title: George Frederick Holmes
text: George Frederick Holmes (1820 – November 4, 1897), emigrated to the United States where he taught history and literature and became the first Chancellor of the University of Mississippi (from 1848 to 1849). From 1857 until his death, Holmes taught literature, history and political economy at the University of Virginia and became known for textbooks designed for use in schools in the southern United States.
  
  Early life and education
  George Frederick Holmes was born in 1820 in British Guyana, either in its capital Georgetown or the surrounding Demerera region. In 1836, he attended the University of Durham in England, but left for Quebec in 1837 without taking a degree.
  
  Career
  
  In 1838, Holmes emigrated to the United States and taught in Caroline County, Virginia. He moved to Macon, Georgia, where in addition to teaching, he began to study law. In 1840, Holmes moved to South Carolina where he taught first in Walterboro, then in Orangeburg. Holmes also continued to study law and was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1842, but did not practice as a lawyer for any significant period. Instead, he resumed his teaching career.
  
  In 1845, Holmes became a professor of Ancient Languages at Richmond College, now known as the University of Richmond. In 1847, Holmes became Professor of History and Political Economy at the College of William and Mary.
  
  Holmes then moved to Mississippi and from 1848 to 1849 taught and served as the first President of the University of Mississippi.
  
  In 1857, Holmes returned to Virginia as professor of history and general literature at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.  He wrote in opposition Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1858. In 1860, he owned one enslaved 12 year old Black boy.
  In 1882, years after the American Civil War and after creating a school of English language and literature, the University of Virginia reduced Holmes' teaching duties, relieving him of literature courses, so he only taught history and political economy. In 1889 Holmes was appointed an adjunct professor of history, and taught classes in political economy and the science of society. He also privately printed his lectures on the science of society.
  The Southern Quarterly Review, the Southern Literary Messenger, DeBow's Review, and the Methodist Quarterly Review published articles Holmes wrote. He corresponded with Auguste Comte and John C. Calhoun. He supported state rights, African-American slavery, and an end to tariffs.
  
  Personal life
  Holmes married Virginian Lavalette Holmes and they had at least two sons (Henry born 1855 and Frederick born 1858) as well as three daughters (Mary Ann born 1846, Letticia born 1849 and Isabella born 1856).
  
  Death and legacy
  
  Holmes died in Charlottesville in 1897.
  
  Books written by G.F. Holmes
  The Southern Pictorial Primer, or First-Fifth Reader (1866)
  A School History of the United States of America, From the Earliest Discoveries to the Year 1870 (1871)
  
  References
  
  External links
   
  
  1820 births
  1897 deaths
  British emigrants to the United States
  People from Georgetown, Guyana
  University of Richmond faculty
  College of William & Mary faculty
  Chancellors of the University of Mississippi
  University of Mississippi faculty
  University of Virginia faculty
  Alumni of University College, Durham