Biography

Holmes was a botanist and lecturer in materia medica, describing himself as a 'consulting botanist and pharmacognosist'. His widow (Mrs Kate Holmes, fl. 1880-1935) donated his papers written in the period 1876-1930 to the Wellcome Library in 1935. Though Holmes collected British and Irish plants, his papers also deal with taxa from Africa, Asia and the Americas and some with British insects. He was Curator of the Museum of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (PHA) from 1872 to 1922 and built his herbarium there, but later this was moved to PSGB and finally transferred in Spring 1983 to K. Specimens of E.M. Holmes at BM are mostly of algae, bryophytes or lichens, many marked Herb. Holmes or part of his exsiccatae, in part collected with E.A.L. Batters (1860-1907) and mainly acquired in 1876-1900. Some specimens may represent cryptogams that were transferred from K to BM under the standing terms of the Morton Agreement and would have been part of his original herbarium. Holmes' main algal herbarium (13,000 specimens) is at BIRM. There are also quite good collections of British phanerogams at BM, including many rare taxa and may include those of his wife who also collected British plants.

Biography

Holmes was a botanist and lecturer in materia medica, describing himself as a 'consulting botanist and pharmacognosist'. His widow (Mrs Kate Holmes, fl. 1880-1935) donated his papers written in the period 1876-1930 to the Wellcome Library in 1935. Though Holmes collected British and Irish plants, his papers also deal with taxa from Africa, Asia and the Americas and some with British insects. He was Curator of the Museum of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (PHA) from 1872 to 1922 and built his herbarium there, but later this was moved to PSGB and finally transferred in Spring 1983 to K. Specimens of E.M. Holmes at BM are mostly of algae, bryophytes or lichens, many marked Herb. Holmes or part of his exsiccatae, in part collected with E.A.L. Batters (1860-1907) and mainly acquired in 1876-1900. Some specimens may represent cryptogams that were transferred from K to BM under the standing terms of the Morton Agreement and would have been part of his original herbarium. Holmes' main algal herbarium (13,000 specimens) is at BIRM. There are also quite good collections of British phanerogams at BM, including many rare taxa and may include those of his wife who also collected British plants.