[1] He lived at Hornsey Rise in North London from where he observed with a 12-inch aperture reflecting telescope he had manufactured himself.
[6] Holmes was a regular contributor to the British Astronomical Association and to the magazine The English Mechanic and World of Science.
He became well known for his letters to the English Mechanic, often robustly criticising the opinions of other amateur astronomers, occasionally causing controversy.
[1] Edwin Holmes discovered the periodic comet 17P/Holmes on 6 November 1892, and his discovery was confirmed within days at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
[1] Holmes discovered the comet after it suddenly brightened, allowing him to notice it close in the sky to the great Andromeda Galaxy.