John Barkell Holman (26 February 1872 – 23 February 1925) was an Australian politician who served in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1901 to 1921 and 1923 to 1925.
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Holman was born on 26 February 1872 at Clunes in colonial Victoria, the son of Cornish parents. His father, Edward Holman, was a miner born in 1841 at Gwinear, Cornwall. His mother, Mary Anne (née Barkell), was born in 1837 at St Austell, Cornwall.[1] He was educated at Bendigo, then worked as a miner, first at Bendigo, where he became a member of the Bendigo Miners' Association in 1886; and later at Broken Hill, New South Wales, where he was involved in the strike of 1892. On 14 February 1893, he married Katherine Mary Row at Broken Hill;[2] they had four sons and six daughters.
Holman was secretary of the Federated Timber Workers' Union from 1908 until his death in 1925. He was Chairman of Committees in the Legislative Assembly from 1 November 1911 to 22 March 1917, and later acted as secretary and whip for the Parliamentary Labor Party. He launched the Labor newspaper The Labor Vanguard, and became chairman of directors for the People's Printing Company.
Holman lost Labor preselection for his seat in the election of 12 March 1921, and instead unsuccessfully contested the seat of Swan. The following year he contested for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Swan, again without success. However, on 8 December 1923, he won the Legislative Assembly seat of Forrest in a by-election occasioned by the death of Peter O'Loghlen. He held the seat until his death.