On 6 March 1764, Holland was appointed Surveyor-General of North America. On 23 March, he received instructions to survey all British possessions north of the Potomac River, which included St. John's Island, the Magdalen Islands, and Cape Breton Island, because of their importance for the fisheries. Holland arrived in October 1764 on Isle Saint-Jean (now Prince Edward Island)), whose territory was ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Paris (1763). The task of mapping the island lasted two years. Holland's survey divided the island into a series of townships known as "lots", parishes, counties, and "royalties" (shire towns) in advance of a feudal land system which was established on the island over the following century. Holland was later given a parcel of land on the St. John's Island, Lot 28, settled by farmers. Holland charged very little as an absentee landlord. In 1767, he proposed that British explorers look for a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, but his proposal was never taken into great consideration. In 1791 he became the Surveyor-General of Lower Canada and Upper Canada and was replaced with Sir David William Smith, 1st Baronet in 1792. Personal life Holland had begun living in Quebec as early as 1762 with then 21-year-old Marie-Joseph Rollet. Their first son, John Frederick, was born in what is now Prince Edward Island. Although his separation from Gertrude Hasse had been amicable, he still paid her an annual allowance between 1756 and 1780. In 1784, Hasse unsuccessfully petitioned the British government to force him to renew payments. In about 1772, Holland's marriage to Marie-Joseph Rollet was contracted as legal. The couple would eventually establish a family of ten children. Holland died at Quebec, Lower Canada, in 1801 and buried in a private cemetery on his Holland House estate or Holland Farm. This estate has since been re-developed. Honours Holland College, a community college system in Prince Edward Island, is named for Samuel Holland, whose descendants operate Samuel's, a chain of coffee houses in the province. The Captain Samuel Holland rose, developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, was named in his honour. The Holland River, in Ontario, which drains about 20,000 acres of the Holland Marsh into Lake Simcoe is named after him, as well as the community of Holland Landing, Ontario. Samuel Holland Park and Holland Avenue in Quebec City are the only reminders of his Holland House