CLAN HOME ASSOCIATION

"Emigrant" George Hume & George Washington

2011-07-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

“Emigrant” George Hume was the son of George Hume, 10th Baron of Wedderburn. He was exiled to the New World at the time his father was stripped of his title and lands over the Jacobite Rebellion. Since he was proficent at mathematics the younger George took up surveying as a profession.
George Washington was under Hume’s tutlage from the ages of sixteen to eighteen to learn surveying. Washington and “Emigrant” George worked together on several projects.
The following article was kindly provided to us by the Professional Surveyor Magazine, appearing in their May 2007 issue (http://www.profsurv.com/magazine/article.aspx?i=1835). According the author John L. Failla, a certified professional land surveyor, the Founding Father of America plagiarized the work of "Emigrant" George.

Guest Editorial: A George Washington Survey

Professional Surveyor Magazine - May 2007
John L. Failla, PLS
F. Scott Fitzgerald writes, "Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy." George Washington was a hero. Yet I find no tragedy or flaws of character in Washington's life, unless you consider his desire for social standing, marriage without issue, lust for money and land, exaggerations, and basic human greed.
Initially, my research about Washington was directed to finding why one of Washington's original surveys is an identical replica of a survey performed for the George Carter estate in the late 1740s by a Virginia Crown Surveyor named George Hume. Researching George Washington over the past four years, however, has led to questions concerning his younger years as a surveyor that seem unanswerable.
The difference between this article, which deals with those written facts and figures about Washington while he was a surveyor in the Northern Neck of Virginia, and the thousands of published volumes on George Washington is that Washington's surveys dealt with numbers, so there's no room for conjecture or supposition. The idea that Washington was able to ride a horse at break-neck speed for seven hours straight cannot be verified, and whether Washington were able to throw a stone over Natural Bridge in Virginia higher than 215 feet is also unwarrantable. Survey numbers, however, cannot be erased, changed, or embellished with time.
As I looked deeply into Washington's surveys and their computations, I found many errors that reveal an elementary skill and talent in the field of mathematics. These errors and omissions are not constant with surveyors of today nor should they have been consistent with surveyors of yesteryear.
Washington's ability to survey several tracts of land in a given day exceeding a thousand acres is beyond the realm of possibility for surveyors today with modern equipment, let alone the antiquated compass and two-pole chain (33 foot length) of that period.
Washington's legal descriptions and the drawing of the plats for each surveyed tract would seem to take longer than the field survey itself. The drawing or plat is secondary to the primary correctness of the field work from which the computations for closure and acreage are derived.
The reader will also note that Washington's method for computing acreage was by breaking down his field survey into triangles. This method is the most elementary and simplest course to find acreage by computing the area of each triangle. If the triangle wasn't a right triangle, Washington seems to struggle with results, suggesting a basic deficiency in his ability to accurately compute for closure and area. Most surveyors at that time were employing the DMD method.
Computing surveyed boundaries for accuracy, closure, and acreage today should have been no different than in Washington's time of employment. Math hasn't changed; the only change is the equipment in gathering and processing that same information.
It's easily extrapolated from Washington's diaries, survey computations, and other memoirs that his knack in the profession of surveying was somewhat average; however, we should be thankful for that fact because had he been a better surveyor he'd not have been the leader of this country's revolution and been known as the Father of His Country.
Schooling or Connections?
It is quite apparent in my research (which will be shown) that Washington may have had limited talent or schooling in many of his endeavors, starting without the aid of a mentor in surveying to leaving that profession and entering the military as an officer without an hour of military drill. What appears to have catapulted Washington to the degree of honor, respect, and admiration, for which he is now known and renowned, was his knowledge that success and title were based on whom you knew. The more things change the more things stay the same.
