Robert Hollond

Robert Hollond
from a painting by John Hollins
Born	5 January 1808 London
Died	1877 Paris
Resting place	Great Stanmore
Residence	Stanmore Hall
Nationality	English
Education	Corpus Christi
Occupation	Politician
Known for	Balloonist
Spouse(s)	Ellen Julia Hollond
Parent(s)	William and Harriet Hollond

Robert Hollond (1808–1877) was an English balloonist and politician. He funded and then took part in establishing a distance ballooning record with Thomas Monck Mason and Charles Green. He later served as a Whig politician representing the constituency of Hastings.

Hollond was born in 1808 to William Hollond who was a wealthy civil sevant in Bengal. Hollond studied law at Corpus Christ College in Cambridge and despite his enthusiasm for ballooning he had become a lawyer by 1834. Hollond channelled his ballooning interest into funding a record balloon attempt in 1836 by the experienced aeronaut, Charles Green. Charles Green, a professional balloonist and aeronaut planned the record attempt which set out from Vauxhall Gardens in London on 7 November 1836 at 1:30 p.m. Hollond, Green and Thomas Monck Mason travelled 500 miles in eighteen hours.

In 1836, Thomas Monck Mason wrote an Account of the Late æronautical Expedition from London to Weilburg which detailed the journey. This book was dedicated to Hollond.

The commemorative painting (illustration, left) that shows a consultation before the journey is by John Hollins who later became an Associate of the Royal Academy. The painting portrays, from left to right, Walter Prideaux a lawyer friend, John Hollins who painted the portraits, William Milbourne James, later Lord Chief Justice, Charles Green the balloonist, Thomas Monck Mason, the other passenger, and Hollond at the centre.

Besides the painting and the book, the humorous poet Thomas Hood also wrote a comic poem to celebrate the epic journey to Nassau. The Ode to Messrs Green, Hollond and Monck on their late Balloon Adventure, includes the following lines