Clann HOME

Patrick, 2nd son of Cospatrick, Earl of Dunbar, was the traditional founder of this family.  Therefore Clan Home was a cadet of Clan Dunbar.  Aldan of Home, who derived his name from the estates of Home in Berwickshire, is the first recorded ancestor.  One of the greatest of the Border clans, the Homes took their name from lands in Berwickshire.  Its literal meaning is 'cave', from the Pict/Gaelic uamb.

His descendant, Sir Thomas Home, married the heiress of Douglas, and had two sons, Sir Alexander and David Home of Wedderburn, ancestor of he Earl of Marchmont.  Sir Alexander, a distinguished soldier, fought as an ally with the Earl of Douglas at Homildon in 1424, and fell with him at the great battle of Verneuil in 1424.

He had three sons, from the youngest came Sir Home of Spott, and from the second came the Homes of Tyninghame and Ninewells.  Sir Alexander, the eldest son, carried on the family, and his son, Sir Alexander Home, was created Lord Home in 1473, and died in 1491.  His eldest son, Alexander, died in his father's lifetime, but left two sons, Alexander, 2nd Lord Home, and John Home of Whiterigs and Ersilton.  The 2nd Lord Home led the vanguard of the army that defeated James III at Sauchieburn, and he was much in favour or James IV.

Alexander, 3rd Lord, was the Great Chamberlain of Scotland and Warden of the Marches.  He survived Flodden, and was executed with his brother by the Regent Albany in 1516.  His grandson, Alexander 5th Lord, had supported the marriage of Queen Mary with Bothwell but later was one of the nobles who imprisoned her in Lochleven.

Another brother, George Home, recovered the family estates, but he was killed before the battle of Pinkie in 1547, and the Home estates were seized again, this time by the English.  Alexander, the 5th Lord Home, recovered the estates two years later, but was charged with treason by King James IV; he was released but died two days later.

His son, Alexander, 6th Lord, was created Earl of Home in 1605, and his son, James, 2nd Earl, died without children in 1633.  The title went to his distant cousin, a descendant of John Home of Whiterigs and Ersilton listed above.  Sir James Home of Coldingknows, who became 3rd Earl of Home, is the ancestor of the present 14th Earl of Home, whose seat is in Berwickshire.

Sir David Home, 3rd, of Wedderburn, had a family of sons celebrated as "the Seven Spears of Wedderburn," from whom sprang the houses of Manderston, Blackadder, Simprin and Broomhouse.  In 1963, Sir Alec Douglas Home, renounced his peerage to become UK Prime Minister, relieving another Pict descendant, Prime Minister Harold MacMillan.  Upon his return to the House of Lords, he took the title, Lord Home of the Hirsel.