Bolland, William, Sir (1772 -1840)

Sir William Bolland was the eldest son of James Bolland of Cheapside. He was educated at Reading School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took his B.A. in 1794 and M.A. in 1796 and won the Seatonian Prize in 1798 and 1799, and the Norrisian Prize in 1809. He was called to the bar in 1801, became Recorder of Reading in 1817, and a Baron of the Exchequer in 1829, resigning because of ill health in 1839. A distinguished book collector, it was at a dinner at his house that the Roxburghe Club was formed, and its first publication was his gift. He married, in 1810, his cousin Elizabeth, third daughter of John Bolland of Clapham, whereupon he seems to have assumed the arms that had been granted to his father in law. His books were sold by R. H., T. and C. Evans of 93 Pall Mall, London 18 November 1840, fetching more than £3,000.