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Kraków Barbican

The Kraków Barbican (Barbakan Krakowski) is a barbican – a fortified outpost once connected to the city walls. It is a historic gateway leading into the Old Town of Kraków, Poland. The barbican is one of the few remaining relics of the complex network of fortifications and defensive barriers that once encircled the royal city of Kraków in the south of Poland. It currently serves as a tourist attraction and venue for a variety of exhibitions.

Today the Barbican is under the jurisdiction of The Historical Museum of the City of Kraków. Tourists may tour its interior with its displays outlining the historical development of fortifications in Kraków.

History
The Gothic-style barbican, built around 1498, is one of only three such fortified outposts still surviving in Europe, and the best preserved. It is a moated cylindrical brick structure with an inner courtyard 24.4 meters in diameter, and seven turrets. Its 3-meter-thick walls hold 130 embrasures. The barbican was originally linked to the city walls by a covered passageway that led through St. Florian's Gate and served as a checkpoint for all who entered the city.

The Poles built the barbican fearing an attack by the Ottoman Empire after the defeat of King John I Albert at the Battle of the Cosmin Forest.

The Barbican participated in the defense of Kraków in 1587 against the Siege of Kraków (1587) by Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria, in the Siege of Kraków (1655) and the Siege of Kraków (1657), and Russian troops during the Polish–Russian War of 1792.

The building was threatened with demolition early in the 19th century. However, in 1817 two senators of the Free City of Kraków, Feliks Radwanski and Jan Librowski, convinced the Senate to preserve the Barbican and other parts of the old fortifications.

Design
The Barbican was originally a large, circular tower with an interior open space with a diameter of 25 m. It was built of brick and stone and stood four stories tall. It had seven watch towers. The walls were about 3 m at their base and 0.5 m at the top. The Barbican's exterior gate, the Kleparz Gate, was protected by a large, semi-circular moat 26 m wide and 6 m deep.

Features
Considered a masterpiece of medieval military engineering, the circular fortress of the Kraków's Barbakan was added to the city's fortifications along the coronation route in the late 15th century, based on Arabic rather than European defensive strategy. On its eastern wall, a tablet commemorates the feat of a Kraków burgher, Marcin Oracewicz, who, during the Bar Confederation, defended the town against the Russians and shot their Colonel Panin, according to a legend, using a czamara button instead of a bullet.

title: Kraków Barbican


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Commercial high school (Asia)

The commercial high school (Japanese: 商業高等学校, しょうぎょうこうとうがっこう, shōgyō kōtō gakkō / ), simply called (Japanese: 商業高校, しょうぎょうこうこう, shōgyō kōkō / ), is a Japanese and Korean high school which concentrates more on business knowledge and skills rather than the college preparatory courses taught in many high schools. Most students who graduate from a commercial high school directly enter the work force rather than go to college.

Brief summary
Commercial high schools focus primarily in curriculum designed to teach the skills necessary for success in the business world, though there are a wide variety of fields of study on which to focus. Many students focus on gaining the necessary qualifications and certifications in order to assist them once they begin searching for employment in their specialized field of study.

Many commercial high schools and information technology schools are members of the National Commercial High School Association or Zensho (全商協会), a very influential organization in the Japanese business world. The Zensho sponsors all kinds of official certifications and conventions.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Commercial high school (Asia)


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Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Sarah Shipley

 This page is an archive of the proposed deletion of the article below. Further comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or on a Votes for Undeletion nomination). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was delete. – ABCD✉ 00:07, 4 August 2005 (UTC)

