Death of Mr.T.H.Holding J.P. - obituary from the Fulham Chronicle, dated November 28, 1930

Thomas Hiram Holding wasn't just any tailor; he is widely considered the "father of modern camping" for his work in inventing lightweight equipment and founding the first camping clubs.

Below is the full transcript of the obituary from the Fulham Chronicle, dated November 28, 1930.

MR. T. H. HOLDING, J.P.

Cyclist, Yachtsman, and Free Churchman.

By the death of Mr. Thomas Hiram Holding, J.P., Fulham has lost a man who, during more than half a century's residence in the borough, won esteem and respect, particularly for his work in connection with local Free Churches.

Mr. Holding died in his 86th year at his home, 6 Fulham Park-gardens, on Thursday, last week. The end came peacefully and was not entirely unexpected, for since 1926, when he had a slight stroke, he had been in failing health. His memory began to fail, and five weeks ago he was forced to take to his bed.

Mr. Holding was born at Steele, Shropshire. In his boyhood days he was taken by his parents to America, but the family afterwards returned to England. His father, Mr. Daniel Holding, was a tailor, and it was natural that he should follow the same business. He became proprietor of an establishment in Maddox Street, which he carried on until his retirement about the war period. He was well-known in the trade as editor and proprietor of the London Tailor.

Mr. Holding’s connection with Fulham dated from the early ‘eighties. He was a Progressive, and at one time was prominently associated with the Fulham Liberal Association. He was one of the original members of the West Kensington Congregational Church, and when the proposal was made to build a new church at Fulham Palace-road, he became interested in it. When Palace Road Congregational Church was erected he was one of the first members and an active worker. He inaugurated the Children's Morning Service in 1909 and conducted it personally until 1919. The Service is as successful to-day as ever it was, and has been of inestimable value to the church. Mr. Holding was also deeply interested in the Brotherhood Movement and had addressed meetings all over London, including those at Dawes Road P.S.A. He had been a Justice of the Peace for London since 1915, serving on the Kensington Bench.

An Open-Air Man.

Essentially an open-air man, Mr. Holding had been extremely fond all his life of cycling, sailing, and at one time canoeing (he was an early member of the British Canoe Association). In connection with cycling he was widely known throughout the country as the man who first suggested the formation of a touring club for cyclists, the members of which could tour in groups for self-protection and which could receive and distribute information as to roads, dangerous hills, and suitable hotels.

He made his suggestion in a letter to the Bicycling News on June 30, 1876, and although he was not actually the founder of the Cyclists’ Touring Club, which came into being two years later, he actively assisted in its formation. He was at the time living in Sunderland, where he founded the Sunderland Cycling Club. Writing in Cycling in 1928, Mr. S. A. Cotterell (founder of the Cyclists’ T.C.), stated:

"Thereupon (after the meeting which inaugurated the club), at Holding’s suggestion, we went back together to Sunderland, had a little boating adventure, in which I got nearly drowned with his young son, and, after a few days, I was enabled to leave for the south with a draft set of rules (for the new club), which I imagined would pass muster with the most fastidious."

Mr. Holding was one of the first vice-presidents of the club, and in 1880-1881 he was the president and chairman. In 1899 the club created him an honorary life member. His plan of local inspectors or consuls, a central bureau of information, and officially appointed hotels, has ever since been the main system of the C.T.C., but has served as a model for the Touring Club de France and all the great cycling and motoring associations since formed.

Ingenious Inventions.

He also suggested the possibility of travelling independent of hotels, and began to carry his own camping materials. Gradually he found ways of lightening the kit, and his many ingenious inventions (most of which he eventually manufactured at his tailoring establishment in Maddox Street), did much to promote lightweight camping. The jubilee celebrations of the C.T.C. were held two years ago, but Mr. Holding’s health would not permit him to be present at the banquet at which speeches were given by Lord Birkenhead and Sir John Foster Fraser.

Mr. Holding had seen the development of the cycle from the "boneshaker" days of wooden wheels and iron tyres, and in common with fellow "velocipedists" had, in his early days suffered from the condition of the roads, which were almost entirely neglected between the coming of the railways and the passing of the Highway Amendment Act in 1878. He also encountered hostility from local inhabitants, and was often ill-received at the wayside inns, many of which had long ceased catering for road travellers.

He founded in 1901 the Association of Cycle Campers, which later became absorbed by the Camping Club of Great Britain and Ireland, of which he was vice-president until his death.

Not the least of Mr. Holding’s interests was yachting. The Easter before his illness, when he was 81, he spent a yachting holiday. He was a member of the Ranelagh Yacht Club, and his yacht "Severn" had won many races on the Thames.

He married in 1869 the daughter of Mr. W. Darlington, of Shropshire. Mrs. Holding died in 1917. Two sons and a daughter are left to mourn the loss of their revered father.

THE FUNERAL.

The funeral service was conducted at 6 Fulham Park Gardens, on Saturday, by the Rev. Alan Balding (minister of the Palace Road Congregational Church). In accordance with a wish of the late Mr. Holding only members of the family were present. They were Mr. E. T. Holding (son), Mr. F. Holding (son), Mr. and Mrs. Packford Clarke (son-in-law and daughter), and Miss W. Holding (grand-daughter).

The body was afterwards cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. There were no flowers by request. Messrs. E. B. Ashton and Co., of 317 Fulham Road, arranged the funeral.