John Hollams

Sir John Hollams (23 September 1820− 3 May 1910) was an English solicitor. For more than 60 years he was a partner in one of London's most significant law firms and was involved in several high profile cases, including Bank of England v Vagliano Bros, British South Africa Co v Companhia de Moçambique (1893), and the trial of Leander Starr Jameson and his compatriots for their actions in the Jameson Raid in 1895-1896. A President of the Law Society of England and Wales, he served on the Judicature Commission which was instrumental in drafting the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 and the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1875; laws that substantially restructured the legal system in Britain.

Life and career Born in Loose, Kent, John Hollams was the son of John Hollams and his wife Mary Pettit. Ill health further prevented him from continuing the family tradition of attending the University of Cambridge, and he began his legal career apprenticed as a clerk to a local solicitor in Maidstone.

In 1840 Hollams went to London to join the firm of Brown, Marten, & Thomas (now Clifford Chance). His firm was involved in many important commercial litigations in the British Empire during the 19th century, among them Bank of England v Vagliano Bros (1891) and British South Africa Co v Companhia de Moçambique (1893). and knighted by King Edward VII at Buckingham Palace on 18 December 1902. In 1906 a memoir of his legal career, Jottings of an old solicitor, was published by John Murray. His funeral service was held at St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge and he was buried at Brompton Cemetery. He married Rice Allfree in 1844; a union that lasted until her death in 1891. The couple had three sons.