Earl of Home
Encyclopedia
The title Earl of Home was created in 1605 in the Peerage of Scotland
for Alexander Home of that Ilk, who was already the 6th Lord Home.
The Earl of Home holds the subsidiary titles of Lord Home (created 1473), and Lord Dunglass (1605), in the Peerage of Scotland
; and Baron Douglas, of Douglas in the County of Lanark (1875) in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
. Various Earls of Home have also claimed the title of Lord Hume of Berwick
. The Earl is also Chief of the Name and Arms of Home
and heir general to the House of Douglas
. The title Lord Dunglass is the courtesy title
of the eldest son of the Earl.
The most famous recent holder of the title was the 14th Earl, Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, better known as Sir Alec Douglas-Home
. After the unexpected resignation of Harold Macmillan
, the 14th Earl was named Prime Minister by the monarch. For the first time in over sixty years, a sitting Prime Minister was a member of the House of Lords
rather than of the House of Commons
. Because he believed that it was impractical and unconventional to remain a member of the Lords, the Earl disclaimed his peerages in 1963 under the Peerage Act
passed in the same year. He then contested the House of Commons seat of Kinross and Western Perthshire
by standing in the Kinross and West Perthshire by-election, 1963
. The seat had been vacated by the death of the previous Member of Parliament
, Gilmour Leburn
. The Earldom and subsidiary titles belonged to no-one until the death of Sir Alec Douglas-Home, when they passed to his son, the present holder, David Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of Home
.
The family seats are The Hirsel, Berwickshire
and Castlemains, Douglas, South Lanarkshire
.
The heir apparent is the present holder's son Michael David Alexander Douglas-Home, Lord Dunglass (b. 1987)
Peerage of Scotland
The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...
for Alexander Home of that Ilk, who was already the 6th Lord Home.
The Earl of Home holds the subsidiary titles of Lord Home (created 1473), and Lord Dunglass (1605), in the Peerage of Scotland
Peerage of Scotland
The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...
; and Baron Douglas, of Douglas in the County of Lanark (1875) in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...
. Various Earls of Home have also claimed the title of Lord Hume of Berwick
Lord Hume of Berwick
Baron Hume of Berwick is a title which has been created twice in the Peerages of England and Great Britain.-First creation:The title was first created as Baron Hume of Berwick in the Peerage of England on 7 July 1604, for George Home, Lord Treasurer of Scotland, member of the English Privy Council,...
. The Earl is also Chief of the Name and Arms of Home
Clan Home
The Homes are a Scottish family. They were a powerful force in medieval Lothian and the Borders. The chief of the name is David Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of Home.-Origins of the clan:...
and heir general to the House of Douglas
Clan Douglas
Clan Douglas is an ancient Scottish kindred from the Scottish Lowlands taking its name from Douglas, South Lanarkshire, and thence spreading through the Scottish Borderland, Angus, Lothian and beyond. The clan does not currently have a chief, therefore it is considered an armigerous clan.The...
. The title Lord Dunglass is the courtesy title
Courtesy title
A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer. These styles are used 'by courtesy' in the sense that the relatives do not themselves hold substantive titles...
of the eldest son of the Earl.
The most famous recent holder of the title was the 14th Earl, Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, better known as Sir Alec Douglas-Home
Alec Douglas-Home
Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, KT, PC , known as The Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963 and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1974, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964.He is the last...
. After the unexpected resignation of Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
, the 14th Earl was named Prime Minister by the monarch. For the first time in over sixty years, a sitting Prime Minister was a member of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
rather than of the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
. Because he believed that it was impractical and unconventional to remain a member of the Lords, the Earl disclaimed his peerages in 1963 under the Peerage Act
Peerage Act 1963
The Peerage Act 1963 is the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that permitted peeresses in their own right and all Scottish hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, and which allows newly inherited hereditary peerages to be "disclaimed".-Background:The Act resulted largely from the...
passed in the same year. He then contested the House of Commons seat of Kinross and Western Perthshire
Kinross and Western Perthshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Kinross and Western Perthshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1983, representing, at any one time, a seat for one Member of Parliament , elected by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:The constituency was...
by standing in the Kinross and West Perthshire by-election, 1963
Kinross and West Perthshire by-election, 1963
The Kinross and West Perthshire by-election of 7 November 1963 was a by-election to the House of Commons. It was unique among by-elections since 1918 in that one of the candidates was the sitting Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home; he had been nominated for the constituency after disclaiming a...