George Washington's appointment in 1749 as the Crown Surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia was a minor stepping stone through life that he used as a precursor for the integrity, wealth, and social standing he needed and so much desired.
According to The College Of William And Mary, "Culpeper County 20 July 1749: George Washington, gent. produced a commission from the President and Masters of William and Mary College, appointing him Surveyor of this County, which was read, and thereupon he took the usual oaths to His Majesty's person and government, and took and subscribed the abjuration oath and test, and then took the oath of surveyor according to law." Washington's original printed (commission) certificate was destroyed in a fire at the college in 1859.
Any evidence that George Washington stepped foot in the halls of William and Mary is nonexistent. Where Washington ever tested for the Crown Surveyorship of Culpeper County is nonexistent. Where Washington ever posted a bond or compensated The College of William and Mary the one-sixth stipend, which was required and stipulated before the appointment, cannot be found.
A letter dated May 6, 1752 from Governor Dinwiddie to Thomas Lord Fairfax addressed Washington's failure to comply… no answer was given nor were any monies forwarded.
How did Washington secure a Crown Surveyorship in July of 1749, without examination or experience, and why did he spend only two and one half years in one the most lucrative positions the colonies had to offer? Washington's elevation to Crown Surveyor, without experience, seems no different than that of his handed-to military rank of adjutant before he reached the age of 21. The rank of adjutancy was likely based on Washington believing he should inherit his brother Lawrence's rank after his death.
Washington was given the rank of adjutant on November 6, 1752 at a pay of 100 pounds per year. In one of Washington's more profitable months, as a crown surveyor in the Northern Neck area, he was compensated 140 pounds. And, in a letter to another friend, "a Dubbleloon is my constant gain every day that the weather will permit my going out, and sometimes six pistols" (at that time six pistols amounted to between 4 and 6 pounds).
On April 2, 1750 Washington surveyed four separate tracts equaling 1,085 acres and the following day surveyed two tracts totaling 880 acres. I believe that many other days Washington surveyed tracts of land that we, current surveyors with modern equipment, couldn't complete because there wouldn't be enough light in the day. Even though this was most likely an exceptional month (April 1750) in the number of surveys Washington performed and the compensation attached thereto, why then would he place himself in the dangerous task of military duty, primarily the French and Indian war, at a pay scale of about 1/10 that of a surveyor?
The George Carter Estate
Thomas, the sixth Lord Fairfax, and the family of Robert "King" Carter were frequently the only two names needed to tip a hat in Washington's direction.
George Carter was the 15th child of Robert "King" Carter. Washington was appointed as part of the second set of administrators for the George Carter (deceased) Estate in 1766. The Carter family was, and most likely could still be considered, the blue blood of blue bloods that the colony of Virginia was privileged to have within their grasp. If America ever had a king it would have been Robert "King" Carter. On any given Sunday the parishioners of Christ's Church would await the family's arrival in their gold gilded carriage pulled by six white horses; the congregation would then follow behind the family and be seated after the Carter family was in place. Robert "King" Carter died the year George Washington was born.
Robert "King" Carter's lineage included: eight governors of Virginia (Lewis Burwell, Thomas Nelson Jr., Benj. Harrison V, John Page, Peyton Randolf, Wilson Cary, Gen. Fitzhugh Lee and Harry Flood Byrd), three signers of the Declaration of Independence (Carter Braxton, Benj. Harrison V, Thomas Nelson), two presidents (both Harrisons) and General Robert E. Lee whose mother was Anne Carter. Robert "King" Carter's dynasty was planned with skill and intelligence. I can find no family lineage, in America new or old, that would be a close second to the Carters' and his dynamic offspring that served Virginia and what was to become America.
George Carter was born into wealth at the Robert "King" Carter plantation and died relatively early at 24. He expired in Middle Temple (London) England in 1742. His will was written on January 4, 1741 and specifically, as outlined in Henings Vol. 5 Chap. 43, bequeaths all his inherited land to his brother John Carter or his latter heirs. John Carter died shortly after his brother George, which left the George Carter Estate in the name of his nephew Charles Carter.
