Robert Holborn

The family of Robert Holborne of Harwich have, with a few exceptions, been involved in shipbulding for centuries, continuing up until the 1930s. The earliest chronological reference found for any shipwright bearing the name ‘Holb(o/u)rn(e)’ is that of Robert Holborn who was granted Letters Patent in 1543, along with Peter Pett and others skillful in shipbuilding. The authority for these letters patent was not by the usual Writ of Privy Seal, but Per Ipsum Regent, i.e., by "direct motion of the King," Henry VIII.

Shipwrights were granted direct employment by the Crown. The first list of Master Shipwrights appointed by Patent by Henry VIII included John Smyth, Robert Holborn, Richard Bull, James Baker (father of Mathew Baker) and Peter Pett. On 23 April 1548, Robert Holborn, Smyth and Bull received similar patents, and it was added that, as shipwrights, they should instruct others, by reason of their long and good service.

Shipwrights were in high demand during the 16th century, and sometimes many members of the same family engaged in the trade, such as the Pett family. Robert Holborn appears also to have come from a family of shipwrights. Early family wills place him among the Holborns of Erith, and he was likely an uncle or father to Richard Hoborn of Chatham.

Holborn

Coordinates: 51°31′02″N 0°07′06″W / 51.5172°N 0.1182°W / 51.5172; -0.1182

Holborn (/ˈhoʊbərn/ HOH-bə(r)n) is an area of central London.

History

Toponymy

The area's first mention is in a charter of Westminster Abbey, by King Edgar, dated to 959. This mentions "the old wooden church of St Andrew" (St Andrew, Holborn). The name Holborn may be derived from the Middle English "hol" for hollow, and bourne, a brook, referring to the River Fleet as it ran through a steep valley to the east. Historical cartographer William Shepherd in his Plan of London about 1300 labels the Fleet as "Hole Bourn" where it passes to the east of St Andrew's church. However, the 16th century historian John Stow attributes the name to the Old Bourne ("old brook"), a small stream which he believed ran into the Fleet at Holborn Bridge, a structure lost when the river was culverted in 1732. The exact course of the stream is uncertain, but according to Stow it started in one of the many small springs near Holborn Bar, the old City toll gate on the summit of Holborn Hill. This is supported by a map of London and Westminster created during the reign of Henry VIII that clearly marks the street as 'Oldbourne' and 'High Oldbourne'. Other historians, however, find the theory implausible, in view of the slope of the land.

Holborn District (Metropolis)

Holborn was a local government district in the metropolitan area of London to the north west of the City of London from 1855 to 1900.

The district was formed by the Metropolis Management Act 1855 from the following Middlesex civil parishes and places:

District board

The district was governed by the Holborn District Board of Works, which consisted of forty-nine elected vestrymen: twenty-four elected for the parish of St Andrew Holborn above Bars; nine for St George the Martyr; nine for Saffron Hill, Hatton Garden, Ely Rents, and Ely Place; six for St Sepulchre and one for Glasshouse Yard. The first elections were held in November 1855, when the entire membership of the board was elected. Thereafter elections for one third of the seats were held in May, beginning in the year 1857.

Holborn District was originally within the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works and nominated one member to the MBW. In 1889 the area of the Metropolitan Board became the County of London, and Holborn District Board of Works became a local council under the London County Council.

Holborn (disambiguation)

Holborn is an area of Central London, England.

Holborn may also refer to:

People with the surname

Fictional characters:

See also