Holland House set

Holland House, a grand Jacobean mansion in Kensington built c.1605, was home to the Holland House set, which centred on its residents, Henry Richard Fox, 3rd Baron Holland and his wife Elizabeth Vassall Fox, Lady Holland. From 1797, until the death of Lady Holland in 1840, which had been closely preceded by the death of the Baron, the Holland's hosted an extraordinary group of politicians, writers, poets, historians and doctors- brought in to combat the Baron's extreme hypochondria. Membership of the set required a certain amount of talent and aristocratic breeding, and it became home to the key British and foreign intellectuals of the day, who gathered to dine and discuss history, literature and politics. With no strict religious agenda, the most common bond and topic of conversation at the evenings was often Whiggist politics and developments in government. The set was celebrated, long after its end, as Britain's closest thing to a continental salon, representing a strong political and social force.