He was the son of Jacob van Holst Pellekaan and Dorine Ritmeester and was born on May 11, 1880 at Tegal on the island of Java. In 1884 his mother returned to Holland for medical treatment and took him and his brother with her to live in The Hague. It was the custom of those engaged in work in the colonies to have their children educated at home in Holland and when their mother joined her husband, she left the two boys to be cared for by friends in Leiden where they attended the elementary schools and the first part of secondary school. After this William entered a preparatory school for military officers at Alkmaar and on completing this training, he entered the Military College at Breda and was graduated with a commission in 1901.

 

In 1902 he entered the Colonial Indian Army of the Netherlands East Indies and he served in North Sumatra until 1908, carting customary duties of an officer of the Colonial Army. On some of his missions he penetrated parts of the jungle never reached by a European and often this sort of duty involved him in fighting with hostile natives, some of whom were fanatics. On one occasion, while unarmed and writing is his temporary headquarters, he sent his orderly for a cup of coffee and as the soldier disappeared a native who had been awaiting this opportunity sprang from his hiding place and attacked him with a bolo. Fortunately, the orderly was not out of hearing and, hastily returning, he shot the intruder and van Holst escaped death though severely wounded. On another occasion he was fired on from ambush but again he escaped though with severe wounds in the chest and scalp.

 

At various times he was in command of troops detailed to protect geological parties of the Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij from unfriendly natives and in his way, he became acquainted with geologists and acquired a great interest in the work they were doing.

 

In the year 1908 he was sent to the Island of Nias where fighting was going on and during a serious encounter, he was so severely wounded by a bolo cut in the thigh that he was incapacitated for many months. The wound was badly effected and the surgeons finally informed him that to save his life they would have to amputate the leg. He refused the operation and eventually recovered though only after 6 months in the hospital. Those who recall something of surgical methods before the first World War can imagine the intolerable suffering that van Holst endured during the dressing and treatment of such wound.

 

On his recovery he was declared to be physically unfit for a further army service and was discharged from the army and returned to Holland. In Holland, he was fortunate enough to find a surgeon who was willing to undertake to repair the muscles of his leg and actually succeeded to a degree that in after years van Holst was able to walk fairly well and only a few people ever suspected that he had has a a serious accident.

 

With the ending of his military career he decided to take up the study of geology and in 1911 he entered the University of Zurich. Here he completed the requirements for the doctorate geology. His thesis, “The Geology of the Mountain Group of Pioz Scopi, Switzerland” gave the results of his studies of metamorphic rocks and attracted some favorable attention at the time. For example. Harker refers to this work in his book on Metamorphism.

 

In 1913 he entered the service of the Royal Dutch Shell Company and was first sent to Sumatra and Java where he continued to work until the latter part of 1917, when he was returned to Holland and engaged in work at the head office of the company in The Hague. Late in 1918 he was sent out again, this time to the Shell Company of California. Here he served as Chief Geologyst until July 1922. His work in California was interrupted by an 8-month trip to Peru in 1920 and by a 6-month expedition to Equadoir in 1921.

 

After a brief vacation in Holland, he returned to the United States in September 1922 as Chief Geologist of the Roxana Petroleum Company (later Shell Petroleum Corporation) with headquarters in St. Louis. This position he held until April 1928, when he was appointed as vice president of the Shell Petroleum Company in charge of exploration. On December 31, 1938, he retired from company work and after a few months went to California and made his home in Beverly Hills where he lived to the time of his death.

 

Many the senior members of the Shell geological staff worked directly under him at one time or another and all these men will remember well the diligent manner in exploration problems there seem to be no limit to his work power. When field work was delayed by heavy rain, snow, or other causes, the party usually took the opportunity of relaxing. It would finally be noticed that “Doc” had quietly disappeared, and he could usually be found in his room working in his reports or searching literature for facts which might aid him in understanding the region in which he was working.

 

As is common with most well-educated men of his nationality he could easily read and speak German, French and English as well as Dutch. In addition, he spoke Malay and during his journeys in South America he learned to speak and read Spanish.