John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle

British peer (1662–1711)

Holles, Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Tankard with the arms, supporters, coronet, and motto of Holles

John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle (9 January 1662 – 15 July 1711) was an English peer and politician.

## Early life

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Holles was born in Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire, the son of the 3rd Earl of Clare and his wife Grace Pierrepont. Grace was a daughter of The Hon. William Pierrepont and granddaughter of the 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull.

## Politics

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He was a supporter of William of Orange and Mary Stuart, and in November 1688 waited on the Prince of Orange as a representative of the risings in York and Nottingham.[1]

Holles was elected MP for Nottinghamshire as Lord Houghton on 14 January 1689, but was called to the House of Lords two days later when his father died and he became the 4th Earl of Clare. He became Gentleman of the Bedchamber to William III and Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex. He was created the Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, of the 2nd creation, in 1694. The Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne is a title which was created three times in British history. The first creation had become extinct when his father-in-law Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, died without a male heir. On 30 May 1698, he was appointed Knight of the Order of the Garter.[2] As Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire he took personal command of the Nottinghamshire Militia.[3]

## Family

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On 1 March 1690, Holles married his first cousin, Lady Margaret Cavendish, a daughter of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle. She was the heiress of all of the duke's estates in the East Midlands and Northumberland.[1] He inherited more estates from his relative, Denzil Holles, 3rd Baron Holles.[1]

They had one child, Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles (1694–1755), who married the 2nd Earl of Oxford and Mortimer and was mother to Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland.

In 1710 he purchased Wimpole Park in Cambridgeshire and the Manor of Marylebone. The Marylebone lands passed to his son-in-law Harley who named Holles Street in his memory.[4]

A rivalry was formed between John and his sister, Elizabeth, when she married Christopher Vane, 1st Baron Barnard.[5]

## Death

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Detail of the monument to Holles in Westminster Abbey

The duke died in 1711 from injuries received in a fall from his horse while hunting near Welbeck.[6] He left his Cavendish estates to his son-in-law, Edward Harley (later 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer) and the remainder of his property to his nephew Thomas Pelham, subsequently 1st Duke of Newcastle (third creation) and prime minister.[2] He was buried on 9 August 1711 in St. John's Chapel in Westminster Abbey.[7] A large monument to Holles stands in the north transept of the abbey. Designed by James Gibbs and carved by Francis Bird with the aid of John Michael Rysbrack, it consists of a reclining figure of Holles flanked by statues representing Wisdom and Sincerity.[8][9]

## Records

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Correspondence and estate records of John Holles, including letters to his wife, are held at the department of Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham, principally in the Holles Papers (Pw 2), part of the Portland (Welbeck) Collection.

## Coat of arms

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Coat of arms of John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle

Coronet
A coronet of an Duke
Crest
A boar passant azure tusked and bristled or.
Escutcheon
Ermine, two piles in point sable.
Supporters
Dexter: a lion or; sinister, a tiger or.
Motto
Spes audaces adjuvat.[10]

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## References

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1. ^ a b c Biography of John Holles, 3rd Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne and 4th Earl of Clare (1662-1711), Manuscripts and Special Collections, University of Nottingham
2. ^ a b "HOLLES, John, Lord Houghton (1662–1711), of Haughton, Notts. and Warwick House, Holborn, Mdx". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
3. ^ Col George Jackson Hay, An Epitomized History of the Militia (The Constitutional Force), London: United Service Gazette, 1905, p. 368.
4. ^ Bebbington, Gillian. (1972) London Street Names. London: B.T. Batsford. pp. 164 & 176\. ISBN 0713401400
5. ^ Mounsey, Chris. Christopher Smart: Clown of God. London: Bucknell University Press, 2001. p. 23
6. ^ Abel Boyer (1712). The history of the reign of Queen Anne. Vol. 10\. p. 381.
7. ^ Chester, Joseph (1876). The Marriage, Baptismal, and Burial Registers of the Collegiate Church or Abbey of St. Peter, Westminster. London. p. 272.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
8. ^ "Holles Family". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
9. ^ "Monument to John Holles, Duke of Newcastle". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Archived from the original on 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
10. ^ Burke, Bernard (1884). The general armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; comprising a registry of armorial bearings from the earliest to the present time. London: Harrison & sons. p. 500.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle.

* Biography of John Holles, Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with links to online catalogues, on the website of Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham

Political offices

Preceded by

The Duke of Buckingham and Normanby

|  Lord Privy Seal
1705–1711  | Succeeded by

The Bishop of Bristol

Military offices
Preceded by

The Marquess of Carmarthen

|  Governor of Kingston-upon-Hull
1699–1711  | Succeeded by

Richard Sutton

Legal offices
Preceded by

The Duke of Devonshire

|  Justice in Eyre
north of the Trent
1711  | Succeeded by

The Duke of Leeds

Honorary titles
Preceded by

The Earl of Craven

|  Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex
1689–1692  | Succeeded by

The Earl of Bedford

Custos Rotulorum of Middlesex
1689–1692
Preceded by

The Duke of Devonshire

|  Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire
1694–1711  | Vacant

Title next held by

The Earl of Clare
Vacant

Title last held by

The Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull |  Custos Rotulorum of Nottinghamshire
1694–1711
Preceded by

The Duke of Leeds

|  Lord Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire
1699–1711  | Vacant

Title next held by

Marquess of Carmarthen
Custos Rotulorum of the East Riding of Yorkshire
1699–1711  | Succeeded by

Marquess of Carmarthen

Preceded by

The Duke of Buckingham and Normanby

|  Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire
1705–1711  | Succeeded by

The Duke of Buckingham and Normanby

Peerage of England
New creation

Title last held by Henry Cavendish

|  Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
2nd creation
1694–1711  | Extinct
Preceded by

Gilbert Holles

|  Earl of Clare
1689–1711

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

Other|

* SNAC
* Yale LUX