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 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 peerage in 1963 under the Peerage Act passed in the same year. He then contested the House of Commons seat of West Perth and Kinross, which happened to be vacant due to the death of the previous 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, his son David Douglas-Home.

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 Earl is also Chief of the Name and Arms of Home. The title Lord Dunglass is the courtesy title for the eldest son of the Earl.

The family seat is The Hirsel near Coldstream, Scotland.

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