James Holmes (politician)

James Holmes JP (26 January 1831 – 17 April 1910) was a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council from Hokitika on the West Coast.

[1] He trained as a painter and left for Australia in 1852 to join the Victorian gold rush.

[2][3] Holmes bought the Okuku water race at Kumara in 1880 and sold it after 20 years.

He was captain of the Fire Brigade, vice-president of the Hokitika Savings Bank, and was a Justice of the Peace since the early 1880s.

[8][9] His second wife was Sophia Holmes (née Middleton); they married in 1879 and she died on 3 November 1914 in Hastings, where she was residing with one of her daughters.