The trustees or administrators, appointed by an act of the Virginia Assembly in 1746, were: Charles Carter, Peter Hedgeman, Thomas Turner, Benjamin Robinson, George Braxton, and William Waller. Any two of the six trustees could act in the conveyance of all, or any part, of the George Carter Estate. It appears that within two to three years after George Carter's death, Hume was commissioned to survey part of his estate. It also appears that Hume very possibly employed George Washington as one of his assistants in the 1748 survey of the George Carter property.
In November 1766 the original six trustees resigned or were forced to surrender their position from the Estate for, most likely, lack of enthusiasm or health-related reasons, as only a portion came from their exercise in sales or leases within the 7,323 acre tract.
A new set of trustees or administrators were then introduced by the General Assembly of Virginia (Hening, 8:215)*: George Washington, Fielding Lewis (Washington's brother-in-law), and Robert Burwell. They were to do what the original six administrators couldn't: sell the remaining lands of the George Carter Estate.
The Hume Survey
The main tract of land that I scrutinized is a parcel consisting of approximately 7,323 acres, which was surveyed by George Hume between 1746 and 1748. The location, all situated within Frederick County at the time, was approximately three and one-half miles by four miles and located south and east of Winchester, Virginia, with Boyce, Virginia, being near the most northeasterly boundary corner.
The northeasterly boundary line, platted as North 55 and one-half degrees West and 1,016 poles, runs from just east of Boyce, on what was Highway No. 50 and now referred to as Highway 726, northwesterly along the highway to just before the Opequon Creek. The Opequon Creek, which is now the Frederick/Clarke County line, temporarily meandered the northwesterly boundary line, platted as South 34 and one-half degrees West and 1,170 poles to what was then referred to as "Armel" and still called-out today as "Carter's Line." The southerly line ran then southeasterly, platted as Southeast (no bearing) 480 poles, to an angle point just south and west of White Post, then dog-legged left for an additional platted 544 poles and a platted bearing of South 60 degrees East. About half the distance on this course is along a road named "Carter's Line." The final segment then proceeded to the point of beginning and scribed as North 34 and one-half degrees East and 1150 poles. This little corner of Virginia is what I consider America's cradle of democracy where many important colonists walked, from Washington to Daniel Morgan, the Fairfaxes, Carters, and Lord Fairfax himself.
The date of Hume's survey is uncertain; however, biographers indicate that George Hume spelled his name "Home" from his arrival in the colonies in 1721 until around 1746 to 1747. His part in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, where he and his father were sentenced to death, could be why the spelling changed to Hume after a period of lost or disguised time. The original, undated, survey is signed "Ghome."
George Washington also surveyed this same tract around 1766, when Washington's survey reflects the acreage to be 8,365. Washington's undated and unsigned survey is captioned atop: "Geo. Carter Esq. Land on Opeckon, 8365 acres." Washington most likely added the acreage wrong as simple addition and/or computations would reflect his acreage too much by about 1,000 acres; however, credence is given and reference is made to this total sum (8,365) by previous legal descriptions written if one were to divide this particular "King" Carter tract of 50,212 acres by six, giving each heir within a few acres of 8,365.
This 7,323 acre tract was evidently surveyed and separated for George Carter's share of a 50,212 acre tract, which was just one of the patriarch, Robert "King" Carter's, land holdings. At the time of Robert "King" Carter's death he had amassed approximately 330,000 acres, which, in area, would have represented around six percent of Thomas "the Sixth" Lord Fairfax, The Lord Proprietor's holdings. The Fairfax grant contained about 5,500,000 acres which represents about 22% of the entire state of Virginia or nearly all of the state of Maryland.
Washington's Account
So why is George Washington's survey plat of the George Carter Estate, that's housed in The Pennsylvania Historical Society's "Gratz Collection" and is considered one of their prized possessions, an identical replica of the original George Hume survey completed years earlier? The Pennsylvania Historical Society has Washington's survey dated around 1753. It is more likely that George Washington's replicated survey is from the middle 1760s.
Washington's personal accounting register, in his own hand and dated November 1767 states:

