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Frescheville Holles

1642 – 1672

Members of the Parliament of England

PrivateerPolitician
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About Frescheville Holles

Lived 1642 – 1672 (aged 29). Frescheville Holles was a privateer and politician.

Sir Frescheville Holles (8 June 1642 – 28 May 1672) 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. and lost an arm at the Four Days Battle in 1666 while commanding HMS Antelope. He was knighted in June the same year (1666). In 1667 he was also made a captain in the 2nd Foot Guards but lost his command in 1669, becoming Mayor of Grimsby that year instead in the footsteps of his father. In January, 1672 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

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.

Family Holles married Jane, daughter of Richard Lewis, and widow of Valentine Crome, a London merchant.

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Important facts

Birth century
Occupation
Privateer, politician
Positions held
Member of Parliament in the Parliament of England, Member of the 1661-79 Parliament
Also known as
Sir Frescheville Holles

People in Frescheville Holles's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Frescheville Holles's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Frescheville Holles?

Members of the Parliament of England

When was Frescheville Holles born?

Frescheville Holles was born on 8 June 1642.

When did Frescheville Holles die?

Frescheville Holles died on 28 May 1672.

What was Frescheville Holles's occupation?

Frescheville Holles was a privateer and politician.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Frescheville Holles

· Wikidata: Q5502898

· DBpedia: Frescheville Holles

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Frescheville Holles. https://biography.guide/frescheville-holles/

MLA: "Frescheville Holles." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/frescheville-holles/.

Chicago: "Frescheville Holles." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/frescheville-holles/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

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