Alexander Home, 1st Lord Home
Alexander Home, 1st Lord Home (also Hume) (died c. 1491) was a Scottish nobleman, Warden of the Eastern March, and a leading figure among the rebels who defeated and killed James III of Scotland at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488.
Life
He was the eldest son of Sir Alexander Home of Home, who died in 1461. On 20 December 1451 James III conceded to him the lands of Dunglass, Home, Susterpeth, and Kello in Berwickshire, which his father resigned, and which were united into the free barony of Home; in 1452 the lands of Chirnside were annexed to the barony, and in 1453 other lands. He became baillie of Coldingham Priory in 1466.[1]
In 1466 Home sat in the Scottish estates among the barons, and he was created a lord of parliament by the title Lord Home, 2 August 1473. As warden of the marches he went to meet the master of Bolton, envoy of Edward IV of England, at the River Tweed in 1476, and escorted him to James III.[1]
Jealous of Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, brother of the king, who had local power as captain of Berwick and keeper of Dunbar Castle, Lord Home banded with the Hepburns to sow discord between Albany and the king. His success saw Albany escaping imprisonment by flight to England. Favour shown by the king to Robert Cochrane then caused tension.[1] Home was not personally an actor in Scottish politics from around 1479, but through family retained much influence for the rest of his life. The Home family opposition to the king stemmed from plans first floated in 1472, to migrate the priory of Coldingham north to St Andrews, for security against the English but removing it from the Home powerbase.[2]
In 1482 the king assembled Scottish baronial forces to withstand a threatened invasion by Albany and the English. Nobles including Home seized Cochrane in the king's presence, at Lauder in Berwickshire. They hanged him over the bridge there, and carried James III captive to Edinburgh. The king came to terms with Albany, and, on Albany's arrival with the English force, received his liberty, while Home and other chiefs of the conspiracy were imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle. Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus made a deal that freed them, on bonds to enter into ward again when called upon by the king.[1]
In 1484, matters came to a head when the Homes and Hepburns resisted the royal plan to annexe the revenues of Coldingham. Claiming that the king was trespassing on the rights of the nobles, they induced other lords to join them in seizing Prince James, and making him their nominal leader in a revolt against his father. The followers of Home formed part of the vanguard at the battle of Sauchieburn (18 June 1488), where the king was killed.[1]
On the nominal accession of James IV, Lord Home occupied a favoured position, and received grants of land. He died about 1491, and was succeeded by his grandson.[1]
Family
Home married first Marion Lauder, heiress of Landells, daughter of John Lauder and Katherine de Landells, by whom he had one daughter, Helen, and three sons: Alexander, who predeceased him, and was father of Alexander Home, 2nd Lord Home, and of John Home of Whiterigs and Ersilton, ancestor of the Homes of Coldingknows; George, ancestor of the Homes of Ayton; and Patrick, ancestor of the Homes of Fast Castle. He married, secondly Margaret, daughter of Alexander, master of Montgomery, by whom, he had a son, Thomas Home of Laingshaw, Ayrshire.[1]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ Macdougall, Norman. "Hume family". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/13632. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Home, Alexander (d.1491)". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co.