HOME, EARLS OF. Alexander Home or Hume, 1st earl of Home (c. 1566-1619), was the son of Alexander, 5th Lord Home (d. 1575), who fought against Mary, queen of Scots, at Carberry Hill and at Langside, but was afterwards one of her most stalwart supporters, being taken prisoner when defending Edinburgh castle in her interests in 1573 and probably dying in captivity. He be longed to an old and famous border family, an early member of which, Sir Alexander Home, was killed at the battle of. Verneuil in 1424. Sir Alexander (d. 1491) was created a lord of parliament as Lord Home in 1473, being one of the band of nobles who de feated the forces of King James III. at the battle of Sauchieburn in 1488.
Alexander 6th Lord Home (d. 1619) was warden of the east marches, and was often at variance with the Hepburns, a rival border family whose head was the earl of Bothwell. Home ac companied James to England in 1603 and was created earl of Home in 1605; he died in April 1619.
His son James, the 2nd earl, died childless in 1633 when his titles passed to a distant kinsman, Sir James Home of Colding knows (d. i666), a descendant of the ist Lord Home. This earl was in the Scottish ranks at the battle of Preston and lost his estates under the Commonwealth, but these were restored to him in His descendant, William, the 8th earl (d. 1761) fought on the English side at Prestonpans, and from his brother Alexander, the 9th earl (d. 1786), the present earl of Home is descended. In 1875 Cospatrick Alexander, the 11th earl 1881), was created a peer of the United Kingdom as Baron Douglas, and his son Charles Alexander, the 12th earl 1918), took the additional name of Douglas. The principal strong holds of the Homes were Douglas castle in Haddington and Home castle in Berwickshire.
See H. Drummond, Histories of Noble British Families (1846). HOME, DANIEL DUNGLAS (1833-1886), Scottish me dium, was born near Edinburgh, March 20, 1833, his father was said to be a natural son of the loth earl of Home. He went with his mother to America, and on her death was adopted by an aunt. In the United States he came out as a spiritualistic medium, though he never sought to make money out of his exhibitions. In 1855 he came to England and gave numerous seances, which were attended by many well-known people. Robert Browning gave his impression of Home in the unflattering poem of "Sludge the Medium" (1864) . Home had many disciples, and gave seances at several European courts. He became a Roman Catholic, but was expelled from Rome as a sorcerer. Home published two volumes of Incidents of my Life and Lights and Shadows of Spiritualism. He died at Auteuil, France, on June 21, 1886.