Biography of Mary Anne Holden (1783-1840) and Robert Holden (1769-1844)
Mary Anne Drury Lowe was the only child of William Drury (1753-1827), who assumed the name of Lowe by Royal Sign Manual dated 10 July 1790.
When she announced her intention of marrying Captain Robert Holden, her father reluctantly agreed to a wedding in the future. Mary Anne was unwilling to wait, and on 25 August 1800 she climbed out of an upstairs window and eloped to Gretna Green with him. They were married at Gretna the following day, and were formally married at Spondon on 31 August.
Robert Holden was the son of Robert Holden of Newark and Darley Abbey. He matriculated at Christ Church College, Oxford, in 1787 and received his B.A. in 1791. He was an officer in the volunteers, serving as a Captain in the Nottinghamshire Regiment of Militia and the Derbyshire Yeomanry Cavalry, and Commandant of the Trent and Derwent Loyal United Volunteers.
Robert inherited Darley Abbey in Derbyshire in 1808, and in 1819 he purchased the Nuthall Temple estate in Nottinghamshire, which became the family home. He was a J.P. for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, and served as High Sheriff for the county in 1813. In 1827 Robert inherited the Denby and Locko estates of his father-in-law.
He managed these estates for the remainder of his life, but Robert and Mary Anne did not actually occupy Locko as they were outlived by her mother Anne Drury Lowe (d 1848).
Family
Mary Anne Drury Lowe married in 1800 Robert Holden of Darley Abbey and Nuthall Temple (1769-1844), and had:
- Mary Anne (1801-), m 1823 Francis Bradshaw esquire of Barton Park, Derbyshire (d 1882)
- William Drury Holden (1802-1877), known as William Drury Lowe from 1849, inherited the Locko estate
- Sophia (1803-1890), m 1825 Rev. Hon. Alfred Curzon (d 1850), Rector of Kedleston, 2nd son of Nathaniel, 2nd Baron Scarsdale
- Robert (1805-1872), inherited the Nuthall Temple and other Holden estates
- Catherine (1806-1892), m 1829 John Sherwin Sherwin (1803-1869), who assumed surname Gregory in 1860, of Bramcote Hills and Harlaxton
- Atkinson Alexander (1808-1882), Rector of Hawton 1866-73, inherited the Nuthall Temple and other Holden estates, m 1841 Emma (d 1878), dau. of Col. William Legh Clowes of Broughton Hall, Lancashire
- Charles (1810-1859), Col. of 51st Light Infantry, m 1857 Rebecca Sheppard, dau. of David Muckle (d 1877)
- Frances Maria (1812-1885), m 1833 Major John Bainbrigge Story of Lockington, Leicestershire
- Augusta (1814-1883), m 1835 George Vandleur (d 1884) of Ballynamona, co. Limerick
- Millington Warren (1816-1829)
- Caroline (1819-1889), m 1839 Rev. George Thomas Hutton (d 1878), Rector of Gate Burton, Lincolnshire
- Emily Mary (1821-1913), m 1886 James Thomas Edge (d 1894) of Strelley Hall, Nottinghamshire
- Henry (1823-1900), of Bramcote Hills, Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire 1856-92, m 1850 Isabel (d 1894), dau. of Sir Samuel Cunard, Bt.
Archive Collections
- Title deeds, settlements, estate and legal papers relating to Robert Holden's ownership of his estates are part of the Drury-Lowe papers and the Holden of Nuthall Temple papers, both held in Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham
- The Drury-Lowe papers include correspondence (Dr C 39-47) and journals (Dr F 10-27) of Robert Holden.