Sarah Shipley
Blatant vanity. I'm not comfortable speedying this though, as it does make an assertion of notability (having won the 2005 "Miss Sexy Australia"). But that claim, as far as I can tell, is patently untrue. A google search turns up nothing, even when I look for variations. As such, hoax and vanity, so delete. --Dmcdevit·t 08:42, July 25, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete per nominator. --TheMidnighters 08:57, 25 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. If there was a "Miss Sexy Australia" contest, every pimple-faced blogger on the net would be drooling over it.  Since Google only gives 1 irrelevant hit, I say it's bogus.  -- Visviva 09:02, 25 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete nn vanity -Harmil 11:53, 25 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Either vanity or hoax. Sjakkalle (Check!)  13:31, 25 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Strong Delete Hosting information on a minor's "sexiness" is a bad idea for Wikipedia. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 14:38, July 25, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. I'm an Australian and I've never heard of the Miss Sexy Australia awards which suggests that they either don't exist or aren't very widely known. Capitalistroadster 23:22, 25 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete gross nn vanity. -- Etacar11   23:43, 25 July 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. "People with a crush on someone should not be allowed to edit articles".  I'd swear there's a policy about this somewhere. . . . . .   Soundguy99 14:21, 28 July 2005 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in an undeletion request). No further edits should be made to this page.


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Uniden

Uniden Holdings Corporation (ユニデンホールディングス株式会社) is a Japanese company in the wireless communication industry.

History
Uniden was established on February 7, 1966, by its founder Hidero Fujimoto as "Uni Electronics Corp". Uniden became a well-known brand in the 1970s by manufacturing and marketing millions of citizens band radios (CB), under the Uniden brand as well as other companies such as Midland and Realistic, which rebranded the equipment under their own labels. Uniden also marketed CB Radios in the UK under the Uniden and Uniace brands during the early '80s.

During the 1980s, Uniden grew to become the world's largest manufacturer of cordless telephones in addition to television satellite equipment, mobile radios, advanced marine electronics and radio scanners (the latter under BearCat brand).

In Europe, it became successful in the telecommunications market with its introduction of 900 MHz cordless telephones.

As Uniden continued to grow and extend its international operations, Uniden Australia and Uniden New Zealand were established in 1989.

Uniden's revenue has plummeted since smartphones and VOIP solutions have become mainstream. In 2007, Uniden had a revenue of 77.7 billion yen. Just three years later in 2010, Uniden reported a revenue of just 35.5 billion yen.

Operation
As of 2018, current products include cordless telephones, radar detectors, radio scanners, CB radios, and security/surveillance products. As of 2023, Uniden no longer produces cordless telephones, as per FAQs at support.uniden.com.

At one point Uniden produced over two million wireless products every month and manufactures one cordless phone every 3.2 seconds. This statistic has become part of their company description used by many retailers and the date of the statistic is unknown. Despite the cordless phone's falling popularity, this claim still appears on Uniden Australia's website.

Uniden operates globally, but the main commercial activities are situated in the United States and Japan. Manufacturing sites have been located in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Philippines. In 2008, Uniden began to move production from China to Vietnam because of lower wages.

Uniden delisted in November 29, 2022.

title: Uniden


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Scilly Isles, Surrey

The Scilly Isles is a double roundabout in Hinchley Wood, Surrey, between the English towns of Esher and Kingston upon Thames on the traditional route of the Portsmouth Road. The name is a corruption of "silly islands", a nickname given to the road system when it was built in the 1930s.

History and notability
Since the 19th century there has been a large pub at the junction, named after a prominent aristocrat-soldier the Marquis of Granby. The junction acquired its name during the 1930s when the then new Kingston by-pass road rejoined the original route of the Portsmouth Road that was then the equivalent to today's A3. The present road is termed the A307 and the A309 crosses this and links via a dualled section to the A3 road and the north. A series of roundabouts were built at the busy (for the 1930s) intersection, then called "traffic islands". The unfamiliar nature of the double roundabout caused it to be called the "silly islands", which became locally accepted as its name, but this soon evolved into the "Scilly Isles", copying the name of the islands to the west of Cornwall. This name, although intended to be disapproving, thus became an official name, visible on all approaches to the junction and the highest definition maps.

