Robert Hollond

Robert Hollond (1808–1877) was an English balloon and politician. He financed and then participated in setting a record for remote flight with Thomas Monk Mason and Charles Green. He later served as a Whig politician representing the Hastings constituency. Hollond was born in 1808 from William Hollond, who was a wealthy civil servant in Bengal. Hollond studied law at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, and despite his enthusiasm for balloons, he became a lawyer by 1834. Hollond directed his soaring interest in financing the record-breaking aerostat attempt in 1836 by experienced aeronaut Charles Green. Charles Green, a professional aerostat and aeronaut, planned a record attempt, which was sent from Voxhall Gardens in London on November 7, 1836 at 13:30. Hollond, Green, and Thomas Monk Mason drove 500 miles in eighteen hours. In 1836, Thomas Monk Mason wrote a Report on the Late Air Navigation Expedition from London to Weilburg, which described the journey in detail. This book was dedicated to Hollond. The commemorative picture (pictured on the left), which shows the consultation before the trip, was painted by John Hollins, who later became an employee of the Royal Academy. The picture from left to right depicts the friend of lawyer Walter Prido, John Hollins, who painted portraits, William Milbourne James, later Lord Justice, Charlist Charles Green, another passenger Thomas Monk Mason and Hollond in the center.