. The seat had been vacated by the death of the previous Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, Gilmour Leburn
Gilmour Leburn
Gilmour Leburn was a British company director and politician. He served in the government of Harold Macmillan as a Minister in the Scottish Office; his sudden death opened the way for Macmillan's successor, Sir Alec Douglas-Home to return to the House of Commons.-Early life:Leburn went to...
. The Earldom and subsidiary titles belonged to no-one until the death of Sir Alec Douglas-Home, when they passed to his son, the present holder, David Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of Home
David Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of Home
David Alexander Cospatrick Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of Home, CVO, CBE is a Scottish peer, the only son of former Conservative Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home...
.
The family seats are The Hirsel, Berwickshire
Berwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
and Castlemains, Douglas, South Lanarkshire
Douglas, South Lanarkshire
Douglas is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on the south bank of the Douglas Water and on the A70 road that links Ayr, on the West coast of Scotland, to Edinburgh on the East, around 12 miles south west of Lanark. The placename is of Gaelic origin, derived from the Old Gaelic...
.
Lords Home (1473)
- Alexander Home, 1st Lord HomeAlexander Home, 1st Lord HomeSir Alexander Home of that Ilk, 1st Lord Home was in 1448 Sheriff Deputy for Berwickshire, and was made a Lord of Parliament on 2 August 1473...
(d. 1490)- Alexander Home, Master of Home (d. c. 1456)
- Alexander Home, 2nd Lord Home (d. 1506)
- Alexander Home, 3rd Lord HomeAlexander Home, 3rd Lord HomeAlexander Home, 3rd Lord Home His mother was Nicholace Ker, a daughter of George Ker of Samuelston, his father the 2nd Lord Home. Alexander Home was found guilty of treason in 1516 and executed....
(d. 1516) - George Home, 4th Lord HomeGeorge Home, 4th Lord HomeGeorge Home, 4th Lord Home was a Scottish nobleman. The son of Alexander Home, 2nd Lord Home and his wife Nicola Ker, daughter of George Ker of Samuelston, he succeeded his brother, Alexander Home, 3rd Lord Home, when he died on October 8, 1516....
(d. 1549) - Alexander Home, 5th Lord HomeAlexander Home, 5th Lord HomeAlexander Home, 5th Lord Home was the son of George Home, 4th Lord Home and Mariotta Haliburton. He became Lord Home on the death of his father who was injured in a skirmish with the English two days before the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh.-Marriages:...
(d. 1575) - Alexander Home, 6th Lord Home (c. 1566–1619) (created Earl of Home in 1605)
Earls of Home (1605)
- Alexander Home, 1st Earl of Home (c. 1566–1619)
- James Home, 2nd Earl of Home (d. 1633)
- James Home, 3rd Earl of Home (c. 1615–1666)
- Alexander Home, 4th Earl of Home (d. 1674)
- James Home, 5th Earl of Home (d. 1687)
- Charles Home, 6th Earl of Home (d. 1706)
- Alexander Home, 7th Earl of Home (d. 1720)
- William Home, 8th Earl of HomeWilliam Home, 8th Earl of HomeLieutenant General Sir William Home, 8th Earl of Home was the eighth holder of the title of Earl of Home.-Military career:...
(d. 1761) - Alexander Home, 9th Earl of Home (d. 1786)
- William Home, Lord Dunglass (1757–1781)
- Alexander Home, 10th Earl of Home (1769–1841)
- Cospatrick Alexander Home, 11th Earl of Home (1799–1881) (created Baron Douglas in 1875)
- Charles Alexander Douglas-Home, 12th Earl of HomeCharles Douglas-Home, 12th Earl of HomeCharles Alexander Douglas-Home, 12th Earl of Home KT was a Scottish peer.He was born 1834 at the family home of The Hirsel near Coldstream, the son of the Cospatrick Douglas-Home, 11th Earl of Home, and known as Lord Dunglass until his father's death.He was Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire 1879-80,...
(1834–1918) - Charles Cospatrick Archibald Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of HomeCharles Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of HomeCharles Cospatrick Archibald Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of Home KT was the father of British Prime Minister, Alec Douglas-Home.Charles was born in 1873, the son of Charles Douglas-Home, 12th Earl of Home...
(1873–1951) - Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, 14th Earl of HomeAlec Douglas-HomeAlexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, KT, PC , known as The Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963 and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1974, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964.He is the last...
(1903–1995) (disclaimed 1963) - David Alexander Cospatrick Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of HomeDavid Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of HomeDavid Alexander Cospatrick Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of Home, CVO, CBE is a Scottish peer, the only son of former Conservative Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home...
(b. 1943)
The heir apparent is the present holder's son Michael David Alexander Douglas-Home, Lord Dunglass (b. 1987)