Thomas Henry Holland, 1868-1947

Abstract

With the unexpected death of Sir Thomas Henry Holland, K.C.I.E., K.C.S.I., on 15 May 1947, after a short illness in hospital at Surbiton in Surrey, British geology in general and Indian geology in particular has lost its most illustrious figure, one whose outstanding position was recognized by the fact that he was President-Designate of the Eighteenth Session of the International Geological Congress to be held in Great Britain in 1948, being also President of the Organizing Committee of this Congress. With his death, science, education and industry have all lost one of the ablest administrators of this century . Thomas Henry Holland was the son of John Holland and Grace Treloar Roberts of Cornish farming stock, being one of a family of eight children, six boys and two girls. He was born at Helston, Cornwall, on 22 November 1868. His parents later emigrated to Canada to farm at Springfield, Manitoba. He was educated first at a dame’s school at Helston and later he studied under John Gill, a schoolmaster at Helston, who, recognizing Holland’s promise, prepared him for a National Scholarship to the Royal College of Science; this Holland won at the early age of sixteen. At South Kensington, Holland took a First-Class Associateship in Geology with Honours (1888), winning also the Murchison Medal and Prize. Thomas Henry Huxley was then Dean of the Royal College of Science and Holland fell under his spell, becoming a lifelong admirer of Huxley and his methods. In later life Holland frequently praised the tandem system of education practised at South Kensington, as contrasted with that given at other colleges, where several subjects are taught concurrently and the student is not able to concentrate on one at a time.