew de Holland had died and that Robert, his son, had succeeded him.

The ancient township of Upholland at one time was numbered among the market towns of Lancashire. A castle and priory adorned this place when the de Holandes were its lords. The castle has disappeared. The church remains, along with diminutive ruins. Among the ruins found in a field in this village is the
casting,of a figure, probably of Roman workmanship, suggesting the parish contained a Roman station. Monks lived in Priors in this region. All that

All that now remain of the Monastery buildings are fragments of some ivy clad-rains, but the
Chapel of the old Priory still exists, and is now a Parish Church of Upholland.

The Holande family founded the Upholland Priory. Among the monuments and manuscripts
preserved in Lichfield Cathedral, a book The Magnum Registrum Allum contains entries of the
Collegiate Church of St. Thomas thle Martyr, at Upholland, founded by Sir Robert de Holande.

Little is known of Matthew de Holande except that he was the first Holande to put roots in
Lancashire. He was born ca 1175 and died between 1212/1224 in Upholland, Lancashire.

Although he owned but 210 acres, his holdings were sufficient to be included among the first
families to this region, ultimately becoming one of the major-seated families.


http://www.lindaletard.com/ancestors/PS01_049.HTM

Full line of this family is available there...