Obituary.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 8737, 25 January 1897, Page 2

Obituary.

The many friends throughout Otago of Mrs Holmes, wife of the Hon Mathew Holmes, M.L.C. will have received with deep regret the intelligence of her death, which occurred at Wellington on Thursday. The deceased lady was a Miss M’Lean, belonging to a branch of the family of which Mr John M’Lean, of Redcastle, is a member. As a child she came with her parents from Scotland to Tasmania, and in Melbourne was married to Mr Holmes, with whom she afterwards removed to Geelong, where her husband entered into business as the head of the firm of Holmes, White and Co. This was at the time of the gold rush, when most of the trade of the goldfields passed through Geelong. On the memorable Black Thursday (February 6th, 1851) Mrs Holmes had an experience of a terrible kind. The thermometer on that day stood at 112 deg. in the shade, and flames from bush fires were consuming the whole country round about Mr Holmes’ house, which was itself completely destroyed in the fire, the family losing everything. Mrs Holmes and the whole of her family, to save themselves, stood for the whole of that day immersed in the waters of a lagoon and from the effects of that experience the then youngest child subsequently died. Leaving Geelong the family visited England, and came to Otago in 1864. They settled at Anderson’s Bay, but Mr and Mrs Holmes were in the habit of spending a portion of their time also at Awamoa, near Oamaru, and latterly they lived in Wellington. The deceased lady, who was about 76 years of age, took an active part while living in Dunedin in charitable and philanthropic movements. She was one of the founders of the Female Kefuge, she took a warm interest in the Benevolent Institutions, and she was one of those who were associated with Miss Dalrymple in the movement for providing the girls of Otago with the advantages of higher education. Mr Allan Holmes (solicitor, of this city), Mrs George M‘Lean (wife of the Hon. G. M'Lean), Mr J. S. Holmes (of Awamoa), Mrs J. White (wife of Mr John White, solicitor, of this city), and Mr Btuart Holmes (of Kakanui), are surviving members of the deceased lady’s family. —(Otago Daily Times.)