Francis Samuel Holmes was the fourth of eight children born to Samuel Lambert Holmes, a bootmaker, and Frances Spencer. He was born at Steglitz or Stiglitz, outside Geeelong. When he enlisted on 3 August, 1915, he was nineteen years old and living with his father at 60 Jolimont Rd., Jolimont. The house number may be wrong, as his father, post-war, corrected the entry to 50 Jolimont Rd.. The alternative explanation may be that he moved during the war years. On his enlistment form, Francis describes his trade as bootmaker. He was single, 5' 4" tall, with fair hair and grey eyes, and had served in the Senior Cadets for two years.

He was sent to Broadmeadows Camp for training on 16 July. Following his training, he was taken on strength with the 8th Battalion, 10th Reinforcements on 7 January, 1916. They embarked on 29 February and joined the British Expeditionary Force at Alexandria. From here, his Battalion was sent to France, but his personal record is lacking in any detail of where he served and in what capacity. In 1916, his brother, Leonard Spencer Holmes, also a bootmaker, also enlisted. and was appointed as a Driver for the 14th Field ArtilleryBrigade.

Although the 8th Battalion took part in all the major fronts of the war, Gallipoli, the Western Front, there is nothing said of Francis Holmes' part in his military record. It could have been because his trade, bootmaking was of significant value to the army, and perhaps he spent his war behind the lines, giving valuable service in mending and making boots. He appears to have come through the war from 1916 to 1919 unscathed, an unlikely event if he was in the trenches.

On 6 March, 1919, he was sent back to Australia on the City of Poona and finally discharged on 6 July that year. He was discharged from further service and went back to civilian life. In 1921, he married Lilly Josephine Russell and went back to his trade as a bootmaker. By 1924, he was living at 314 Richardson St., Middle Park and leased a shop at 120 Russell St in the city. Perhaps because of the Great Depression, Lilly was working at Melbourne Hospital as a nurse, though on earlier electoral rolls, she had described herself as engaged in home duties. Francis and Lilly were still at that address in 1931. In the meantime, his father had moved from Jolimont to Essendon. By 1936, Francis and Lilly had also moved to Essendon and were living at 37 Beaver St., while his father resided at 11 Lorraine St., Essendon and shared the lease of the Russell St. shop. It was a family business: Leonard and his wife, Myrtle, also lived at 11 Lorraine St. and the father and the two brothers leased the bootmakers' premises at 120 Russell St., Melbourne. In 1942, they were still there, but with the addition of Avice Tasman Holmes, perhaps a sister, also listed as home duties. By 1954, they were sharing their home with Frederick Eustace Holmes, a mechanic, while Leonard Holmes, another bootmakker, lived nearby at 2 Lorraine St. Francis and Lily stayed in Essendon until at leasdt 1968, though in the 1963 Electoral Rolls, Francis described himself as a clerk and they had moved to 1 Kilmartin st, Essendon. The couple's final move was to Glenthompson, where in 1972 they were living at a property named 'Naranga'. Francis Samuel Holmes died in 1981 at Bentleigh, Victoria.