Frescheville Holles

Who was Frescheville Holles?

Sir Frescheville Holles was an English Royal Navy officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1666 to 1672. He was killed in action fighting in the Anglo-Dutch war.

Holles was the son of Gervase Holles and his second wife Elizabeth Molesworth. His father was MP for Grimsby. Holles was a major in the Westminster militia and commanded a privateer called the Panther. He was recommended him for the navy by George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle. He lost an arm at the Four Days Fight in 1666 while commanding HMS Antelope. He was knighted subsequently.

In 1667, Holles was elected Member of Parliament for Grimsby in the Cavalier Parliament. In March 1672, he and Sir Robert Holmes sailed from Portsmouth and attacked the Dutch Smyrna convoy in the English Channel on its return home. This foray had official sanction and led to the Third Dutch War. Holles was in command of HMS Cambridge at the Battle of Solebay on 28 May 1672 when he was killed at the age of 29. He was given a funeral in Westminster Abbey and was buried in St Edmund's chapel in an unmarked grave.

Holles married Jane Crome.