The nearby Sandown Park Racecourse hosts the annual Scilly Isles Novices' Chase. Littleworth Common and Ditton Marsh to either side are almost undeveloped commons, mostly covered by trees and grass/scrub respectively.

Position
The Scilly Isles is located in the north-western proximity of the suburb of Hinchley Wood, which is signposted on the approaches to the junction. This area is in the north of the borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, around 2 miles from the Greater London boundary.

The junction is near to the centre of the parish of Weston Green, which is divided in terms of post towns between Esher and Thames Ditton, which is a village by the River Thames 1 mi north-east.

title: Scilly Isles, Surrey


text: User:Tingo

title: User:Tingo


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Slade Point, Queensland

Slade Point is a coastal town and peninsular suburb in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the, the suburb of Slade Point had a population of 3,450 people.

Geography
The waters and inlets of the Coral Sea form the northern boundary and most of the eastern.

Slade Point has the following coastal features:

 * Slade Bay (-21.0689°N, 149.2112°W)

 * Slade Point (-21.0639°N, 149.225°W)

 * Lamberts Beach (-21.0753°N, 149.2282°W)

History
The first British people to visit the area were the crew and passengers aboard the ketch Presto which pulled into the bay at Slade Point in June 1862 after having difficulty entering the Pioneer River. A crew member was killed by Aboriginal people, while Mr Roberts, a passenger, was either killed or taken away by Aboriginal people. Armed crew-members formed a search party but were unable to locate Roberts. Another larger search party, assisted by troopers of the Native Police, was later organised but no trace of Roberts was found.

Originally, the town was called Amhurst but it was renamed on 1 January 1967 to be Slade Point, named after the prominent headland of the same name which was named in June 1770 by Lieutenant James Cook of HMS Endeavour, after Thomas Slade, Surveyor of the Royal Navy and designer of Horatio Nelson's ship HMS Victory.

Amhurst State School opened on 11 April 1939. It was renamed Slade Point State School in 1967.

Around 1975, a Catholic church opened at 8 Finch Street (-21.0787°N, 149.2148°W). It has subsequently closed and has been converted into a residence, but the cross at the western end of the building remains intact.

It is the birthplace of Cathy Freeman. A recreation area where she raced as a child is now named after her.

Demographics
In the, the suburb of Slade Point had a population of 3,349 people.

In the, the suburb of Slade Point had a population of 3,450 people.

Education
Slade Point State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 362 Slade Point Road (-21.0739°N, 149.2147°W). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 110 students with 13 teacher (11 full-time equivalent) and 11 non-teaching staff (8 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 204 students with 13 teachers (12 full-time equivalent) and 16 non-teaching staff (10 full-time equivalent).

There is no secondary school in Slade Point. The nearest government secondary school is Pioneer State High School in neighbouring Andergrove to the south-west.

Amenities
Slade Point Central shopping centre (formerly Seagull Shopping Centre) is at 1-7 Finch Street (-21.0793°N, 149.2145°W). Slade Point Post Office is in this centre (-21.0793°N, 149.215°W).

The Mackay Regional Council operates a mobile library service on a fortnightly schedule at Pheasant Street.

Slade Point Community Hall is at 4 Wren Street (-21.0759°N, 149.2189°W).

Mackay RSL Memorial Bowls Club (also known as Slade Point Bowls Club) is at 30 Wren Street (-21.0731°N, 149.219°W).

Life Giving Church (formerly Slade Point Christian Life Centre) is at 34 Robin Street (-21.0764°N, 149.2177°W). It is affiliated with Australian Christian Churches.

Attractions
Lamberts Beach Lookout is off the Pacific Esplanade (-21.0711°N, 149.2288°W). It offers coastal views and view of passing whales (during the migration season).

The Slade Point water tower has been used to create a mural by Scott Nagy and Cara Sanders, which depicts the whale migration and the local red-tailed black cockatoos seen on the esplanade. It is at 1 Albatross Street (-21.0669°N, 149.2256°W).

title: Slade Point, Queensland


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James Quibell

James Edward Quibell (11 November 1867 – 5 June 1935 ) was a British Egyptologist.

