William Frederick Holmes à Court, 3rd Baron Heytesbury (25 June 1862 – 15 August 1903) was a British peer and landowner in Wiltshire, a member of the House of Lords from 1891 until his death.
Background and education He was the elder son of William Leonard Holmes à Court (1835–1885) and his wife Isabella Sophia, a daughter of the Reverend Richard à Court Beadon,Burke's Peerage, volume 2 (2003), page 1900 whose mother, Annabella à Court (1781–1866) had been a daughter of Sir William à Court, 1st Baronet."Reverend Richard à Court Beadon", holmesacourt.org, accessed 26 October 2025
Career On 21 April 1891, he succeeded his grandfather William à Court-Holmes as Baron Heytesbury (1828) and as a Baronet (1795). He was a Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire.
Family On 19 November 1887, he married Margaret Anna Harman, daughter of John Nixon Harman and Margaret Elizabeth Day, and they had two children: Margaret Elinor FitzHerbert (née Holmes à Court) (1888–1957), married in 1907 to Henry Edward FitzHerbert, a younger son of Sir Richard FitzHerbert, 5th Baronet, who later became a Church of England clergyman. They had four daughters and three sons, including Sir John Richard Frederick FitzHerbert, 8th Baronet (1913–1989), who inherited the Tissington Hall estate in 1963. William Leonard Holmes à Court (born and died 1889)
His sudden death at the age of 41 came as a shock, as he was thought to be in excellent health."DEATH OF LORD HEYTESBURY", Wiltshire Telegraph, Saturday 22 August 1903, p. 1: "Only 41 years old Lord Heytesbury had the appearance of excellent health..."
Land-holding Heytesbury's entry in Who's Who 1903 said he "owned about 13,400 acres" and lived at Heytesbury, Wiltshire, and Westover, Newport, Isle of Wight."Heytesbury, 3rd Baron cr 1828, (William Frederick Holmes A’Court) (25 June 1862–15 Aug. 1903)", Who Was Who, published online 1 December 2007, accessed 26 October 2025 He died in 1903, at Heytesbury House, and since 1901 had been master of the South and West Wilts Hunt. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Leonard Holmes à Court."DEATH OF LORD HEYTESBURY", Gloucestershire Echo, Saturday 15 August 1903, p. 4
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