DEATH OF THE HON. M. HOLMES, M.L.C.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11771, 28 September 1901, Page 5

DEATH OF THE HON. M. HOLMES, M.L.C.

TRIBUTES IN PARLIAMENT. [BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Wellington, Friday. The Hon. M. Holmes, M.L.C. (Otago), died this morning.

When the Legislative Council met at half-past two p.m. to-day, the Minister for Education, with regret, announced that another member of the Council, the lion. Matthew Holmes, had been removed by the hand of death. Deceased was, he said, one of the very oldest members of the Council, and was well known in the early days as one of the most energetic farmers in his district. No one did more for his country than he did. The colony was indebted to him for many valuable services. The Minister then moved the adjournment of the Council until eight p.m., as a mark of respect to the memory of the deceased. The Hon. W. D. H. Baillie also paid a tribute to the memory of the deceased, and acknowledged his services in the Council on behalf of the colony.

The Council then adjourned. In the House of Representatives Mr. Seddon moved that the House adjourn till half-past seven, as a mark of respect to the memory ot the late Hon. Matthew Holmes. He said Mr. Holmes was a very old and highly-respected member of Parliament, who had done great service to the colony in years gone by, not least of which was his introduction into the colony of pedigree stock from the Mother Country. Mr. J. W. Thomson, in seconding the motion, said Mr. Holmes had been a good and enterprising colonist. The Hon. T. Duncan bore testimony to tiie great services rendered by Mr. Holmes to the agricultural and pastoral industries of the colony. He was the pioneer of some of the best breeds of sheep introduced into the colony, and he had helped very largely in bringing agriculture to a state of perfection in the South Island. The motion was agreed to, and the House rose at twenty minutes to four p.m. The Hon. M. Holmes had been more or less an invalid for some time, and his death, though comparatively sudden, was not, therefore, unexpected. He arrived in the colony in the early sixties, and immediately entered into business as a pastoralist, gaining a wide reputation as a breeder of pedigree stock. He was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1866. Deceased leaves three sons and three daughters, one of the latter being the wife of the Hon. George McLean.