Robert de Holland, 1st Baron Holand
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Robert de Holland, 1st Baron Holand was born in Lancashire, England in 1270. At some point before 1312 he married Maude la Zouche. She was daughter of Lord Alan de la Zouche of Ashby and Eleanor de Segrave. In 1328 he was beheaded in Essex. His body was sent to Lancashire to be buried.
He was a favorite of Thomas Plantagenet, 2nd Earl of Lancaster and knighted in 1307. He served him by suppressing the rising of Adam Banastre. From 1314 to 1321 he was called to Parliament. After that his part in the Battle of Boroughbridge was deemed cowardly and led to his disfavor. Although King Edward III of England would later pardon him the partisans of the Earl of Lancaster considered him a traitor and had him executed.[1][2]
He was something of a small player in this era and so might be more noted for being of genealogical interest. This is because he's apparently an ancestor to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Louis XVI, and Winston Churchill. He also has connections to the royal line of Medieval Scotland. There is actually some information on his ancestors going back to Mathew de HOLLAND[3], but before then little is known.
