The Lord Holmes
Vice-Admiral and Governor
of the Isle of Wight
In office
1763–1764
MonarchGeorge III
Preceded byThe Earl of Portsmouth
Succeeded byHans Stanley
Member of Parliament for Yarmouth
In office
1747–1764
MonarchsGeorge II
George III
Preceded byMaurice Bocland
Robert Carteret
Succeeded byJeremiah Dyson
John Eames
Member of Parliament for Newtown
In office
1734–1741
Serving with James Worsley
MonarchGeorge II
Preceded byCharles Armand Powlett
Sir John Barrington
Succeeded byHenry Holmes
Sir John Barrington
In office
1727–1729
Serving with James Worsley
Preceded byWilliam Stephens
Charles Worsley
Succeeded byCharles Armand Powlett
Sir John Barrington
Personal details
Born(1699-11-02)2 November 1699
Died21 July 1764(1764-07-21) (aged 64)
NationalityBritish
Political partyTory
Spouse(s)(1) Anne Player Apsley
(2) Catherine Leigh
Parent(s)Henry Holmes
Mary Holmes
RelativesHenry Holmes (brother)
Charles Holmes (brother)
Sir Robert Holmes (grandfather)
Sir John Holmes (uncle)
Leonard Holmes (nephew)

Thomas Holmes, 1st Baron Holmes (2 November 1699 21 July 1764) was a British politician who was Vice-Admiral and Governor of the Isle of Wight (1763–4) and sat in the House of Commons between 1727 and 1774. He managed elections in the government interest in the Isle of Wight during the 1750s and 1760s.

Early life

Holmes was baptized on 2 November 1699, the eldest son of Henry Holmes, MP, of Thorley, Yarmouth and his wife Mary, illegitimate daughter of Sir Robert Holmes, MP, of Thorley. He married Anne Apsley, widow of Colby Apsley, and daughter of Henry Player of Alverstone, Hampshire.[1]

Career

At the 1727 British general election Holmes was returned as a Tory Member of Parliament for Newtown, where his family shared the electoral influence with the Worsleys. He voted against the Administration on the civil list on 23 April 1729 but was unseated on petition on 25 April 1729. He was returned unopposed for Newtown at the 1734 British general election. He voted against the Administration on the Spanish convention in 1739 and was absent from the division on the place bill in 1740. In 1738, on the death of his father, he succeeded to his estates and political interests on the Isle of Wight. He did not stand at the 1741 British general election but returned his brother General Henry Holmes for Newtown instead.[1]

Holmes then made an agreement with Sir Robert Walpole to support the Government on condition he should become the Government's manager for Newtown, Newport and Yarmouth, the three Isle of Wight boroughs. After the fall of Walpole in 1742, he renewed the agreement with Pelham. It was accepted that he should have first use of the seats for himself and his family and at the 1747 general election, he was returned unopposed with his brother Henry, for Yarmouth.[1] He did not have as much power as many borough-owners who could directly return MPs, but he exercised his influence in favour of government candidates. He was returned again as MP for Yarmouth in 1754 and 1761. He returned his brother Admiral Charles Holmes for Newport in 1758.[2]

Holmes was sufficiently valuable to the ministries of Pelham and Newcastle that he was able to ask for and receive secret service payments for each seat he secured.[3] He was also given a peerage as Baron Holmes, of Kilmallock in the County of Limerick, on 11 September 1760. He was appointed Governor of the Isle of Wight from 6 April 1763.[1]

Family

Holmes first wife, Anne Player Apsley, died in 1743, and he married as his second wife Catherine Leigh, daughter of John Leigh of Shorwell, Isle.of Wight. He died in 1764 and was buried on 21 July. His only son by his first marriage predeceased him and the peerage became extinct on his death, but was revived in 1797 in favour of his nephew Leonard Holmes.[2]

Genealogy

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "HOLMES, Thomas (1699–1764), of Yarmouth, I.o.W." History of Parliament Online (1715–1754). Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  2. 1 2 "HOLMES, Thomas (1699–1764), of Yarmouth I.o.W." History of Parliament Online (1754–1790). Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  3. Page 215, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
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