His father, Thomas Holland, a pupil of James Coningham, was ordained in August 1714 as presbyterian minister at Kingsley, Cheshire, and moved to Wem, Shropshire, in 1717.
In the autumn of 1755 he became minister of Bank Street Unitarian Chapel, Bolton, Lancashire, in succession to Thomas Dixon.
In theology, Holland was of the Arian school, influenced by John Seddon of Warrington, who introduced him to the philosophy of Francis Hutcheson.
He took an active part in the movement for the repeal (1779) of the doctrinal subscription required by the Toleration Act; after this date his views became somewhat more heterodox.
(this collection, to which a silhouette likeness is prefixed, includes his separate publications, and was edited by John Holland and William Turner).