UNDER FIVE SOVEREIGNS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, 20 July 1925, Page 13

UNDER FIVE SOVEREIGNS.

A ROMANTIC CAREER, LATE MR TI. F. HOLMES. There lvr.s laid to rest in Tiiuaru Cemetery a wee;: age, one of mo .urlkst residents ci South Canterbury (Mi’ H. F. Holmes, «of Aonnanby), who .s said to have been one cf the nrst six whit© men to come to Tirnaru.. The '".ec'eaied, who had attained the ago of „5 years, had had a varied career, and uact filled many roles on the stage of .ire. Born at Old Kent Road, London, cn April 10, 1830, he was able to claim iho distinction of having lived under ■ivc sovereigns —George iV., W iiliam iV., Victoria, -.Edward V 11.,. and A 'butcher by trade, he married in ISuR left-' London for Australia- in .so2, and worked in Sydney as a ship..right. He left Jiis work as a ship•.vi iglit to become a stock hand on a str.fiou in Gippshmci, and later, became a gold digger at .Ballarat. Tie spent some time in Tasmania, and v, liein there saw five bushrangers hanged in one morning. Air Holmes came to Now Zealand, in 1853 in the ship "William Hide, landing •it Lyttelton. At that time there were few houses in Christchurch, and when later, he cainci to Tirnaru there was only one sod house here. Before com'ng here ho worked for Mr Cox, at Longbeaeh, as a stockman, and later cut timber in the Baukapuka bush (Geraldine). He was one of the first to work on a threshing plant in Smith Canterbury, one of a very primitive Ivpe, and was for some time a road contractor, when he and a partner (Mr Smith) did a lot of work on the main south road between Kingsdown and Glenavy. At this time there were some noted bad characters in the district, and on one occasion when. Mr Holmes rode on horseback to Timnrn to draw £3OO wages for his men, lie feared that he might be robbed on his wav hack to AVnitaki that night, so he hid. the money on the roadside, in‘.an; old boot.

After giving up work as a road contractor, Air Holmes came to Tirnaru and started one of the first butcher’s shops hero in Barnard Street, not far from where the Queen’s Hotel now stands. Ho had two small farms off Wai-iti road. Later he* aeciuired a farm near the Kingsdown school, and finally a home at ,-Normanhv, where Ire lived un to the timo of his death. He assisted with the burial of the second man to he interred in Tirnaru.. cemetery. This was a bullock driver who had died as tire result of a kick bv a bullock. As there were no undertakers here then a coffin was made from a tree, which was felled for the purpose, and Mr Holmes took the body to the cemetery in a dray. The deceased leaves a family of three sons and two daughters. The sons are Mr Hr.nrv Holmes (Normnnby), Mr Edward Hohnes (Christchurch), and Mr Gob. Holmes, school teacher, of Ashhurt/m-.-, The. daughters are Airs Bavrar (St'-dlm'mo), and Airs Manning (Darg grille).