"Estate of Geo. Carter Esq. dec.
To my expenses in going to and attending the sale of his lands…
1 pound and five shillings. To pilots for shewing the lands…
Fifteen shillings.
To copying a deed from the proprietors office for his tract of 5088 acres… three shillings."

This 5088-acre tract was one of two George Carter tracts that Washington acted as trustee.
Continued on the same page as May of 1769:

"To cash paid Col. Field. Lewis by Mr. Gibson 196 pounds and by myself in Nov. 1768, one hundred pounds…
296 pounds.
To ditto paid myself….2 pounds and sixteen shillings.
To my commission on the lands sold…14 pounds."

According to a consensus written on fees for surveys during that period and also printed in The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series One, Page 16, is the following: "The Virginia Assembly established the fee of one pound, eleven shillings for a survey of a thousand acres or less in what was considered a 'frontier county' such as Frederick. A little more for tracts exceeding one thousand acres." Washington's fee, for a thousand acre survey, usually amounted to two pounds and three shillings.
Within Washington's personal account register there seems to be enough room for his survey fee for the George Carter Estate exceeding the average amount he would have charged for a survey of 7,323 acres. Would Washington charge a fee for surveying the exact same piece as George Hume surveyed some 20 years earlier, a traced survey representing an original George Washington survey? No survey made by Washington regarding the George Carter Estate is extant other than Washington's 8,365-acre survey housed in the Pennsylvania Historical Society and Hume's original survey housed in my collection.
A survey of Carter's other tract consisting of 5,088 acres is non-existent in Washington or Hume's inventory. It's evident that Washington paid himself only three shillings for copying the 5,088-acre tract per his own hand. Other entries indicate that he must have performed a larger service than just the copying of the 7,323 tract and paid himself and others rather handsomely for other unknown services as trustees for the Estate. Why were the huge fees paid to Fielding Lewis (Washington's brother-in-law) an integral part of the administration of the George Carter Estate? The actual documented line-by-line expenses regarding the George Carter Estate have yet to be located, which would definitively describe what Washington and his colleagues charged for their services.
It's clear to me that Washington had to have a copy of Hume's original boundary survey, or for that matter possibly even Hume's original survey notes, as all of Washington's exterior, peripheral bearings and distances are identical to Hume's. Furthermore, the location of the Opequon Creek is shown in exact likeness on both surveys. Is it possible that Washington worked with Hume on the original Carter survey (circa 1748) and claimed it for his work after Hume's death in 1760?
George Washington was a hero. Yet, although his strength, endurance, horsemanship, and his role as an Indian fighter in the French and Indian war can never be verified, what is known is that he was far from the best when it came to measuring land and computing whether it was for closure or acreage. His ability to survey more than a thousand acres per day, on more than one occasion, is reason enough to question his role as a surveyor and maybe more, as much is written and little is verified.
About the Author
John L. Failla has been a registered land surveyor in eight states since the early 1970s. His business is mainly with boundaries and boundary disputes, and he acts as an expert witness as well as a court-appointed third party in boundary problems. He periodically offers seminars through the State Bar of Georgia for attorneys in fulfilling continuing education hours.
End Credits
My hat goes off to the land surveying firm of Marsh & Legge of Winchester, Virginia. Registered land surveyors Doug Legge and Tom Stark took the time to GPS and compute the necessary information that shows the difference between the two found corners.

David Hume (300th Anniversary)

2011-04-20T10:31:00.000-07:00

David Hume

1711-1796
Philosopher

Born in 1711, David Hume was the second son of advocate, Joseph Home of Ninewells in Berwickshire and his wife Katharine. He was baptised in Edinburgh and in the Register appears as David Home . He only changed the spelling later in life because of the tiresome problems of explaining the pronunciation to those whom he described as ” those glaekit English bodies”. His brother on the other hand kept the Home spelling for all his life..

He was sent to University in Edinburgh to study law at the early age of either ten or twelve (the normal age for acceptance being fourteen). However he did not complete his studies, but turned to philosophy. He claimed that he 'found an insurmountable aversion to every thing but the pursuits of philosophy and general learning'. He had little respect for the professors of his time, telling a friend in 1735, "there is nothing to be learnt from a Professor, which is not to be met with in Books" His Treatise of Human Nature was published anonymously in 1739, but as its author freely admitted it "fell dead-born from the press". This, his first important work, only came to be appreciated by later generations. He was one of the 42 men of the Edinburgh Defence Volunteers to turn out to oppose the Jacobite army in 1745, and in that same year he was invited to become tutor to the Marquis of Annandale. He was denied chairs in ethics and logic at the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow in 1745 and 1757 respectively because of his unorthodox religious views. From 1746, Hume served for three years as Secretary to Lieutenant General St Clair and wrote Philosophical Essays Concerning Human Understanding. However, in 1752 Hume was appointed Keeper of the Advocates Library in Edinburgh, where he had the time and resources to write. Now better known for his empirical philosophy,the last of the six volumes of The History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution in 1688 (1754-1762), was completed when he was 50. He admitted that he was too rich and too fat to write a further volume to bring his history up to the present, despite an invitation and offer of a pension from the King; it was certainly the enormous success of his ‘History of England’ and its repeated re-printing and successful reception that made him a wealthy man.
Hume lived in Paris from 1763 to 1765, serving as Secretary to Lord Hertford.. He met and later fell out with Jean-Jacques Rousseau He wrote of his Paris life, "I really wish often for the plain roughness of The Poker Club of Edinburgh ... to correct and qualify so much lusciousness". For a year from 1767, Hume held the appointment of Under Secretary of State for the Northern Department. In 1768, he settled in Edinburgh; he lived from 1771 until his death in 1776 at the southwest corner of St. Andrew's Square, in Edinburgh's New Town at what is now 21 Saint David Street. (A popular story, consistent with some historical evidence, suggests the street was named after Hume.). As well as being a leading figure in the circles which gave rise to the Scottish Enlightenment, as a bon viveur in Edinburgh society Hume was also secretary to the Edinburgh Philosophical Society in 1752. He was one of the founders of the Select Society in 1754, although he never addressed it.

