Administrative / Biographical History

Holroyd was a surgeon in Manchester in the early nineteenth century. In 1811 he was one of the man midwives at the Manchester Lying-in Hospital. In December 1813, Lavinia Robinson, to whom Holroyd was engaged, disappeared after an argument with Holroyd. A hard frost followed and Robinson's body was discovered in the Irwell in February 1814. An open verdict was returned on her death. Due to popular feeling against him, Holroyd was compelled to leave Manchester shortly afterwards. Holroyd committed suicide by poisoning after trying to drown himself in the canal at Stafford (his death was reported in the Shrewsbury Chronicle on 18 March 1814).