Life
Quibbell was born in Newport, Shropshire. He married the Scottish artist and archaeologist Annie Abernethie Pirie in 1900.

He was educated at Adams' Grammar School in Newport and Christ Church, Oxford. He became fascinated by the antiquities, and offered himself as a pupil to Professor Flinders Petrie, with whom he worked at Coptos in 1893, then at Nagada, Ballas, Thebes, El Kab, and Hierakonpolis in successive years, including the Ramesseum. He also assisted Cecil Firth in his excavations in Saqqara. Between 1899 and 1904, he also served as chief inspector of antiquities for the Delta and Middle Egypt (Howard Carter, who was chief inspector at Luxor was his opposite). Later, between 1904 and 1905, he was appointed as chief inspector at Saqqara. Between 1914 and 1923, he was a keeper in the Cairo Museum, and served as director of excavations at the Djoser Step Pyramid between 1931 and 1935.

After six months' study at the Humboldt University of Berlin he was appointed to the Catalogue Commission of the Egyptian Museum, and in 1899 as an inspector on the staff of the Antiquities Department, a colleague being Howard Carter.

He worked at Saqqara, in the Valley of the Kings (where he discovered the tomb of Yuya and Thuya in 1905), and at Hierakonpolis (ancient Nekhen), where amongst other discoveries his team found the Narmer Palette in 1898. In 1898 he was made an inspector of the Antiquities Service for the Delta and Middle Egyptian regions. He later served as director of the Egyptian Museum from 1914 to 1923 and secretary-general of the Antiquities Service until 1925 when he retired.

title: James Quibell


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Robert Holmes (Royal Navy officer)

Sir Robert Holmes (c. 1622 – 18 November 1692) was an English Admiral of the Restoration Navy. He participated in the second and third Anglo-Dutch Wars, both of which he is, by some, credited with having started. He was made Governor of the Isle of Wight, where he is buried in Yarmouth Parish Church.

Holmes is chiefly remembered for his exploits on the cruise to Guinea (1664) for the Royal African Company, and for the so-called Holmes's Bonfire of 1666. He is regarded as an archetypal figure both of the quarrelsome restoration officer and of the coming into being of the British professional naval officer.

Military beginnings
Born in or about 1622 the son of Henry Holmes, Esq. of Mallow, County Cork, Ireland, nothing is known of Holmes' early life, although his flawless command of written language and his elegant handwriting suggest a good education. He is in all probability the grandchild of the Robert Holmes named provost of Mallow in 1612.

He first appears in 1643 on the Cavalier side of the Civil War, in Prince Maurice's regiment of horse as a cornet in the troop of Captain Richard Atkyns. From this time stems a lifelong friendship with Maurice's brother, Prince Rupert, whom he accompanied onto the battlefields of the continent once the Royalists had been defeated.

Start of the naval career
When in 1648 a part of the fleet went over to the exiled king, Holmes (now an army captain), following Maurice and Rupert, came into his first contact with the navy. He participated in the epic cruise of the Royalist fleet of 1649 – 1652 to Kinsale, the Mediterranean, West Africa (where, between the Gambia and Cape Verde, he was arrested by the inhabitants), and the West Indies. The drain of manpower, through storm, action, and mutiny, was so large that at the end of the cruise, Holmes had advanced to commanding the four prizes the force brought back to France. With Rupert returning to the exiled court, it fell to Holmes to see the fleet paid off.

Subsequently, Cromwell's intelligence service reports Holmes having obtained a privateer commission from the King of Spain (Thurloe State Papers VII, p. 248, 18 July 1658. N.S.), although the total absence of other evidence makes his actually setting out as a privateer improbable. He may, like other Royalist, and notably Irish, officers, have taken up service with the Imperial army. His epitaph in Yarmouth gives France, Flanders and Germany as scenes of military exploits. Immediately before the Restoration, Holmes acted as a courier between Charles II and Edward Montagu, by whose commission he obtained his first command in the navy, the Medway guardship Bramble.