The most important philosopher ever to write in English, Hume's major philosophical works remain widely and deeply influential. Although many of Hume's contemporaries denounced his writings as works of scepticism and atheism, his influence is evident in the moral philosophy and economic writings of his close friend Adam Smith. Hume also awakened Immanuel Kant from his “dogmatic slumbers” and “caused the scales to fall” from Jeremy Bentham's eyes. Charles Darwin counted Hume as a central influence, as did “Darwin's bulldog,” Thomas Henry Huxley. The diverse directions in which these writers took what they gleaned from reading Hume reflect not only the richness of their sources but also the wide range of his empiricism. Today, philosophers recognize Hume as a precursor of contemporary cognitive science, as well as one of the most thoroughgoing exponents of philosophical naturalism.

Many commentators today tend towards the view that Hume's empiricism consisted in the idea that it is our knowledge, and not our ability to conceive, that is restricted to what can be experienced. To be sure, Hume thought that we can form beliefs about that which extends beyond any possible experience, through the operation of faculties such as custom and the imagination, but he was skeptical about claims to knowledge on this basis. Other great thinkers and personal friends mentioned in his will include Adam Ferguson and Adam Smith, to whom Hume entrusted his unpublished papers.
On his deathbed he infuriated a morbidly interested James Boswell by professing that he did not fear death. He died in 1776 aged 65. The money he left for his young nephew's education was put to good use, as his namesake became professor of Scots law at Edinburgh University in 1786. Hume's modest tomb, for which provision is made in his will, can still be seen in the graveyard on Calton Hill in Edinburgh.

These notes on perhaps the most famous of all the Homes are compiled from various contributions to websites detailing David Hume’s life and work, which we acknowledge gratefully. The right-hand portrait, above, is now on loan to Paxton House from the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland.

David Hume’s genealogy is summarised here, with thanks to Jim Hume.

Sir Alexander Home of Home & Dunglass 1380-1424

Thomas Home of Tyninghame 1409-1443 2^nd son of Alexander Home, 1^st Lord Home

Thomas Home of Broomhouse

George Home 1^st of Ninewells 1470-1532

Andrew Home 2^nd of Ninewells 1498-1569

David Home 3^rd of Ninewells d. 1569

John Home 5^th of Ninewells d.1611 2^nd son of David Home

Andrew Home 6^th of Ninewells d.1613

David Home 7^th of Ninewells d. 1633

John Home 8^th of Ninewells 1630-1661

John Home 9^th of Ninewells 1657-1694/5

Joseph Home 10^th of Ninewells 1680/81-1713

David Hume 1711-1776 2^nd son of Joseph Home

AGM 2011 - London

2011-04-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

This year we are planning to hold our Annual General Meeting in London; we have arranged to meet at the Caledonian Club, which has served us very well in the past and the date is Wednesday, September 7th. Please do try and come - the last time we met at the Caledonian we had a very good turnout of members, both actual and potential.

Clan Gathering 2013

2011-03-30T10:28:00.000-07:00

Your Vice Convenor and I met this week and we are already beginning to consider the plans for our next Clan Gathering; this will be in 2013, which is also, of course, the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Flodden. We know that many of the Homes were fortunate enough to survive the slaughter that befell the majority of the Scots army, which included the death of the king, James IV, many of his nobles and some 10,000 men. The Wedderburn Homes, however, did suffer. We hope to include a detailed account of the Homes and the Battle of Flodden nearer the time of the anniversary; in the meantime we are liaising with the Duke of Buccleuch with a view to using the occasion as an opportunity of the Border Clans to get together as a follow-on from the meeting of the Border chiefs at the Edinburgh Gathering of the Clans.

