Arthur Herbert Holmes was born in Little Brickhill, Buckinghamshire, England on 28 October 1884. It is not known where or with whom he received his training as an architect. By 1911 he was employed as an assistant architect by Buckinghamshire County Education Committee. He was living in Bedfordshire in 1915 and by 1923 had moved to Southend-on-Sea, Essex. He subsequently designed numerous buildings throughout Essex
Drawings and plans of a house designed by him are illustrated in Designs for One Hundred Ideal £1,000 Houses. Being copies of the hundred best designs entered in the 1912 Daily Mail Architects' Competition (1912 p.59).
His address was given as Abbot’s Road, Manor Park, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire in 1912; High Street, Wickford, Essex in 1923; 18, Cliff Town Road, Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1923 and 1926. He died in Abertillery, Monmouthshire, Wales on 15 December 1964.