James Taylor HOLMES (1843-1932)

Chairman, Campbelltown District Council, 1st July 1881 – 12th July 1885 (Hectorville Ward).

James Taylor Holmes arrived in South Australia on the ship Emily when he was about six years of age in 1849. He married Mary Common on 6th October 1870.

James Taylor Holmes was first elected to the Campbelltown District Council in 1877. Following his terms as Chairman from 1881-1885, James Taylor Holmes was appointed District Clerk on 13 July 1885, holding this position until 31st January 1890. He was then re-elected to the Council in 1890.

With his father, John Holmes, he set up as a winemaker in 1874 on Section 275, later to become part of the Auldana Vineyard.

"Dr Wark planted a vineyard on the eastern part of this section [Section 275], and after he died it fell into two parts — the Township of Peckham on the west facing Glynburn Road and the North Brookside vineyard and winery on the east. The latter forty acres were purchased in 1874 by [John] and James Taylor Holmes, father and son, already established in North Norwood (St Morris) as winemakers.”

By 1880 the press reported that “Messrs. John Holmes & Son are proprietors of the North Kensington and Brookside North vineyard, having a sand and loam and gravelly subsoil. There are 45 acres planted with Muscatel. Doradilla, Mataro, Grenache, Shiraz, Verdeilho, and various other kinds, and all bear exceedingly well. Four acres of Muscatel and Doradilla have been planted within the last four years. The yield in the past season was 18,000 gallons; this season the proprietors have sold 60 tons of grapes and made 10,000 gallons of wine.” By 1900, the vineyard was sold to Auldana Vineyards and Holmes and his family moved to a smaller holding in Magill.

James Taylor Holmes’s interest in viticulture and horticulture was lifelong and he was elected as a member of the South Australian Gardeners’ Society on October 1883. The Society’s aims were the furtherance of horticulture, floriculture and kindred subjects. They met monthly focusing on exchanging information, discussions and exhibitions on specific topics and circulation of books and magazines.

When he died in 1932, James Taylor Holmes was living in Adelaide Street, Magill, and he was buried at Payneham Cemetery.

Researched and compiled by Di Booker, volunteer with the Campbelltown Library “Digital Diggers” group. If you have any comments or questions regarding the information in this local history article, please contact the Local History officer on 8366 9357 or hthiselton@campbelltown.sa.gov.au

References

Sands and MacDougall Directory of South Australia for 1884 – Magill – Holmes, James Taylor, vigneron; Holmes, John & Sons, vignerons

Adelaide Observer 27/7/1895 page 10 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/161824849

WARBURTON, Elizabeth (1986) "From the river to the hills: Campbelltown 150 years." The Corporation of the City of Campbelltown, Campbelltown (S. Aust.), page 255.

South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail 24 July 1880 page 12 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/94754606

MESSRS. J. HOLMES & SON'S VINEYARD, BROOKSIDE. (1877, May 17). The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889), p. 14. Retrieved March 19, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33748647

EXPORT OF GRAPES. (1893, June 10). Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904), p. 8. Retrieved March 19, 2022, from
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160809447

GOLDEN WEDDING. (1893, July 29). Adelaide Observer (SA : 1843 - 1904), p. 30. Retrieved March 19, 2022, from
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160815772

Funeral Notices. (1932, October 7). The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), p. 6. Retrieved March 19, 2022,
from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35170649