Thomas Holman was born in Folkestone, Kent, in 1837, the son of Joseph Holman, 45yrs, and Elizabeth, 30yrs, nee Spearpoint. He had 2 brothers, John b. 1835, and Joseph b.1839. His father was independently wealthy, and Thomas was educated at Oundle School, Northamptonshire. He joined the Royal Wiltshire Militia, achieving the rank of Captain in his 30s.
Thomas, 24yrs, married Mary Louisa Carter, 20yrs, in Dover, Kent, on 23rd July 1861; she was the daughter of George and Mary Carter of Kennington Hall, Ashford, Kent, another family of wealth.
Over the following 20 years the couple had 15 children, 3 died in infancy. They were residents of Eastbourne, Sussex, and after retiring from the army, Thomas became a well-known businessman in the town, he was the first secretary and manager of Devonshire Park, also secretary of the Devonshire Club and of Eastbourne College, and he was the first Returning Officer for the Borough in 1883, when Eastbourne was incorporated.
At some point, his widowed mother-in-law, Mary Carter, had moved to Heene Terrace, Worthing, and in the census of 1891, Thomas's wife and 9 of their children were resident with her. Thomas was still in Kent, visiting a family in Bromley on census night.
On 24th January 1899, Thomas was admitted to the Holloway Sanatorium in Egham, Surrey, suffering from general paralysis of the insane; he died there on 29th December 1899, aged 62yrs, his address was given as 5, Heene Terrace, Worthing. He was buried at Heene cemetery on 14th January 1900.