Restoration Officer
Upon Charles II's return to England, Holmes was rewarded for his services with the captaincy of Sandown Castle, Isle of Wight together with a new commission (for another guardship), this time from the Duke of York himself, who had assumed the position of Lord High Admiral. But more was in store for him.

The first African expedition
The reports Rupert had brought back from the Gambia of a "Mountain of Gold" just waiting there to be carried off to England, prompted the Royal African Company, whose director was the Duke of York (and whose paperwork was carried out by William Coventry) to launch an expedition to the Guinea Coast, then mostly in Dutch hands. Holmes, acquainted with this coast, was the man for this venture, and was appointed captain of the flagship, Henrietta and a squadron of four other of the King's ships: Sophia, Amity, Griffin, and Kinsale. His orders (drafted by Coventry) were to assist the company's factors in every way conceivable and to construct a fort. Privately, he was instructed to gather intelligence as to the expected "Mountain of Gold".

The results of the expedition were ambiguous. Touching at Gorée, Holmes bluntly informed the Dutch governor that the King of England claimed the exclusive right of trade and navigation between Cape Verde and the Cape of Good Hope (which the King and Sir George Downing disavowed after protests from the States General and retaliatory action against English shipping). In addition to reconnoitring the coast and the mouth of the Gambia, Holmes constructed a fort there (on Dog Island in the mouth of the river, renamed Charles Island). Up-river, on St. Andreas Island near Jillifri, he then captured a fort which was nominally the Duke of Courland's, but obviously in Dutch hands, and renamed the spit of land James Island. Although the mission did not pay for the company, Holmes seems to have made a profit from it, since subsequently Samuel Pepys, of all people, complained about Holmes's magnificent lifestyle (Diary, 22 December 1661), and wondered whether the large ape Holmes had brought back might be the offspring of a man and a she-baboon and susceptible to instruction (Diary, 24 August 1661).

The expedition was the turning point in Holmes's career. He had shown himself equal to dealing with Africans, company factors, the Dutch and his own men and officers alike, recommending himself as a prudent leader. He consequently was appointed captain of the flagship, Royal Charles, which he lost quickly after having failed to force the Swedish ambassador to salute the flag. But this was only a temporary setback, and he swiftly was granted £800 from the Crown and the command of the newly launched Reserve. The appointment of an inept master led to a quarrel with Pepys, which subsided after a while, but the antagonism between the administrator and the aggressive fighter was never resolved. Aboard Reserve, Holmes tested a pair of pendulum watches conceived by Christiaan Huygens.

The second African expedition
The objectives of the famous 1664 Guinea expedition are unclear. Although Holmes was charged with exceeding his orders by capturing Dutch forts and ships there, Coventry talks of a "game" that was to be started there, which can only mean an Anglo-Dutch war (Bath MSS. CII, ff. 3-13). Holmes's orders, again drafted by Coventry and signed by James, were to 'promote the Interests of the Royall Company' in HMS Jersey and to 'kill, take, sink or destroy such as shall oppose you' (Bath MSS. XCV, ff.3-5) - especially the Goulden Lyon of Flushing, a Dutch West India Company ship that had given the English a lot of trouble.

The reason for the charges against Holmes was that his success exceeded even the most unreasonable expectations, and that he was, diplomatically, a convenient scapegoat (a fact of which he seems to have been aware). In sight of the Dutch base at Gorée he took the West Indiaman Brill on 27 December 1663. Stirring up the Portuguese, Africans, and even such Dutch merchants as had a grudge against the WIC, he sank 2 ships and captured 2 others under the guns of Gorée (22 January 1664), and the next day took possession of the fort itself. On 28 March, in a tactically cunning action, he took Goulden Lyon meanwhile named Walcheren (taken into the Royal Navy as a fourth-rate).

