Andrew Holland (abt. 1844 - 1923)

Born about 11 Aug 1844 in Bytown, Canada West

Descendants

Died 29 Mar 1923 at about age 78 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Biography

The Hollands had been established in Bytown since arriving from Ireland in 1818.^[1] Holland Avenue, in Ottawa’s west end, is named for the family.^[1] Andrew and his wife, Margaret, lived on Slater Street, between Lyon and Bay, when his son Edward was born, but soon after moved to Cooper Street, just west of Elgin.^[1]

Andrew Holland, and his brother George, were part of an early pioneering family in Ottawa’s history, with fingers in some of its most interesting pies, including the world’s first movie theatre.^[1] They had been newspaper reporters, and by 1873, owned a 50 per cent share in the Ottawa Citizen, with George serving as editor-in-chief and Andrew its business manager.^[1] Two years later, Andrew left the paper when he was hired to record debates in the House of Commons.^[1] A year later, he and his brother were hired to do the same in the Senate. Andrew was also the official reporter for the Supreme Court of Canada.^[1] They also owned a saw mill on Priest Creek, north of Buckingham.^[1]

Around 1888, he bought the Hinton farm on Richmond Road, where he raised Jersey cattle, grew melons and other produce, and maintained a sugar bush.^[1] A couple years later, he and his brother added to their occupation, becoming the Canadian agents for both Edison Phonograph and Smith Premier Typewriter (later adding the British colonies.^[1] This resulted in an 1892 sales trip to Australia with son Edward, and nephew William, where among the proceeds they received was a share in an opal mine.^[1] Deachman writes: "they shipped thousands of dollars worth of the gemstones back to Canada, in rolls of newspapers and glued to cotton batten. One opal, weighing 20 carats, was sold for $500, the equivalent today of almost $14,000, to Tiffany’s in New York."^[1]

With business established in Australia, Andrew and William headed to South Africa, while Edward booked passage back to Canada.^[1]

Thanks to Andrew and George Holland, Ottawa was among the first cities in the world to witness motion pictures, with Edison Company's kinetoscope, an early motion picture machine.^[2] Andrew Holland, a founding partner of the Kinetoscope Company, opened the world’s first kinetoscope parlour in New York City in April 1894, roughly a year after the machine’s first public showing at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences on 9 May 1893.^[2] The Holland brothers brought the kinetoscope to Canada with exclusive rights in Nov 1894, setting up a machine for public viewing at the Perley building on Sparks Street, Ottawa.^[2] In Jul 1896, the Hollands had an exhibition of the vitascope, a film projector manufactured under licence by the Edison Company, that could cast moving images on a wall or screen.^[2] This first exhibition of the vitascope in Canada was held at the West End Park, an amusement park owned by the Ottawa Electric Rail Company in Hintonburg, then on the outskirts of the city, located on Holland Avenue, which had previously been farmland owned by the duo.^[2]

Occupation: Reporter, Entrepreneur and Farmer

31 Mar 1901, Ottawa (city/cité), Ontario, Canada^[3]

Andrew Holland Head M 56 Ontario

Margaret Holland Wife F 50 Ontario

Rosa Carrie Spittal Daughter F 24 b Ottawa, Carleton, Ontario, Canada, 22 May 1876

Edward James Gibson Holland Son M 23 b Ottawa, Carleton, Ontario, Canada, 02 Feb 1878

George Hibbard Holland Son M 21 b Ottawa, Carleton, Ontario, Canada, 31 Aug 1879

Lewis Harold Holland Son M 19 b Ottawa, Carleton, Ontario, Canada, 16 Dec 1881

Ernest Hudson Holland Son M 17 b Ottawa, Carleton, Ontario, Canada, 16 Aug 1883

Iva Allison Holland Daughter F 15 b Ottawa, Carleton, Ontario, Canada, 04 Sep 1885

Charlotte Edna Caroline Holland Daughter F 13 b Nepean, Carleton, Ontario, Canada, 28 Jun 1887

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12} Bruce Deachman. August 26, 2018. "A war hero and his monkeys: The wild, true-life story of Edward Holland, the only Ottawa-born Victoria Cross recipient". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} James Powell. 2014. "Movie Magic: Andrew Holland." Today in Ottawa's History.
3. ↑ Canada Census, 1901, Ottawa (city/cité), Ontario, Canada; citing p. 10, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa

• Canada Census, 1851, Andrew Holland, Nepean, Carleton County, Canada West (Ontario), Canada; citing p. 133, line 7; Library and Archives Canada film number C_11716, Public Archives, Ontario
• Canada Census, 1871, St Georges Ward, Ottawa, Ontario, Library and Archives Canada
• Canada Census, 1891, Andrew Holland, Nepean, Carleton, Ontario, Canada; Public Archives, Ottawa, Ontario; Library and Archives Canada film number 30953_148132
• Canada Census, 1901, Ottawa (city/cité), Ontario, Canada; citing p. 10, Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/200165032/andrew-m-holland : accessed 10 April 2022), memorial page for Andrew M Holland (11 Aug 1844–29 Mar 1923), Find a Grave Memorial ID 200165032, citing Beechwood Cemetery, Ottawa, Ottawa Municipality, Ontario, Canada ; Maintained by Smithy (contributor 47806284) .