This web site is an attempt to collect any information regarding all of the branches of  Holmes Family. We hope this web site will facilitate a collaborative effort that will allow many others to contribute information, stories, anecdotes and any other information that would be interesting to the descendants.

This genealogy traces the family history back to the time that the first immigrants arrived in Africa, starting with the first van Zyl landing at the Cape of Good Hope with Van Riebecks party in 1652.

Some of the family migrated as far north as Kenya and were among the first pioneers in that country.

While many members of the family are still in Africa, some permanently, the many political changes in Africa, starting in the 1950’s, caused the dispersal of the family to almost every country in the world. We hope that this record will prove useful to future generations and provide them answers to their heritage based on the context of the time, rather than the context of the history that they will be taught in their time.

The inspiration for this web site came from Shirley Norris (nee Holmes) whose countless hours of research over many years has shed the light on a past that has been difficult to trace. The amount of information available here is due to her persistence when faced with odds that must have at times seemed insurmountable. Surnames that followed the patriarchal line have not always been in fashion and often simply indicated the town that the person came from. If the person moved their surname simply changed to the name of the new place they were from. ‘van’ if the heritage was Dutch, ‘du’ if Huguenot. That many farm worker’s children took the last name of the owner of the farm on which they worked, rather than the surname of their father, did not make the trail any easier to follow.

Also appreciated is all the information supplied by Neil Holmes of East London, South Africa.. Much of the information on this site would not be here but for his collection and recollection and his willingness to share and participate in the research. Thank you Neil.

While it is in current fashion for genealogy sites to show family crests or coats of arms, we do so here making no claim that it is accurate. There are a number of coats of arms for the Holmes name, I just liked the moto on this one.

Crests and coats of arms were painted on shields and armor in battle so that friend could be distinguished from foe in the heat of battle. As such, crests and coats of arms belonged to large European land owners who could press their tenants into service during war. These tenants wore the coat of arms of their Lord or Baron so that they could recognize each other and rally to the flag or standard that bore the coat of arms under which they fought.

While some of our ancestors may have had land holdings of sufficient size to raise an army of peasants who would wear their coat of arms, certainly this was not the way things worked in Africa where coats of arms belonged to countries and not land owners and the citizens rallied to the flag or coat of arms of their country, not their landlord. Under these circumstances, to invent a fictitious coat of arms for this site seems both out of place with our heritage and somewhat pretentious, so do not look for a crest or coat of arms, there is none.

We encourage you to contribute any information you think may be pertinent and, if included on the site, you will certainly be given credit. Use the Contact Us item on the menu to send the information in.