Hume Castle Beacon Proposal

2011-03-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

The Diamond Jubilee of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II is being celebrated next year and the Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire has suggested that Hume Castle would be an excellent place to have one of the Beacons that will cross the Border Hills. I know that Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull has an excellent wrought iron basket beacon on one of the parapets and so we hope to install something similar for the event. I expect that there will be considerable cross border liaison on this matter as well as on the Flodden commemorations (although the English side will likely regard the latter as celebrations!).

WWII Humour

2011-03-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

Finally on a light-hearted note, a tale of a recent visit to Hume Castle. Last week I was invited to talk to a small group of German visitors at the castle; I gave them an account of the history of the castle and the various sieges and dramatic events, concluding with the observation that the small level piece of ground in the NW corner was where the Observer Corps had a post during World War II and that underneath was a small enclosed space designed to accommodate a few key resistance fighters in the event of a German invasion reaching Berwickshire. Shortly afterwards a tall and elegant gentleman came up to me and confided that he was from a Prussian family , had been a colonel in the Federal German Army and was now delighted to exclaim that the Germans had at last arrived at the castle!

Ian Maitland Hume

Clan Home AGM 2013

2010-12-20T15:41:00.000-08:00

The Clan Home is planning to have their third Clan Gathering in September 2013 to coincide with the 500th Anniversary of the Battle of Flodden. Dr Ian Maitland Hume the Clan’s Convenor hopes to arrange a meeting of Eastern Border Clan Chiefs to set the wheels in motion for a major coming together on this occasion. Begin planning to attend this wonderful event! You don't want to miss this!!

2010 AGM - Bath, October 9th 2010

2010-10-20T10:25:00.000-07:00

The Clan Home Association held its Annual General Meeting in different places each year. Two have been held at the Hirsel, the beautiful Scottish home of the Earl and Countess of Home in Coldstream, Berwickshire. Others have been held in The Caledonian Club, HM Tower of London, in the Surrey home of Brigadier Dick Hume and now the Pump Room in Bath.

This October two days were given over to both the meeting , exploring Bath, social events culminating in dinner in one of the City’s fine restaurants with attendance on Sunday at Morning Service in Bath Abbey and lunch in The Jazz Café owned by Charles Home. The week end was organised with great care by Charles’ parents Mary and Douglas Home.

The Association’s President The Earl of Home chaired the meeting starting as has become his custom with a fascinating overview of world affairs as seen from his position as Chairman of Coutts Bank His quiet sense of humour and his knowledge of key people all over the world combine to give the Clan members an insight from their much travelled Chief.

This year’s meeting recorded further growth in Membership, in particular from overseas; a report on the sound financial position of the Association; and reports of activities by its members including The Gathering in Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park in the presence of The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay and an important meeting held at the Home tent when a distinguished group of Border Clan Chiefs came together to discuss ways and means of working more closely together to help promote greater awareness of the beautiful Border countryside to tourists from home and abroad.

On this subject the Clan are planning to have their third Clan Gathering in September 2013 to coincide with the 500th Anniversary of the Battle of Flodden. Dr Ian Maitland Hume the Clan’s Convenor hopes to arrange a meeting of Eastern Border Clan Chiefs to set the wheels in motion for a major coming together on this occasion.

A report on the opening of Home Lines in Lisburn was given and it is hoped that the Clan Association will work more closely with the Lowland Gunners who are the 40th Regiment Royal Artillery.
Dr Maitland Hume welcomed William Charles as the Association’s new Secretary and David Hume-Miller as a new Trustee of Hume Castle. At the same time he reported on the use of the Castle for wedding ceremonies and ideas for encouraging more visitors during the summer season. Discussions were also had on the concept of developing a Visitor Centre to add to the awareness of the long and fascinating history of the Eastern Marches.

An intriguing report was tabled from our American Council Member Jim Hume on the results of the DNA research to date into the relationships of different branches of the greater Home/Hume family. All in all this the AGM was felt to have markedly .progressed the friendship and growth of the Clan as its members share knowledge about their families. Charles Home produced a meticulously produced family tree for everyone to study after an excellent lunch held in the Pump Room.

