Harold H. Holden was a watercolour painter, etcher and teacher, born in Settle, Yorkshire. He was the father of three artists: Geoffrey H Holden, John Hamilton Holdon and Douglass Hamilton Holden. He studied at Skipton School of Art, Leeds College of Art and the Royal College of Art after initial lessons near his home in Settle. Holden exhibited at the R.A. R.B.S.A. R.W.S. and abroad. He became art department head at Leeds Modern School in 1910; principal of Cheltenham School of Arts and Crafts, 1914; principal of Leeds College of Art, 1922; director of art education and principal of the College of Arts and Crafts, Birmingham, 1928-46; president of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (R.B.S.A.), 1954–1955. By September 1964, he was living with his fourth son, Rupert, a civil engineer in Westbury-on-Trym, and was made an honorary member of the R.B.S.A. His pupils included Percy Shakespeare and Norman Neasom. Leeds City Art Gallery, among others, hold his work.
