Earl of Home
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The title Earl of Home (pronounced "Hume") was created in 1605 in the Peerage of Scotland for Alexander Home, who was also the sixth Lord Home.
The most famous holder of the title was the fourteenth Earl, Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, better known as Sir Alec Douglas-Home. After the unexpected resignation of Harold Macmillan, the fourteenth Earl was named Prime Minister. 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 peerage in 1964 under the Peerage Act passed in the previous year. He then contested a House of Commons seat, which had just become vacant due to the deliberate resignation of a Conservative MP. The Earldom belonged to no-one until the death of Sir Alec Douglas-Home, when it passed to the present holder, the fifteenth Earl.
The Earl of Home holds three subsidiary titles, namely: Lord Home (created 1473), Lord Dunglass (1605) and Baron Douglas of Douglas (1875). The first two are in the Peerage of Scotland, while the last is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The title Lord Dunglass is the courtesy title for the eldest son of the Earl.
The family seat is The Hirsel near Coldstream, Scotland.
Lords Home (1473)
- Alexander Home, 1st Lord Home (d. 1490)
- Alexander Home, 2nd Lord Home (d. 1506)
- Alexander Home, 3rd Lord Home (d. 1516)
- George Home, 4th Lord Home (d. 1549)
- Alexander Home, 5th Lord Home (d. 1575)
- Alexander Home, 6th Lord Home (c. 1566-1619) (became 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 Home (d. 1761)
- Alexander Home, 9th Earl of Home (d. 1786)
- Alexander Home, 10th Earl of Home (1769-1841)
- Cospatrick Alexander Home, 11th Earl of Home (1799-1881)
- Charles Alexander Douglas-Home, 12th Earl of Home (1834-1918)
- Charles Cospatrick Archibald Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of Home (1873-1951)
- Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, 14th Earl of Home (1903-1995) (disclaimed 1964)
- David Alexander Cospatrick Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of Home (b. 1943)