Thomas Holmes, 1st Baron Holmes

Thomas Holmes (2 November 1699 – 21 July 1764) was an English Member of Parliament, who managed elections in the government interest in the Isle of Wight during the 1750s and 1760s.

Holmes had influence over the election of members for five of the six seats in the island's boroughs (Newport, Newtown and Yarmouth). Although it was accepted that he should have first use of the seats for himself and his family (his brothers General Henry Holmes and Admiral Charles Holmes sat for Yarmouth and Newport respectively), he otherwise exercised this influence in favour of government candidates. Even though the extent of his power in the boroughs fell far short of the power of many borough-owners who could directly return MPs, he was sufficiently valuable to the Pelham and Newcastle ministries for him to ask for, and be given, an Irish peerage. He was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Holmes, of Kilmallock in the County of Limerick, on 11 September 1760; the peerage became extinct on his death in 1764. Holmes was Governor of the Isle of Wight from 6 April 1763 until his death. The barony was revived in 1797 in favour of his nephew Leonard Holmes.

References

• Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition, London: Macmillan, 1961)
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs