James Holloway

James Holloway was an English merchant from Bristol, also known as a conspirator of the Rye House Plot.

Initially apprenticed to Walter Stephens, a Bristol linen draper, Holloway soon started to trade on his own account and established business dealings with the West Indies. After the import of French linens was forbidden, he decided to adapt by developing a plan for the improvement of English linen manufacture. He invested in business in Warwickshire which employed some hundreds of workers. Unfortunately, as the French textile continued to be imported despite the prohibition his business eventually failed. In 1679 he proposed the same plan to the Bristol city offering to employ only the Bristol citizens.

In 1682 Holloway was actively engaged in preparations for a plot against the government, better known as the Rye House Plot. When he discovered that the conspiracy was exposed, he fled to West Indies but there he was betrayed and sent home in chains. He was imprisoned and executed soon after his arrival.