George Frederick Holmes, an American educator, born in Demerara, Guiana, in 1820. He was brought up and educated in England. When 11 years of age he was presented by the bishop of Bristol with a scholarship in the London university, admitting him to the senior class. This was not accepted, but at a later period he went to the university of Durham, and gained an open scholarship. He came to the United States at the age of 18, and was engaged in a classical academy near the Wilderness, Virginia, in 1838-'9. Next he taught in Georgia. In 1840 he was placed in charge of the Walterborough academy, South Carolina, He had while teaching studied jurisprudence, and in 1842 was authorized by a special act of the South Carolina legislature to practise law, although not naturalized. Soon afterward he was made assistant editor of the " Southern Quarterly Review." In 1845 he was recalled to Virginia as professor in Richmond college; and in 1847 he became professor of history, political economy, and international law in William and Mary college. In 1846 he was elected president of the university of Mississippi, with the departments of mental and moral philosophy, political economy, and history. He held this post but a short time, declining health obliging him to seek rest in the Virginia mountains.

In 1857 he was elected professor of history and literature in the university of Virginia. He has prepared a series of text books designed especially for schools in the southern states.