William "Billy" Holmes (2 April 1779 – 26 January 1851) was an Irish

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in the early nineteenth century. He was an MP for 28 years. WilliamHolmesBrompton01

Life

He was born in

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the an ...

, 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, 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 Colonialism, colonial campaigns, Hislop fought in the West Indies be ...

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 in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

from about 1818 until his seat (for the

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorate ...

of Haslemere) was abolished by the

Great Reform Act The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

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 John Galt () is a character in Ayn Rand's novel ''Atlas Shrugged'' (1957). Although he is not identified by name until the last third of the novel, he is the object of its often-repeated question "Who is John Galt?" and of the quest to discover ...

pays sardonic tribute to his skillful dispensation of political patronage. After the Reform Act Holmes was out of the Commons for five years, but returned in 1837 as MP for

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census reco ...

. Holmes was also

Treasurer of the Ordnance The Treasurer of the Ordnance was a subordinate of the Master-General of the Ordnance in the United Kingdom, the office being created in 1670. The office was abolished in 1836 and its duties merged with that of several others to form the office ...

from 1818 to 1831. His wife was Helen Tew, Dowager Lady Stronge (1769–1852), widow of Sir James Stronge, 1st Baronet of

Tynan Abbey Tynan Abbey in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was a large 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 family until 1981, when it was set on ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of an ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

(1750–1804). Holmes died in 1851 aged 71 and is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Establ ...

, 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