SIR ROBERT HOLMES Robert Holmes was born in Ireland and made his reputation as a seafaring man. ln 1661, as Admiral Sir Robert Holmes, he was sent to Guinea, in West Africa, to deal with the Dutch who had seized British gold mines there. He successfully defeated the intruders, and brought back to England a large quantity of gold, which was minted into coins worth 21/-. These coins were soon christened “guineas” after their country of origin. Hearsay evidence suggests that three years later he was off again, this time to the American colonies where his old foes, the Dutch, had assumed control over one of the major towns on the eastern seaboard. Apparently Holmes ousted the lowlanders from the town they had christened New Amsterdam, and the name was soon changed to New York. Unfortunately, although this delightful story fits in with Holmes’ swashbuckling image, it is not true. ln fact, he was back in West Africa at the time. Sir Robert served a token sentence in the Tower on his return, as a result of a Dutch protest that he had been none too gentle with their citizens in Africa, but the King was obviously pleased with him, as he appointed him Governor of the lsle of Wight. Sir Robert Holmes lived for almost thirty years on the Island, and while he was here he became virtually a licensed pirate. He had a roving commission to patrol the shores of southern England and to capture, destroy or plunder any foreign ships which approached our coasts. On one occasion he captured a ship on its way from ltaly to the French Court and laid claim to all the goods it was carrying. The biggest prize on this ship was an unfinished statue in white marble of the French King, Louis XlV. The sculptor had been allowed to complete the statue from the neck down from a portrait, but the King insisted that his features were sculpted from life in order to obtain a perfect likeness. Sir Robert took a fancy to this statue and was fortunate enough to have captured the sculptor as well. He decided that the statue would be completed, but since it was now his, the head of the statue would not be that of King Louis, but his own! The Italian sculptor chipped away for some time, and sure enough Sir Robert‘s features appeared instead of those of Louis XIV. If you go to Yarmouth Church you will see a large white marble statue, which is clothed in the full regalia of the King of France,*yet has the face of the roguish Sir Robert, and could it be that there is still of hint of a smile on his face which has lasted for three hundred years?
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 23:57:32 +0000
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