Matthew Holmes

Matthew Holmes (15 September 1817 – 27 September 1901) was a New Zealand politician and runholder. 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 wool, and supplying the gold fields. The family lived in Scotland for some years but Holmes moved to New Zealand. His family followed him years later and they lived for most of their time in Otago, but retired to Wellington.

Early life Born in Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland on 15 September 1817, Holmes received his education in his home town. After school, he was trained in commerce at McFarland's woollen mill in Derry.

Life in Australia

The rightmost building was constructed in 1862 for Holmes White & Co in Lydiard Street, Ballarat. Holmes moved to Australia in 1837 and his first business venture was a stationery shop in Melbourne's Collins Street with William Kerr. his business partner would later found The Argus. Holmes took over the running of the stationery shop by himself. 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

Life in Scotland Holmes and his family moved to Scotland in 1854 as there was better medical care available for his wife's poor health. near Edinburgh, His station at Castlerock was overrun by rabbits in the 1870s, but Holmes managed to get on top of the problem; Holmes was well known for importing quality stock for breeding, including Clydesdale horses and Cheviot sheep. Holmes was one of the original directors of the Mosgiel Woollen Mill and on retirement from active business, he sold his trading interests to Dalgety, Rattray & Co. He represented the Oreti electorate in Southland on the Otago Provincial Council, after Otago and Southland had reunited, from 31 March 1871 to 22 May 1873.

Family and death His wife was a half-sister to the brothers John and Allan McLean. Their youngest daughter Annie Julia was also an artist, known for her watercolour painting. Another daughter was Isabella, a founder of Dunedin Public Art Gallery. A daughter of Isabella and George McLean married Thomas Wilford. The eldest daughter of the Holmes, Elizabeth, married in Melbourne in 1860. His wife died in 1897,