Philemon Holland

Philemon Holland
Philemon Holland, aged 80. An engraving by William Marshall, from a drawing by Henry Holland, Philemon's son, published in Philemon's translation of Xenophon's Cyrupaedia (1632).
Born	1552 Chelmsford, Essex
Died	9 February 1637(1637-02-09) (aged 84–85) Coventry
Spouse(s)	Anne Bott
Children	Abraham Holland Henry Holland Compton Holland William Holland six other children including two unmarried daughters
Parent(s)	John Holland, mother's name unknown

Philemon Holland (1552 – 9 February 1637) was an English schoolmaster, physician, and translator. He is known for having produced the first English translations of works by Livy, Pliny the Elder, and Plutarch, and for his translation of William Camden's Britannia.

Philemon Holland, born at Chelmsford, Essex, in 1552, was the son of John Holland (d.1578), a member of the same Norfolk family as John Holland, 1st Baron Holland (1603–1701). The Norfolk branch claimed kinship with the Hollands of Up Holland, Lancashire, but this is questionable. Holland's grandfather, Edward Holland, was of Glassthorpe, Northamptonshire. Holland's father, John Holland, was one of the Marian exiles with Miles Coverdale during the reign of Mary I, when Catholicism was reestablished. After the accession of Elizabeth I in November 1558 he returned to England, and in 1559 was ordained by Bishop Edmund Grindal. He was appointed rector of Great Dunmow, Essex, on 26 September 1564, where he died in 1578.

Philemon Holland was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford, before going on to Trinity College, Cambridge about 1568, where he was tutored by John Whitgift, later Archbishop of Canterbury. Holland received a BA in 1571, and was elected a minor Fellow at Trinity on 28 September 1573 and a major Fellow on 3 April 1574. His fellowship was terminated when he married in 1579.