William "Billy" Holmes (2 April 1779 – 26 January 1851) was an Irish Tory and Conservative politician in the United Kingdom in the early nineteenth century. He was an MP for 28 years. WilliamHolmesBrompton01

Life

He was born in County Sligo, the son of Thomas Holmes of Farmhill, a brewer, and his wife Anne Phibbs, daughter of Harlow Phibbs. He matriculated in 1795 at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, but did not take a degree. Then an army officer, he was secretary to

Sir Thomas Hislop, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Hislop, 1st Baronet, (5 July 1764 – 3 May 1843) was a senior British Army officer of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Serving exclusively in colonial campaigns, Hislop fought in the West Indies between 1796 an ...

with rank of captain in the West Indies, from 1803 to 1807. Retiring from the army in 1807, he married and entered Parliament in 1808, as Member for . Holmes served as party manager, and

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

in the House of Commons from about 1818 until his seat (for the rotten borough of

Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south west Surrey, England, around south west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill, they comprise the civil parish of Haslemere i ...

) was abolished by the Great Reform Act of 1832. He had also previously represented several other constituencies. In the dedication to his novel ''The Member: An Autobiography'' (1832), the Scottish author John Galt pays sardonic tribute to his skillful dispensation of political

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

. After the Reform Act Holmes was out of the Commons for five years, but returned in 1837 as MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed. Holmes was also Treasurer of the Ordnance from 1818 to 1831. His wife was Helen Tew, Dowager Lady Stronge (1769–1852), widow of

Sir James Stronge, 1st Baronet Rev. Sir James Stronge, 1st Baronet (1750 – 1 December 1804) was born in Tynan Abbey, County Armagh, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. Tynan Abbey was built by his father. On 27 May 1785, Reverend Stronge married Helen Tew of County Armagh and had ...

Tynan Abbey Tynan Abbey in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was a large Gothic Revival architecture, neo-gothic-romantic country house built c. 1750 (later renovated c. 1815) and situated outside the village of Tynan. It was home to the Stronge Baronets, ...

, County Armagh, Ireland (1750–1804). Holmes died in 1851 aged 71 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.brompton voyage spectacle shopping ordinateur at brompton.org
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* * 1779 births 1851 deaths Burials at Brompton Cemetery UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1837–1841 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall Tory MPs (pre-1834) Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Totnes {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1770s-stub