[1] Born at Codford St Peter, his early years were spent around Heytesbury in Wiltshire,[2] and in July 1882, aged thirteen, he joined the Royal Navy training ship HMS Britannia at Dartmouth.

Holmes à Court's final command, from 1 August 1914, was the Royal Naval College, Osborne,[10] and its training ship HMS Racer.

Following Holmes à Court's death, Admiral Sir William Hall wrote to The Times that "He was so unassuming and modest that many may have missed the absolute goodness and unselfishness of his character.

It may not have been his fortune to take a prominent part in the late War, but where many others may have gained distinction he retained to the end the fair name of a great gentleman and a true friend.

"[12]On the death of Holmes à Court's grandfather Lord Heytesbury in 1891, his father had already died, so the peerage went to his oldest brother.

[14] On 4 July 1927, several years after his retirement from active service, he married Lydia Gertrude, a daughter of William Manning, of Wing, Buckinghamshire,[1] and the widow of Holmes à Court's brother the Hon.

In Armorial Families (1895), A. C. Fox-Davies reported that Holmes à Court was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and blazoned his arms as:[18] Quarterly 1 and 4, barry wavy of six or and azure, on a canton gules, a lion of England passant guardant or (for Holmes) ; 2 and 3 per fesse or, and paly of six erminois and azure, in chief an eagle displayed sable, beaked and membered gules, charged on the body with two chevronels argent (for à Court).