The Opening of Home Lines at Thiepval Barracks Lisburn, Near Belfast, N.Ireland. 8th July 2010

2010-07-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

On Thursday 8^th July 2010 40^th Regiment Royal Artillery had a Ceremonial parade to open their new Lines within the hundred year old Thiepval Barracks near Belfast. Costing some £40 Million it is a brilliant example of all that a modern Army base should be. Its occupants are the Lowland Gunners , more formally known as 40^th Regiment Royal Artillery who have the special distinction of being affiliated to the Home Clan and this allows them to wear the Home tartan. This dates back to an agreement reached with Lord Home of the Hirsel some 30 years ago.

They were particularly keen that the Earl of Home should be present at this naming ceremony but unfortunately due to earlier commitments neither Lord Home nor Dr Ian Maitland Hume could be present. It therefore fell to Gospatric Home the deputy convenor to represent the Earl of Home.

The parade took place on a magnificent parade ground looking over to the beautiful Mountains of Mourne, made famous by the song “the Mountains of Mourne look down to the sea”.

The pictures in the photos below tell the story more eloquently than any words. They show the Master Gunner, General Sir Timothy Granville –Chapman unveiling a plaque commemorating the occasion with Gospatric Home’s help. The plaque had been embedded into a huge piece of rock on the Parade ground covered with a plaid of Home Tartan.

It was a moving moment which marked more than anything else could have done the close relationship between The Lowland Gunners and Clan Home.

Other pictures show the parade inspection, a group photograph and more informal shots.

After the parade the many senior Army officers were given a tour of the barracks and met many members of the regiment. This was followed by a delicious lunch when Gospatric Home expressed his gratitude to the Commanding Officer for the wonderful hospitality extended. He made some play on the ongoing and seemingly never ending sagas involved in having a surname so simple that it is only one syllable and yet by virtue of its spelling causes so much confusion.

After lunch demonstrations, races and tus of war took place. Gospatric Home comments.”It was a real privilege to meet so many young and older veterans of the Iraq and Afhganistan campaigns and to do so in such friendly and hospitable circumstances. Morale was clearly very high and having an outstanding Barracks made this even more positive. I hope that we will soon be able to give hospitality to The Lowland Gunners even though our Barracks, Hume Castle are not on quite such a lavish scale!”

Clan Home Association Annual General Meeting, Bath, October 9th 2010

2010-06-25T06:53:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Annual General Meeting announced per the following email sent to current members of the Clan Home Association:

Dear Clan Home Member
I have great pleasure in inviting you to attend the 2010 Annual General Meeting of the Clan Home Association which will be held in the historic city of Bath on Saturday, 9th October. The meeting will take place in the magnificent and famous Pump Room complex, starting at midday. Coffee will be served from 11.15 a.m. and a lunch will be provided to follow the meeting, at a cost of £28 per head.
All members are strongly encouraged to attend what will be a very memorable occasion. The Pump Room is next to the Roman baths, from which the city derives its name, and is therefore in the centre of Bath, one of the most beautiful cities in the world with its unrivaled collection of Georgian crescents, squares, streets and other buildings.
One of the reasons this date has been chosen is that our Chief and President, the Earl of Home will be able to be with us.
As we expect this event to be very popular, the Association is arranging events in addition to the meeting and lunch. A dinner for Association Members will be organised for the Saturday evening. We will also arrange for a group to attend Matins in the beautiful Bath abbey on the Sunday morning - the music is splendid. In addition, if there is enough demand, we are able to arrange a meal in Bath on the Friday evening. It may also be possible to organise a tour of the Assembly Rooms on Saturday morning before the AGM.
To help with organisation, it would be extremely helpful if you could let me know whether or not you plan to attend this special occasion as soon as possible. In any event, if you wish to attend any of the 'extra' functions such as either of the dinners, please let me know by 15th September at the latest which ones are of interest to you.
Please also let me know if you have any items for the Agenda for the AGM.
I have contacted a range of hotels about terms they are prepared to offer Members and will circulate details shortly.
William Charles
Secretary
Clan Home Association
charles125@tiscali.co.uk

