HOLBROOK, JOHN (d. 1437), master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, was a native of Suffolk. He was educated at Peterhouse, of which he became a fellow in 1412; during the same year took holy orders, receiving ordination as priest in 1413. In 1418, being then D.D., he was elected master of Peterhouse. His signature is appended to an indenture made on 12 Feb. 9 Hen. VI (1431) between the college and John Wassyngle, mason, of Hinton, Cambridgeshire, for building a library at Peterhouse (Willis and Clark, Architect. Hist. of Univ. of Cambr. i. 10). In 1421 he was presented by Henry V to the rectory of South Repps, Norfolk, and held it until his death (Blomefield, Norfolk, 8vo edit. viii. 154). He was also appointed chaplain to Henry V and Henry VI successively. In 1428 he was chosen chancellor of the university, and again in 1429, when he continued in office until 1431. During his chancellorship in 1430 the memorable dispute concerning ecclesiastical jurisdiction, known as the ‘Barnwell Process,’ arose between Philip Morgan, bishop of Ely, and the university (Bentham, Church of Ely, p. 168; Mullinger, Univ. of Cambr. i. 289). In 1431 he resigned the mastership of Peterhouse, having been instituted the year before to the college vicarage of Hinton. He died on 12 July 1437, and was buried in the chancel of St. Mary the Less, Cambridge (the old college chapel of Peterhouse). In 1446 his executors, according to the instructions contained in his will, made the pavement of the choir and the desks in St. Mary the Less (Willis and Clark, i. 58). Holbrook was reputed a great mathematician, and, according to Leland, was author of: 1. ‘Tabellæ mediorum motuum,’ also called ‘Tabulæ Cantabrigienses,’ and extant in Egerton MS. 889 in the British Museum; a part of the preface exists in Bodl. MS. 300, f. 132 b. 2. ‘De reductione tabularum Alphonsi ad annos Christi menses, dies, et horas,’ which Tanner says is ascribed to Holbrook in Norwicensis More MS. 820. The Egerton MS. also contains: 3. ‘Tabulæ aliæ’ and 4. ‘Ars inveniendi figuram concepcionis nati,’ which are there ascribed to Holbrook. Pits likewise ascribes to Holbrook. 5. ‘Canones astronomici,’ which he says are in the Bodleian Library. The Egerton MS. is partly in Holbrook's handwriting, and was presented by him to Peterhouse; he also gave another manuscript to his college containing a translation in Latin of Abu Hasen Aly Aben Ragel, ‘De Judiciis Stellarum,’ which is now at Corpus Christi College, Oxford (MS. cli.; Coxe, Cat. Cod. MSS. Coll. Oxon.) His portrait is in Peterhouse combination room (Willis and Clark, i. 65).
[Tanner's Bibl. Brit. p. 406; Addit. (Cole) MS. 5871, f. 206; Carter's Univ. of Cambr. pp. 24, 26; Graduati Cantabr. (Luard, 1884), pp. 597, 635; Halliwell-Phillipps's Codex Holbrookianus; Mullinger's Univ. of Cambr. i. 609 n.]
HOLBURNE, FRANCIS (1704–1771), admiral, second son of Sir James Holburne of Menstrie, co. Edinburgh, first baronet, entered the navy in 1720 as a volunteer on board the St. Albans; passed his examination on 28 Jan. 1725–6; on 12 Dec. 1727 was promoted to be lieutenant, and took post from 14 July 1739. In 1740 he commanded the Dolphin frigate in the Channel and North Sea. In 1745–6 he commanded the Argyle in the West Indies, and in December 1747 was appointed to the Kent in the Channel and the Bay of Biscay. In September 1748 he exchanged into the Bristol, but was almost immediately afterwards moved into the Tavistock, a worn-out 50-gun ship, in which he was sent to the Leeward Islands as commodore and commander-in-chief. His principal work was diplomatic rather than naval. By the terms of the treaty of 1684 Tobago was neutralised; but early in 1749 it came to Holburne's knowledge that M. de Caylus, the governor of Martinique, had established a fortified post there. As his whole squadron consisted of one rotten ship of 50 guns and two equally rotten 20-gun frigates, it was impossible for him to prevent this by force. He knew that de Caylus, who was a naval officer, was aware of this; but upon Holburne's remonstrances the fortifications were dismantled and the garrison withdrawn. Holburne returned to England in 1752. On 5 Feb. 1755 he was promoted to be rear-admiral of the blue, and in the following May, with his flag in the Terrible, he sailed with a strong squadron to reinforce Boscawen, whom he met off Louisbourg on 21 June, and with whom he returned to England in November [see Boscawen, Edward, 1711–1761]. In 1756, with his flag still in the Terrible, he commanded in the third post in the fleet under Hawke or Boscawen off Brest and in the Bay of Biscay, and in the following January sat as a member of the court-martial on Admiral Byng. On 24 Feb. 1757 he was promoted to be vice-admiral of the blue, and after many delays sailed from Cork on 7 May with a fleet of ships of war and transports intended for the reduction of Louisbourg, which had been restored to the French by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. It was not, however, till 9 July that the expedition reached Halifax; the French had taken advantage of the delay to strengthen the garrison and collect a numerous fleet, and Holburne, in consultation with
