He was born in St. George, Middlesex, a son of Sir Henry Holland and Margaret Emma Caldwell.
He went to Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge in 1846, graduating BA in 1850 and MA in 1853.
[1] Ordained in 1851, he was appointed vicar of St Dunstan's, Canterbury (1853–1861) and then minister at the Quebec Chapel, Marylebone (Middlesex) (1861–1883).
His career is also covered by the Barchester Chronicles by Clive Dewey published in London in 1991.
[citation needed] He married Mary Sybilla Lyall in 1855.