HOLLAND, Rogers (c.1701-61), of Chippenham, Wilts.

Holland was called to the bar in 1724 ‘at the request of’ Sir Robert Raymond, then justice of the King’s bench.Pension Bk. of G. Inn, ii. 193. He was a native of Chippenham, for which he was returned unopposed in 1727 and in 1734 after a hard contest. In Parliament he voted with the Administration in all recorded divisions, except that on the excise bill, which he opposed. After serving on the gaols committee, he became for many years a keen member of the governing board of the Georgia Society.HMC Egmont Diary, i. 45, 297. On his appointment as a Welsh judge in 1737 he had to stand for re-election and was easily beaten by Edward Bayntun Rolt. He did not stand again but as a member of the corporation he remained a factor in Chippenham politics. In July 1740 the Duke of Newcastle was informed that there were

hopes of turning out two Tories at Chippenham and bringing in two Whigs. In order to do it Mr. Holland the Welsh judge’s attendance [at the corporation] is absolutely necessary. It is near the time that the Welsh judges go their circuit ... Sir Robert Walpole promised Holland to get him excused but I believe forgot it.John Selwyn to Newcastle, 23 July 1740, Add. 32694, f. 236.

In 1754 Bayntun Rolt, now a government supporter, pressed Newcastle for £100 a year which had been promised to Holland ‘for the support and better education of his son’ at Cambridge.Add. 32995, f. 114. He died 17 July 1761.