The Archives of Samuel J. Holland : A Guide
Collection Number: MS-2-33Fonds-level description created and electronic version prepared by Laurena Fredette, August 2006
Collection Level Description
Title: Samuel J. Holland fonds
Dates: 1747-1748
Extent: 3 cm of textual records
Samuel Johannes Holland, born in 1728 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, was a military officer, politician, and early surveyor of Canada. He began a military career in 1745 with the Dutch Artillery and in 1754 relocated to England where he became a Lieutenant in the Royal Americans. He arrived in North America with the British Army early in 1756 where he created early maps of New York state; worked as an engineer under Brigadier-General James Wolfe during his 1758 attack on Louisbourg; surveyed Louisbourg’s fortifications, town, and surrounding countryside, as well as Halifax and Fort Fredericton, New Brunswick; and where he participated in the 1759 siege of Quebec.
Holland returned briefly to London in 1762 where he submitted a proposal to survey British North America to the Board of Trade. His proposal was accepted two years later and he returned to Quebec where he was appointed the Surveyor General of the Northern District of North America and was named to the Council of Quebec. Between 1764 and 1767 he surveyed Prince Edward Island, Iles de Madeline, and Cape Breton. He then began mapping the north eastern seaboard for the British Army and helped to negotiate provincial and state boundaries in the northeast.
Holland returned to England once again in 1775 and rejoined the British Army. In 1777 he returned to North America as a British aid-de-camp until he was recalled to Quebec in 1778. In 1779 he was named to Quebec’s Legislative Council where he remained until 1792. He continued to act as Surveyor General until 1801 when he relinquished duties to a member of his staff.
Holland was married twice. His marriage to Gertrude Hasse began in 1749 but she remained in the Netherlands when Holland left for England and then North America. The couple had separated by the early 1760’s when Holland married Marie-Joseph Rollet, with whom he had ten children. Holland and his family lived in various locations in British North America, including Louisbourg, Quebec, and New Hampshire. Samuel Holland died in Quebec on 28 December 1801.
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“Holland, Samuel Johannes.”
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. 2000. University of Toronto/Universite Laval. July 6 2006 <http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=36586&query=>.
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This fonds was donated to the Dalhousie College Library by Judge Patterson of New Glasgow around 1926. It was accessioned by the Archives in 1970.
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This fonds consists of a 150 page notebook Holland used in 1747 as an artillery officer in the Dutch army. The notebook is bound in vellum and contains tables, memoranda, mathematical calculations, diagrams, recipes for making gun powder, and assorted notes.
[Identification of item], Samuel J. Holland fonds, MS-2-33, Box [box number], Folder [folder number], Dalhousie University Archives and Special Collections, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
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