Henry Fox, Baron Holland

---

(b. Sept. 28, 1705, Chiswick, London – d. July 1, 1774, Holland House, Kensington, London )

Gender: M

Henry Fox (1705-1774) was a prominent Whig politician. He squandered his family fortune and went abroad to escape his creditors. On his return, in 1735 he became MP for Hindon in Wiltshire and a protegé of Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole. In 1744 he eloped with and married Lady Caroline Lennox (1723-1774), daughter of the Duke of Richmond, who was only nineteen while he was thirty-seven. They had four children, including the politician Charles James Fox. She was created Baroness Holland of Holland in 1762, and the following year a second barony was created for her husband, who became Baron Holland of Foxley (both titles became extinct in 1859.) Holland House, their home in London, became a social and political centre; its extensive grounds are now Holland Park. Fox was an unscrupulous politician, and during his time as Paymaster General from 1757 to 1765, he accumulated a vast fortune; he would have been prosecuted for corruption if proceedings had not been halted by a royal warrant. From 1762-1768 he built Holland House at Kingsgate on the Isle of Thanet in Kent, and constructed a number of artificial follies around it, including coastal lookouts, a castle, a convent and an inn. On Lord Holland’s death in 1774, the estate passed to his third son, Charles James Fox, who promptly sold it to John Powell, one of Holland’s executors. Elizabeth Carter visited it in 1778 (Carter to Montagu 19th September 1778).

---

Mentioned in 2 letters

---

---

Please note that all dates and location information are provisional, initially taken from the library and archive catalogues. As our section editors continue to work through the material we will update our database and the changes will be reflected across the edition.

Browser support: The website works best using the Chrome, Edge, and Firefox browsers on the PC, and only Chrome and Firefox on the Mac.