On 10 April, he captured Anta Castle on the Gold Coast and several other small strongholds and ships. But the greatest coup was the capture of the principal Dutch base in West Africa, Cape Coast Castle near El Mina, on 1 May. Contrary to the popular picture, Holmes had no hand in the capture of New Amsterdam.

In August, Michiel de Ruyter had clandestinely been sent to undo what Holmes had achieved. De Ruyter recaptured everything Holmes had conquered, except for Cape Coast Castle, which meant that after 1664, the English were on that coast to stay.

His return to England was desultory, as he tried to make out the repercussions his actions had evoked in London. Since he commanded navy ships, everything he had taken was not automatically the company's property, but would have to be cleared by Admiralty Courts to be prizes of Holmes and his men. Since Holmes's booty in merchandise was far behind the company's (unreasonable) expectations, he was twice committed to the Tower (9 January and 14 February 1665), where he was interrogated by secretaries of state Henry Bennet and William Morrice. This situation was resolved by the Dutch declaration of 22 February that they would retaliate against British shipping, a direct consequence of the goings-on in Africa, that the British conveniently interpreted as a declaration of war.

The Second Dutch War
Barely a month after his release and full pardon, Holmes assumed command of HMS Revenge (1654), a third-rate of 58 guns, the senior captain of Rupert's white (van) squadron. When at the battle of Lowestoft (3 June 1665) the rear-admiral of the white, Robert Sansum, was killed, Holmes claimed his post (which Rupert endorsed), but James gave the flag to his own flag captain, Harman. Holmes lost his temper and resigned his commission. Even worse, Holmes's rival Sir Jeremiah Smith was promoted to flag rank. But reconciliation was, again, not far away.

On 27 March 1666, the powerful new third-rate Defiance (64) was launched in the presence of Charles II, James and Rupert, Holmes having been appointed captain and being knighted on the occasion. Part of the red squadron, Holmes was finally given acting flag-rank when the fleet was divided to shadow the Dutch and simultaneously intercept the French (which put him, satisfyingly, one step above Harman, rear-admiral of the white - a slighting of the principle of seniority which would have been unthinkable at the end of the century).

During the murderous Four Days Battle, Holmes was reported to have "done wonders" (CSP Dom., 7 June 1666), and was confirmed as rear-admiral of the red, his ship having received such a battering that he transferred his flag to the partially burnt and dismasted Henry (72), Harman's ship, who had been wounded. But again, his rivals Sir Jeremiah Smith (made admiral of the blue) and Sir Edward Spragge (vice-admiral of the blue) were promoted above him. These professional rivalries were a hallmark of the restoration navy, and Holmes used the conduct of the St James' Day Fight, to start a bitter quarrel with Sir Jeremiah Smith, whose rear squadron had been routed by Cornelis Tromp. The recriminations between the officers and their respective factions played a role in the subsequent Parliamentary investigation over embezzlement in the naval administration and the conduct of the war.

On 9 August 1666, Holmes achieved his best-known feat, characteristically (and, to Pepys and Coventry, exasperatingly) using his own judgement in interpreting his orders. Holmes was to land five hundred men on the island of Vlieland and four hundred on Terschelling and loot and destroy as much as possible. Instead of this, Holmes executed a fireship attack on the mass of merchantmen lying in Vlie Road, destroying some 150 ships, and sacked the Mennonite town of West-Terschelling.

This, Holmes's Bonfire, was the heaviest blow the English ever dealt Dutch merchant shipping, severely endangering the Netherlands' war effort, at the cost of no more than twelve English casualties. Holmes now was in high favour. Early in 1667 he was appointed to command a squadron based in Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, a lucrative appointment that even enabled him to fit one of the squadron's prizes as a privateer. In April 1667, he was commissioned a captain in the 2nd Regiment of Foot Guards, which he resigned before 1670.

