Robert Holmes (Royal Navy Officer) - Life in "retirement"

Life in "retirement"

Although he would not let him serve in his fleet any longer, the King continued to lavish gifts upon Holmes, rents in Co. Southampton, the Isle of Wight and Wales and forfeited lands in Galway and Mayo. He possessed houses in London, Englefield Green near Windsor, Bath, and of course an establishment worthy of a governor in Yarmouth. Most of his time in "retirement", Holmes spent in rebuilding the Isle of Wight's castles and managing parliamentary elections to ensure the return of government candidates. He himself did not run for the Exclusion Parliaments of 1679 – 1681, and in 1682 he incurred the severest displeasure of Charles II for presenting an address from the Duke of Monmouth. A court martial was prepared together with a warrant to transfer the governorship to the Duke of Grafton, but Holmes either managed to avert prosecution or acquitted himself, for he remained governor until his death. A stout supporter of his lifelong employers, the royal brothers, it is unclear why Holmes should have associated with Monmouth; at the centre of the question may lie the shady Irish financier Lemuel Kingdon, who sat for Newtown and Yarmouth together with Holmes's brother, John.

On 21 August 1687, secretary of state Sunderland signed a commission that put Holmes in command of a squadron to suppress the buccaneers of the West Indies, but it is doubtful whether he ever actually took command. Since the wound received during the clash with the Smyrna Convoy, his health was steadily deteriorating, and an expedition that sailed in September 1687 was commanded by Sir John Narborough in his stead. Holmes was now busy preparing the defence against Dutch invasion. On 4 November 1688, five sailors of the invasion fleet landed on the Isle of Wight to buy provisions, being welcomed by the population. While the English fleet lay becalmed off Beachy Head and William III landed his forces at Torbay, Holmes wrestled with his mutinous militia. While James had fled his capital on 11 December (an action Parliament took as his relinquishing the throne) and one day later, the commander-in-chief, Sir George Legge, Lord Dartmouth brought the fleet over to William, it was not before 17 December that Holmes surrendered. He continued as governor of the Isle of Wight, although he was occasionally suspected of Jacobite conspiracy. But such reservations as he had against the overthrow of James II stemmed from the loyalty of a military professional, and after his vote in parliament against the accession of William and Mary was defeated, he served them with the same determination as he had the Stuart kings. Although his health was now rapidly giving out and he had to spend more and more time of the year in Bath, the threat of French invasions in 1690 and 1692 made him hurry back to his post as swiftly as ever.

Holmes died on 18 November 1692, leaving one illegitimate daughter and heiress, Mary (born 1678, mother unknown). According to some sources the mother was Grace Hooke, a niece of the famous scientist Robert Hooke.

As had been her father's wish, she married Henry Holmes, the son of his elder brother Colonel Thomas Holmes of Kilmallock, Co. Limerick. Her son Thomas, in turn, would eventually achieve the peerage for the family as Lord Holmes of Kilmallock in 1760. Holmes's younger brother, Sir John Holmes, was a naval captain of repute and competence, having for years served together with his eminent brother, and commanded the Channel Fleet (1677 – 1679).