Holmes , John Henry , 1866-1934 , missionary

Born at Harbertonford, Devon, England, 1866; studied at Western College; appointed London Missionary Society (LMS) missionary to the Fly River District, Papua, ordained in Plymouth, and travelled to Papua, 1893; visited the Fly River and Western Stations and returned to Thursday Island; at Port Moresby for a time; appointed to the Elema district and settled at Jokea, 1894; visited the mission stations in the (Torres) Straits and Fly River and returned to Jokea, 1895; to benefit his health, went with the mission ship the SS John Williams IV on its round of visits to the South Sea stations, 1896; returned to Papua and moved to Orokolo, 1897; visited England and married Alice Middleton (d 1941) in Plymouth, 1901; returned with his wife to Papua, 1902; volunteered to move to the Purari Delta, 1904; visited Australia to superintend the construction of a launch, the Purari, 1905; settled at Urika, 1906; visited Australia for health reasons, 1911; went to Sydney for his wife's health, 1917; the couple returned to England, 1919; retired from active service, 1920; an authority on the Elema cultures; died in Streatham, London, 1934. Publications: By Canoe to Cannibal Land (1923); In Primitive New Guinea (1924); Way back in Papua (1926).