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Sussex Holliers

The distribution of Hollier events in Sussex, both in time and geography, does not give a clear picture at all. This is partly caused by the rather limited coverage in the IGI and from parish registers. Since none of the these families have descendants in modern times, they have not been the focus of much research.

To the east of the county at Hooe there was a family over many centuries that probably had links to the Kent Holyers. There is an early family at Tortington in the late 16th century (using the Hollyer spelling if you believe the IGI). In the mid to late 17th century there is a family at Petworth, although these records may be mistranscriptions of Hellier. There were also Holliers at Chichester and may well have been related. David Hollier married Elizabeth Grout in 1780 in Chichester and had a family of 4 at Aldingbourne, Chichester and Funtington. William Hollier, a Carpenter, married Agnes Woolfrass at New Fishbourne in 1804 and had a family of 7 at Chichester. William may be a son of David. Their eldest son William had his own family at Dorking in Surrey and the last survived to 1926. There seems to be no link between these Chichester families and Till Hollier from the Isle of Wight who was a Customs Officer there in the mid 18th century. There are other coincidences. The family at Dorking seems to have no connection with a Hollier family at Dorking in the late 17th and early 18th century.

To add to the confusion, there is a Hollier's Hill at Bexhill which may be connected with the Hooe Hollyers. Finally I have come across a 1606 marriage record at Chichester of a Sir John Hollier of Arundel.