The Rev George Holden, Incumbent of Pilling 1758-1767
by Hugh Sherdley
Over the arched doorway of the "Old" Church of St John the Baptist at Pilling is a keystone with the date 1717; on the wall above this is a square sundial on the upper edge
of which is a small inscribed figure of a clerk in holy orders and the text, 'Thus Eternity Approacheth. G. Holden 1766'.
George Holden was born in 1720, probably at Dale Head in the parish of Slaidburn in the county of Yorkshire, though his baptism is not recorded there. In 1750 when he was 30 years of age he was appointed second master at Bentham Free Grammar School and in that year he married Jane, the daughter of Marmaduke and Alice Brooks of High Bentham.
On the 11 May 1758 he was nominated perpetual curate to the ancient parochial chapelry of St John the Baptist, Pilling. George Holden was an eminent scholar and a very able mathematician and was one of the early calculators of tide tables being responsible for an annual publication 'Holden's Tide Tables' for which he received a government grant.
The Rev James Pearson, Vicar of Fleetwood in his book 'Treatise on the Tides' (1881) states: 'The Tide Tables first put into circulation for the port of Liverpool were those originated by the Rev George Holden, of which, he tells us, the theory was supplied by his brother, the arithmetical calculations by himself. These tables were first issued in 1770, and contained the times of high water, but not the heights. He remarks in his introductory address, "the heights, I am persuaded may be as truly computed as the times, but I cannot insert them for want of having some equations truly determined". Subsequently, however, the heights were inserted and the diurnal inequality allowed for, but the principles of the method have never been published. Hence, the method cannot be criticized, but the results shew one of two things - either a mistake in the principles, or the omission of some element in the calculations; since, although in general they are sufficiently accurate, in certain instances they are affected by a persistent series of errors'.
In 1767 George Holden resigned the curacy of Pilling and was appointed to the perpetual curacy of the little chapel of Tatham Fell in the parish of Tatham, where he lived at a place called 'the Green', which at that time belonged to the chapel. He had seven children, three of which were baptized at Pilling, Hannah in 1760, Elizabeth in 1762, and Jane, who subsequently married Daniel Elletson of London, in 1765. Local tradition at Tatham Fell says that the Rev George Holden was a little hump-backed man, with one arm shorter than the other. He died in May 1793 and was buried at Bentham, where a monument was erected to his memory bearing the following inscription:
This monument, described as consisting of three black slabs, with white stone divisions, with white marble rim is no longer to be seen in Bentham church. Apparently, it was removed when the church was rebuilt in the 19th century and not replaced.
His will was proved at Lancaster on the 11th of June 1793. To his eldest, and only son George he bequeathed his estate 'called by the name of the Birch Hill, situate, and lying and being in Easington Dale, in the Parish of Slateburn and County of York'. Also to George he left 'my three bookcases with all my Latin and Greek Books, my Mathematical Books either printed or in manuscript, my Hadley's Quadrant, Sector and Scales, and all the Books and Instruments useful in Navigation, and I also further give unto my son George Holden all my Books, Papers and Instruments used in calculating the Liverpool Tide Tables upon condition that he will give unto my Daughter Alice Holden all the profits of the Tide Tables for the first two years after my Decease'.
To Alice, who was unmarried, he gave 'all that my estate situate, lying and being in Upper Bentham consisting of Five Dwelling House, one Barn, Stable and Cow House with two Crofts, and all the Gardens thereunto belonging with all the Rights, privileges, and appurtenances to the same'. Alice was also to have his 'writing Desk, Silver Pint, and my best Feather Bed, and Bedding suitable to make up a decent Bed'.
All his children, with the exception of George, were to have cash legacies of varying amounts, depending on how much money he had given them during his lifetime.
He also gave 'all my other books in English and French, and all my Maps, to my three daughters Hannah, Catharine and Alice with a desire that they will not sell them but divide them among themselves as equally as may be by laying them in parcels, and then chusing, each, one parcel by lot'.
The Rev George Holden's son, George, was also ordained about the year 1781. He was appointed to the mastership of the Free Grammar School at Horton in Ribblesdale and on the 21st of May 1798 he was installed as Vicar of Horton, of which church he owned the advowson. He succeeded his father to the perpetual curacy of Tatham Fell, which he held until his death, continuing, however, to live at Horton, where he died in December 1820.
Sources
Treatise on the Tides, Rev J Pearson (1881).
Lancashire Record Office.
History of Garstang, H Fishwick (1878-79).
Rev D Weston, Vicar of Pilling.