As early as December 1666, Pepys had commented on Holmes's stubborn opposition to the laying-up of the fleet in expectation of peace. Holmes was alive to the danger of a Dutch assault - which duly came on 10 June 1667, when Michiel de Ruyter during the Raid on the Medway entered the Medway, burned a large part of the fleet in ordinary (i.e. laid up) at Chatham and hijacked Royal Charles.

After that year's campaign had ended, Parliament's interest in naval administration intensified, much to Pepys's and Coventry's distress. Rupert and Albemarle, like most naval officers, especially of the Cavalier and gentleman sort, had long been unhappy with the off-hand treatment they received from the administrators. These, in turn, found the officers arrogant and unruly. Now the commanders-in-chief and their clients, Sir Frescheville Holles, Holmes and others, might strike back, especially after the Medway disaster.

In addition, Holmes, in the winter of 1666/1667, had revived the quarrel with Sir Jeremiah Smith (possibly even fighting a duel with him), which only ended when the latter took Sir William Penn's place on the Navy Board (which again Holmes had hoped would be his) in December 1668.

After peace was concluded, Holmes intensified his hold in the Isle of Wight by buying the governorship from Lord Colepeper. This put him in responsibility of the defences there (Sandown, Carisbrooke and Yarmouth Castles), but also gave him access to the very lucrative vice-admiralty of the Isle of Wight, Newport and Hampshire, with two-thirds of the value of all prizes taken there due to him.

In addition, in October 1669, he was elected Member of Parliament for Winchester, generally supporting the Crown in Parliament.

The Third Dutch War
Among the preparations for provoking the Dutch into yet another war, was the appointment of Holmes as senior officer in Portsmouth, commanding a powerful squadron and the flagship St Michael, a first-rate of 90 guns. Holmes immediately pressed for the capture of a large number of Dutch ships, using English harbours under foreign colours; but the government procrastinated until the opportunity was gone.

On 23 March 1672, he finally got permission to attack the homeward-bound Dutch Smyrna convoy. For two days, the English squadron fought a veritable battle with the armed merchantmen and their escorts, suffering damage out of proportion to their gains, half a dozen prizes only one of which seems to have been one of the rich Smyrna ships. Accidentally, Sir Edward Spragge's squadron, returning from the Mediterranean, had passed the scene immediately before the engagement. For unknown reasons, Spragge did not join the attack nor was invited by Holmes to do so, which gave rise to new mutual suspicions. A few days after the fight war was declared and flags handed out. Holmes did not receive one, which may have had to do with the limited number of posts available due to the white squadron this time consisting of the French fleet. Accordingly, Holmes fought in the ensuing Battle of Solebay as a mere captain in the Duke of York's squadron. The battle, the fiercest in De Ruyter's memory, claimed the lives of Holmes's friends Holles and Sandwich, and forced the Lord High Admiral to transfer his flag twice, from Prince to Holmes's St Michael and from that to London. With Sandwich dead, a new flag officer had to be appointed, but Holmes's legitimate claims were again disregarded - for the last time.

After the end of the 1672 campaign, Holmes did not get another command, notwithstanding the constant intercession on his behalf of the new commander-in-chief, his stout friend Prince Rupert. Obviously, the King himself had no desire to re-employ him. Holmes's naval career had very abruptly ended.

Life in "retirement"
Although he would not let him serve in his fleet any longer, the King continued to lavish gifts upon Holmes, rents in Co. Southampton, the Isle of Wight and Wales and forfeited lands in counties Galway and Mayo. He possessed houses in London, Englefield Green near Windsor, Bath, and of course an establishment worthy of a governor in Yarmouth. Most of his time in "retirement", Holmes spent in rebuilding the Isle of Wight's castles and managing parliamentary elections to ensure the return of government candidates. He himself did not run for the Exclusion Bill Parliaments of 1679–1681, and in 1682 he incurred the severest displeasure of Charles II for presenting an address from the Duke of Monmouth. A court martial was prepared together with a warrant to transfer the governorship to the Duke of Grafton, but Holmes either managed to avert prosecution or acquitted himself, for he remained governor until his death.

