Where did Houghton Street get its name? Mhairi Gowans explores the origins of the Holles family who owned the Clare Market area that today forms LSE’s campus. We begin in the 15th century with Thomas Holles, a yeoman from Stoke, and his son William Holles. Apprenticed to a London mercer, William became a landowner with holdings including a Nottinghamshire estate called Houghton Hall.
The Holleses are among the best-known specimens of landed, cultured and political families of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
– D H Pennington, The English Historical Review 1977
After a hundred years of Houghton Street as LSE’s home, it is a name with which any LSE-affiliate is very familiar. Named by the Holles family who owned and developed the area of Clare Market, we explore the origin of the Houghton Street name and the birth of the Holles dynasty.
The earliest known ancestor of our Holles family was Thomas Holles. Thomas was a yeoman (middle class farmer) from Stoke who lived during the 15th century. Thomas apprenticed his second son William to a London mercer (a cloth merchant). It was this decision that sowed the seeds of the family’s fortune as William rose through the London ranks. He became the master of the Worshipful Company of Mercers 1528, was knighted in 1533 and elected Lord Mayor of London in 1539.
We have run some time as it were under the ground in obscurity untill Sir William Holles the father (through God’s blessing upon his industry and providence) layd the foundation and groundworke for that greatnes our family is now arrived at.
– Gervase Holles, Memorials of the Holles Family 1493-1656
William bought huge swathes of land across England. By the end of his life, he had land in Essex, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Yorkshire and London. One of these purchases in Nottingham was an estate close to the River Idle called Houghton Hall. William gave all three of his sons a handsome inheritance on his passing in 1542, but to his second son, also named William, he gave the main share. The younger William received the Houghton estate, land in Derby, Lincoln and Essex, as well as lands in the London parishes of St Giles, St Pancras, Kentish Town and St Clement Danes.
The Mannour or messuage called Clements Inne, 40 messuages, 20 cottages, 20 tofts, one mill, one dovehouse, 60 gardens, 60 orchards, 60 acres of meadow, 100 acres of pasture, 10 acres of wood and 50 rentes in St Clements Danes without Temple.
– Gervase Holles, Memorials of the Holles Family 1493-1656, 1937
This second William had little interest in the pursuit of political power in London. Out of his father’s estates, it was Houghton that William chose as his home and there he enjoyed a comfortable existence. Descendent and family historian Gervase Holles said that William began his Christmas at Halloween and kept it through to Candlemas on 2 February. During this time any man was free to stay without being asked who he was or where he was from. According to his friend Sir Percival Willoughby, William was “the wonder of this country for a settled house and constant hospitality.”
He was of so noble a Nature and of so good a Disposition, that even to these days (amongst the Country People) he is mentioned by the Addition of good Sir William, and the good Lord of Haughton.
– Arthur Collins, Historical Collections of the Noble Families of Cavendishe, Holles, Vere, Harley and Ogle
Using the memories of older family members, Gervase Holles described William as short, ruddy and of good constitution with a love for walking. William was also remembered for being benevolent to servants, with some able to make their own fortunes through his support. Aside from his wife’s inheritance, he did not further expand his empire. He believed that “good Deeds were the best good Husbandry, and that the Honour of living nobly, and to the Benefit of others, was the best Improvement he could make of his private fortune.”
He was happy in his bed, happy in his children, and happy in his neighbours, being beloved and honoured of all whilst he lived.
– Gervase Holles, Memorials of the Holles Family 1493-1656, 1937
His son, Denzil, was of a different character. While William had been a devout Catholic, attending his chapel twice a day, Denzil was a renowned philanderer. Denzil’s home was on family estates in Irby, Lincolnshire, where a local rhyme at the time began “Holles hits in every hole”. As remembered by family members, he was broad-chested and strong limbed and could be both witty and stern.
His proficiency in the art of love made his neighbours tremble for their wives, and though his own wife bore him many children his affections over-flowed in a succession of ambiguous relationships.
– Alexander Thomson, The Holles Family, The Journal of Modern History, Vol 8, No 2 (Jun, 1936), pp 145-172
Perhaps due to his more libertine lifestyle, Denzil found himself suffering badly from gout. He died at 52 years of age, just nine months ahead of his father in 1590. The Holles legacy then went to his son John – a man who would come to be the first Earl of Clare.
- Note on spelling: Traditionally Houghton Hall was known under the spelling of Haughton. The exact spelling of names fluctuates over time and so, for consistency, we have used the spelling Houghton, as it is used for our street on campus, except when using exact quotes from a historical source.
