Vice-Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

the Hon. ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth 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 cert ...

Herbert Edward Holmes à Court (16 February 1869 – 21 October 1934) was an officer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. 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 (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

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 onl ...

. 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 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. The civil parish includ ...

, 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, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

'', 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 nei ...

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 Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

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

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 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 Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 17 December 1890 and to

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

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 cruiser of the late 19th century, took their name from the armored deck, which protected vital machine-spaces from fragments released by explosive shells. Protected cruisers notably lacked a belt of armour alon ...

HMS ''Sapphire'', at the same time becoming Captain of the

Fifth Destroyer Flotilla The British 5th Destroyer Flotilla, or Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from 1910 to 1942 and again from 1947 to 1951. History The flotilla was formed in February 1910 and disbanded in 1942. Its first commander ...

. His subsequent commands were the gunnery training ship HMS ''Revenge'' (December 1910) and the important

Dreadnought The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an effect when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", ...

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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific Style ...

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

, 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. It is 4 miles (5.5 km) southwest of the town of Stroud. Situated beneath the Cotswold escarpment overlooking the Severn Vale, the surrounding ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

.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 an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

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

Herbert Herbert may refer to: People * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, Northern Territor ...

Royal Navy vice admirals Military personnel from Wiltshire