Vice-Admiral the Hon. Herbert Edward Holmes à Court (16 February 1869 – 21 October 1934) was an officer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. His commands included HMS ''Revenge'', HMS ''St Vincent'', and the

Royal Naval College, Osborne The Royal Naval College, Osborne, was a training college for Royal Navy officer cadets on the Osborne House estate, Isle of Wight, established in 1903 and closed in 1921. Boys were admitted at about the age of thirteen to follow a course lasting ...

Early life

Holmes à Court was the fifth of the seven sons of William Leonard Holmes à Court (1835—1885), a Deputy Lieutenant of the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

and the eldest son and heir of

William à Court-Holmes, 2nd Baron Heytesbury William Henry Ashe à Court-Holmes ''later'' Holmes-à Court, 2nd Baron Heytesbury (11 July 1809 – 21 April 1891) was a British peer and Conservative Member of Parliament. Career Born William Henry Ashe à Court, Lord Heytesbury was the only ...

. His mother was a cousin of the Heytesbury family, Isabella Sophia, daughter of the Rev. Richard à Court Beadon, Vicar of

Cheddar, Somerset Cheddar is a large village and civil parish in the Sedgemoor district of the English county of Somerset. It is situated on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, north-west of Wells, south-east of Weston-super-Mare and south-west of Bristol ...

, and a grand-daughter of Annabella à Court, sister of the first Lord Heytesbury. His six brothers included the third and fourth Lords Heytesbury, and he also had three sisters.''

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher founded in 1826, when the Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage and landed gentry of Great Br ...

'', vol. 2 (2003), p. 1900 Born at Codford St Peter, his early years were spent around

Heytesbury Heytesbury is a village (formerly considered to be a town) and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of the Wylye, about southeast of the town of Warminster. The civil parish includes most of the small neig ...

in Wiltshire, and in July 1882, aged thirteen, he joined the Royal Navy training ship HMS ''Britannia'' at Dartmouth.

Naval career

After his training as a naval cadet, Holmes à Court began his active service career as a

Midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

."Vice-Admiral Holmes-à-Court" (obituary) in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', Issue 46894 dated 25 October 1934, column B, p. 17 He was promoted to

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 17 December 1890 and to

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

on 26 June 1902. On 1 September 1907 he was appointed as Assistant to the Inspector of Target Practice, and was promoted to Captain on 31 December 1907. In April 1909 he was given his first command, the elderly second-class cruiser HMS ''Leander'', and in February 1910 was moved to captain the much newer

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...

HMS ''Sapphire'', at the same time becoming Captain of the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla. His subsequent commands were the gunnery training ship HMS ''Revenge'' (December 1910) and the important

Dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...

HMS ''St Vincent'' (January to December 1912). Holmes à Court's final command, from 1 August 1914, was the

, and its training ship HMS ''Racer''. He served out the whole of the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

at Osborne and retired from his post in December 1918. He was promoted to Rear-Admiral on the Retired List in February 1919 and to Vice-Admiral in 1924. Following Holmes à Court's death, Admiral Sir William Hall wrote to ''The Times'' that

Private life

On the death of Holmes à Court's grandfather Lord Heytesbury in 1891, his father had already died, so the peerage went to his oldest brother. At the same time he and his five other brothers were raised to the rank of baron's sons, carrying with it the courtesy title of

the Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

. In retirement in 1923, Holmes à Court was living at

Bishopstrow Bishopstrow is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, on the southeastern edge of the town of Warminster. The village is about from the town centre, south of the old Warminster to Salisbury road, formerly the A36, now the B3414. ...

, near the family seat of Heytesbury. On 4 July 1927, several years after his retirement from active service, he married Lydia Gertrude, a daughter of William Manning, of

Wing, Buckinghamshire Wing, known in antiquated times as Wyng, is a village and civil parish in east Buckinghamshire, England. The village is on the main A418 road between Aylesbury and Leighton Buzzard. It is about north-east of Aylesbury, west of Leighton Buz ...

, and the widow of Holmes à Court's brother the Hon. Charles Holmes à Court (1867–1922). The wedding took place less than a week after it had been announced in ''

'', which was said to be owing to illness.''The Times'' dated 29 June 1927, p. 9: "A marriage has been arranged and will take place shortly (very quietly owing to illness) between Vice-Admiral (Retd.) the Hon. H. E. Holmes à Court and Lydia Gertrude, second surviving daughter of the late Mr. William Manning, of Wing, Bucks, and of Mrs. Manning, of Linslade, Bucks, and widow of the Hon. Charles Holmes à Court." In the event, Holmes à Court survived the illness and lived for another seven years. His funeral took place on 24 October 1934 at the church of

Leonard Stanley Leonard Stanley, or Stanley St.Leonard, is a village and parish in Gloucestershire, England, 95 miles (150 km) west of London and 3.5 miles (5.5 km) southwest of the town of Stroud. Situated beneath the Cotswold escarpment overlookin ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

.holmesacourt.org
p. 292
"His funeral was held on 24 October 1934 in Leonard Stanley Church, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire." His widow died on 19 November 1967.

Arms

In ''Armorial Families'' (1895), A. C. Fox-Davies reported that Holmes à Court was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

ed his arms as:"Herbert Edward HOLMES-A COURT, Esquire" in

Arthur Charles Fox-Davies Arthur Charles Fox-Davies (28 February 1871 – 19 May 1928) was a British expert on heraldry. His ''Complete Guide to Heraldry'', published in 1909, has become a standard work on heraldry in England. A barrister by profession, Fox-Davies worke ...

, ''Armorial Families: A Complete Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, and a Directory of Some Gentlemen of Coat-armour'' (London: T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1895, ASIN B0008BKLM8), p. 509

Notes

External links

Herbert Edward Holmes A'COURT
at militaryimages.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes a Court, Herbert Edward 1869 births 1934 deaths Holmes à Court family Royal Navy vice admirals People from Wiltshire