Born on 10 August 1837 at Meilgård manor, Holger was a son of Holger Magarus la Cour (no. 51) and Edele Charlotte la Cour. After starting at the Aarhus lower secondary school in 1845, Holger was enrolled in the grammar school* at the same place in 1848. He was a farm apprentice at Skårupgård manor from 1852 to 1854 and at Rugård manor in 1854-55. After his graduation from the Skårupgård agricultural institute in 1857, he worked as a farm-bailiff*, first at Constantinsborg manor (1857), then Overbjærg farming estate (near Frederikssund, 1858) and, lastly, at Bodal manor (near Sorø) from 1861 to 1864, when he was conscripted. After finishing military training, Holger applied to serve in Captain Aarøe’s Legion and was
accepted as a private. When the Legion was dissolved in August that same year, he was transferred to the 14th Regiment and remained with that unit in Fåborg until 11 November, when he was discharged.
Holger married Caroline Amalie Rudolphine Dornonville de la Cour (née Fensmark) on 6 May 1870 in Farum. Caroline was born on 19 December 1843 in Copenhagen, and her parents were Major-General Johan Henrik Fensmark and Thalia Louise Dorothea Baroness Holck.
After his military service, Holger went back to being a farm- bailiff, this time at Bodal manor, which he leased from 1 May 1870 until 1 May 1882, when he took over the lease of Vedbygård manor. In 1877, he became manager of a bank (“The Savings Bank for Herlufmagle and Tybjerg Parishes and Raunstrup Manor”), a member of the health commission for the district of Løve in 1888 and a member of the board of the Holbæk County economic association in 1891. From 1894 to 1900, he served as a member of the Rerslev-Rudsvedby parish council*. Caroline died on 17 November 1894 at Vedbygård manor; in the spring of 1907, Holger moved from Vedbygård to Mellerup, a town near Randers, where he lived until his death on 11 September 1908. (Five children: the Vedbygaard Line.)
