John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter (c. 1352 – 16 January 1400) also 1st Earl of Huntingdon, was an English nobleman, a half-brother of King Richard II (1377–1399), to whom he remained strongly loyal. He is primarily remembered for being suspected of assisting in the downfall of King Richard's uncle Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (1355–1397) (youngest son of King Edward III) and then for conspiring against King Richard's first cousin and eventual deposer, Henry Bolingbroke, later King Henry IV (1399–1413). He was the third son of Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of
Pontefract ballads make specific reference to the village of Wentbridge, which is an outlying village of the modern town of Pontefract. In addition, Michael Drayton's "Poly-Olbion" Song 28 (67–70) composed in 1622 speaks of Robin Hood's death and clearly states that the outlaw died at Saxon 'Kirkby', modern Pontefract. The historian S. A. La' Chance proposes that Robin Hood died at Saint Nicholas's hospital, Kirkby, which was attached to All Saints' Church. In commemoration of Wakefield's connections to Robin Hood, a plaque has been placed on the bridge that crosses the River Went. In Elizabethan times the castle, and Pontefract itself,