A stout supporter of his lifelong employers, the royal brothers, it is unclear why Holmes should have associated with Monmouth; at the centre of the question may lie the shady Irish financier Lemuel Kingdon, who sat for Newtown and Yarmouth together with Holmes's brother, John.

On 21 August 1687, secretary of state Sunderland signed a commission that put Holmes in command of a squadron to suppress the buccaneers of the West Indies, but it is doubtful whether he ever actually took command. Since the wound received during the clash with the Smyrna Convoy, his health was steadily deteriorating, and an expedition that sailed in September 1687 was commanded by Sir John Narborough in his stead. Holmes was now busy preparing the defence against Dutch invasion. On 4 November 1688, five sailors of the invasion fleet landed on the Isle of Wight to buy provisions, being welcomed by the population.

While the English fleet lay becalmed off Beachy Head and William III landed his forces at Torbay, Holmes wrestled with his mutinous militia. While James had fled his capital on 11 December (an action Parliament took as his relinquishing the throne) and one day later, the commander-in-chief, Sir George Legge, Lord Dartmouth brought the fleet over to William, it was not before 17 December that Holmes surrendered.

He continued as governor of the Isle of Wight, although he was occasionally suspected of Jacobite conspiracy. But such reservations as he had against the overthrow of James II stemmed from the loyalty of a military professional, and after his vote in parliament against the accession of William and Mary was defeated, he served them with the same determination as he had the Stuart kings. Although his health was now rapidly giving out and he had to spend more and more time of the year in Bath, the threat of French invasions in 1690 and 1692 made him hurry back to his post as swiftly as ever.

Family
Holmes died on 18 November 1692, leaving one illegitimate daughter and heiress, Mary Holmes (born 1678). Her mother is believed to have been Grace Hooke, a niece of the famous scientist Robert Hooke.

As had been her father's wish, Mary married Henry Holmes, the son of his elder brother Colonel Thomas Holmes of Kilmallock, Co. Limerick. Her son Thomas, in turn, would eventually achieve the peerage for the family as Lord Holmes of Kilmallock in 1760. Holmes's younger brother, Sir John Holmes, was a naval captain of repute and competence, having for years served together with his eminent brother, and commanded the Channel Fleet (1677–1679).

Genealogy

 * Henry Holmes of Mallow, Cork, Ireland
 * Colonel Thomas Holmes of Kilmallock, Limerick, Ireland
 * Henry Holmes (c. 1660–1738) m. Mary Holmes (daughter of Admiral Sir Robert Holmes)
 * Coronet of a British Baron.svg Thomas Holmes, 1st Baron Holmes (1699–1764)
 * Lieutenant General Henry Holmes (1703–62)
 * Rear Admiral Charles Holmes (1711–1761)
 * Elizabeth Holmes m. Thomas Troughear
 * Leonard (Troughear) Holmes, 1st Baron Holmes (c. 1732–1804) m. Elizabeth Tyrrell (d. 1810)
 * The Hon. Elizabeth Holmes m. Edward Rushout
 * Descendants
 * Admiral Sir Robert Holmes (c. 1622–1692), English Admiral
 * Mary Holmes (wife of Henry Holmes)
 * Lucretia Holmes m. William Sewell
 * Lucretia Sewell m. Edward Hingston of Devon
 * William Hingston (d. 2 Nov 1854 Buffalo, New York) m. Jane Carroll
 * Samuel Hingston m. Anna Anderson
 * Anna Eliza Hingston m. William Roggen Lansing of Rochester, New York, son of William van Kleeck Lansing of Albany, ancestor of the Lansing family of Rochester.
 * Descendants, to include members of the MacCarthy Reagh dynasty and the Lord of the Manor of Didderston.
 * Admiral Sir John Holmes (1640?–1683), English Admiral leader

title: Robert Holmes (Royal Navy officer)