Matthew Holmes (politician)
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The Honourable Matthew Holmes |
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Holmes in 1872
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| Member of the New Zealand Legislative Council | |
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In office 19 June 1866 – 27 September 1901 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 1817 |
| Died | 27 September 1901 (aged 84) |
| Spouse(s) | Anne McLean (m. 1841; d. 1897) |
| Relations | George McLean (son-in-law) |
| Children | Six, including Allan Holmes |
Matthew Holmes (1817 – 27 September 1901) was a New Zealand politician and . He was a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council for 35 years (1866–1901). Holmes was from Ireland and made his money in Victoria from farming, exporting of wool, and supplying the gold fields. The family lived in Scotland for some years but Holmes moved to New Zealand. His family followed him some years later and they lived for most of their time in Otago, but retired to Wellington.
Born in Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland in 1817, Holmes received his education in his home town. After school, he was training in commerce at McFarland's woollen mill in Londonderry.
Holmes moved to Australia in 1837 and his first business venture was a stationary shop in Melbourne's Collins Street with William Kerr. The partnership was dissolved at the end of 1841; his business partner would later found The Argus. Holmes took over the running of the stationary shop by himself and in 1843, he was declared insolvent by the courts and the stock was auctioned. It was not until 1845 that he was discharged. For some time, he had a dairy farm called "Glencairn" in the Barrabool Hills outside of Geelong.
On 26 May 1841 at Port Phillip, he married Anne McLean, the daughter of Allan McLean of Strathallan near Echuca. After being burned out in the Black Thursday bushfires on 6 February 1851 and their youngest child dying from the effects, he relocated to Geelong and built up a profitable wool exporting company operating under the style of Holmes, White & Co.
He also supplied the gold diggings during the Victorian gold rush. The store of Holmes, White & Co in Melbourne's William Street does not exist any longer, but their premises at 114 Lydiard Street North in Ballarat still stand and are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
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