Edmond Holmes
British poet (1850–1936)
Edmond Gore Alexander Holmes (17 July 1850 – 14 October 1936) was an Anglo-Irish educationalist, writer and poet. His writings are noted for his view that Western thought is bankrupt.
Early life
He was born in County Westmeath, Ireland, the fourth son in a large family. His father was Robert Holmes (1803–1870) of Moycashel, a farmer known as a breeder of English shorthorn cattle, and of racehorses; his mother was Jane Henn (1824–1905), daughter of William Henn junior, a master in chancery. Both Edmond and his younger brother the classical scholar T. Rice Holmes were born at Waterstone House (Waterston), a property near Athlone owned by Robert Holmes.
Edmond Holmes moved to London in 1861, at age 11. He was educated from 1863 at Merchant Taylors' School, and matriculated at St John's College, Oxford in 1869, graduating B.A. in 1874 with a first class degree in Greats, M.A. 1876. On his father's death, the family estate including land at Ardnurcher, Kilbeggan and Durrow passed to the eldest son Robert William Arbuthnot Holmes (1843–1910), a barrister and government official, who in the 1870s owned 1,298 acres (525 ha).
Briefly teaching at Repton School and Wellington School after Oxford, Holmes was then a tutor in the family of George Finch-Hatton, 11th Earl of Winchilsea.
Career
Holmes became an inspector of schools in 1875, a position he obtained through the influence of the Earl of Winchilsea.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Edmond Holmes” as british poet (1850–1936). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2703621. VIAF identifies the subject as 801465. The Library of Congress control number is n50039194. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1850, 1936, 1803 and 1870.
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This entry incorporates text from “Edmond Holmes” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.