Author: Holder, John
Biography:
HOLDER, John (1800-18: “Memoir”)
He was born on 24 Feb. 1800 and baptised on 23 Mar. at St. Lawrence, Stroud, the first child of Thomas Holder and his wife Maria Franklin, who had married on 23 Apr., 1799 at Rodborough, Gloucestershire. He was orphaned early and his grandfather, William Franklin, an architect, and some uncles supervised his upbringing. At fourteen, he was taught by Daniel Smith, a drawing-master from Stroud, who admired his “compositions and drawings from nature.” At fifteen he experienced religious scepticism but terrifying dreams led him back “to private prayer and reading the Bible.” This was insufficient to counter his sense of his own sinfulness and, like many others, he fell under the spell of Methodism. He taught in Sunday School until his health gave way. He probably suffered from consumption and in a weak state, fell downstairs, and died on 1 Jan. 1818. He was buried on 5 Jan. at the Old Meeting House (Independent), Stroud. A funeral sermon was preached by Rev. William Shelmerdine at Stroud on 18 Jan. His poems were found among his papers and edited by friends. The volume also included extracts from his religious diary. (“Memoir of the Author,” Poems, and Other Pieces, Written at an Early Age [1818], 3-8; ancestry.co.uk 11 May 2022; findmypast.co.uk 11 May 2022) AA