Jonathan Holmes (speaker)

Captain Jonathan Holmes (23 June 1633 – 10 October 1713) was a colonial farmer and politician in Rhode Island.

Early life
Holmes was born in Stockport, Lancashire, England on 23 June 1633. He was a son of the Rev. Obadiah Holmes (1610–1682) and Catharine ( Hyde) Holmes (c. 1610–c. 1682), who were married in Manchester in 1630. Among his siblings were Lydia Holmes, who married Capt. John Bowne (great-grandparents of Capt. Abraham Lincoln, himself grandfather of President Abraham Lincoln).

As a baby, he sailed with his parents from Preston on the River Ribble in Lancashire to Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Career
His father was one of the twelve patentees named in the original April 8, 1665 patent from the Duke of York for the Monmouth Tract embracing Monmouth County and parts of Middlesex and Ocean Counties in Eastern New Jersey.

In 1685, Holmes returned to the family home in Newport, Rhode Island. He was a member of the House of Deputies of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and served as the first Speaker of the House.

Personal life
On 17 April 1664, Holmes was married to Sarah Borden (1644–c. 1705) in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. She was a daughter of Richard Borden and Joan ( Fowle) Borden. Together, they were the parents of:


 * Obadiah Holmes (1666–1745), who married Alice Ashton, a daughter of Rev. James Ashton and Deliverance ( Throckmorton) Ashton.
 * Jonathan Holmes (1682–1766), who married Deliverance Ashton, sister to Obadiah's wife. After her death, he married Rebecca Throckmorton.
 * Samuel Holmes (1676–c. 1769)
 * Martha Holmes (1675–1729), who married Philip Tillinghast.

After his death in Newport, Rhode Island on 10 October 1713, he was buried in the family cemetery in Middletown.