684 John Holms

Constituency : Hackney  1868-85

John  was  one  of  the  first  MPs  for  the  new  seat  of  Hackney.

John  was  born  in  Scotland  where  the  family  business  was  spinning. John  was  a  cautious  Radical  who  looked  for  logical  cool  headed  arguments  to  justify  his  positions  rather  than  evangelical  fervour.

John  had  been  a  leading  supporter  of  Forster  for  the  Liberal  leadership. he  supported  Gladstone's  comeback  on  the  Eastern  Question. He  was  also  active  in  the  Commons  Preservation  Society. He  voted  against  the  royal  titles  bill  of  1876  though  he  was  not  a  republican.

Gladstone  made  John   a  whip  in  1880  and  then  Parliamentary  Secretary  to  the  Board  of  Trade  from  1882.

John's  particular  concern  was  military  reform. He  wrote  books  on  military  matters. He  blamed  the  system  of  long  service  for  the  Contagious  Diseases  Act.

In  1885  Hackney  was  split  up  and  John  stood  for  the  Central  Hackney  seat.  Ill  health  impeded  his  campaigning  and  he  was  defeated  by  193  votes.

Just  a  few  days  later  John  fell  between  a  train  carriage  and  the  platform  at  Mansion  House  station  and  was  invalided  for  the  rest  of  his  life.

He  died  in  1891  aged  60.