2009 AGM, Sunday 6th September 2009

2010-01-05T05:59:00.000-08:00

The Annual General Meeting of the Clan Home Association took place on Sunday 6th September 2009 at the lovely home of Council Member Brigadier Dick Hume at Blackheath near Guildford, Surrey. He and his wife Jane had produced not only a beautiful lunch but also a perfect Summer’s day for the 36 members who attended. Greeted with champagne before the AGM started and wine before lunch ensured that we had a very relaxed and enjoyable time with old and new members alike. After lunch we all had a chance to study Dick’s family tree and other historical material from his branch of the family. We take this opportunity of expressing our sincere gratitude to Dick and Jane for their wonderfully hospitable welcome.

Convenor Dr. Ian Maitland Hume and Secretary Stephen J. Hume

Dr Ian Maitland Hume took the Chair and announced some 16 apologies from members unable to attend including our President The Earl of Home. He then gave a very upbeat report on our Clan’s participation in the Home Coming, the great Gathering of all the Clans in Edinburgh in July. In particular he explained that we had entertained many of the Clan Chiefs from the Scottish Borders at the Clan Home tent. This meeting, at which the Duke of Buccleuch offered the services of his administrative team, agreed that from now on the Border Clans would work together to ensure that we shared ideas and information in order to stimulate interest in the Borders and to harmonise plans for the future. This is a far cry from the days of old when the Clans often wasted precious resources fighting each other! This was a momentous moment as such a meeting has probably never been held before.

The Scotts of which the Duke is Chief were having a Muster on September 26th 2009 at Bowhill near Selkirk to which all other Border Clans were warmly invited.
Plans to set up a Newsletter were in hand and Dr Maitland Hume outlined news of further voluntary help with this and with the website from American Members.

The Membership Secretary reported with pie charts on the healthy financial position of both the Hume Castle Preservation Trust and the Clan Home Association as well as the steady growth in membership and the increasing interest in joining from the USA and Australia and New Zealand.

Ian also reported on the growth in participation in the DNA project and the surprising truth that many Homes were related to Humes, surprisingly people in the two main groups spell their name variously as Homes. Humes.Holmes illustrating the fact that spelling has nothing to do with relationships.

Council Members and Officers were all re-elected by members and William Charles ( a nephew of the late Cardinal Hume) kindly volunteered his services to take on the role of Secretary.

View the Annual General Meeting Photo Album

The Gathering 2009

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The Home Coming or Great Gathering of virtually all the Scottish Clans took place in Edinburgh over the week end of July 25th – 26th 2009. It was a huge success and exceeded all targets set very substantially. The weather on Saturday 25th was quite literally brilliant with every crevice on the Salisbury Crags towering above Holyrood Park visible from the Home Tent. Sunday started with typically Scottish drizzle but quickly improved to almost match the warmth and sunshine of the opening day!

A huge total of 47,000 attended, 20,000 lined the Royal Mile on the Saturday evening to watch 8,000 kilted Clansmen and women march under their banners in alphabetical order accompanied by Pipe Bands through the great gates of Holyrood Palace up the Royal Mile to the Castle Esplanade where they watched a brilliant performance of Aisling’s Children by a huge cast directed to perfection, acting out a unique once only performance of a tale of Scotland’s fascinating history with a final climax when all the Bands taking part from all over the world appeared from within the Castle to march past en masse down the esplanade and back down Edinburgh’s famous High Street.

The Clan Home Team at the Home Tent

The Home Coming was opened by The Duke of Rothesay accompanied by his Duchess. For those who might not know the Duke is also one and the same person as Prince Charles. He was photographed wit a great gathering of Clan Chiefs and Chieftains resplendent in their Clan tartans , bonnets and feathers.The Home tent which some visitors took to be the Head Office Tent for the Homecoming was busy with visitors quite literally coming home to meet the welcoming team of Ian and Rosemary Maitland Hume, Stephen Hume, Gospatric and Diana Home, Elizabeth Home, Steve Mack and Martin Home-Cook. Shortly after the Official Opening finished a Gathering of Scottish Border Clan Chiefs and their representatives convened informally at the Home tent for an historical first meeting in the modern era. The chiefs or their representatives included The Duke of Buccleuch , Lord Polwarth & Kenneth Scott, Canada, (the Scotts) The Marquis of Lothian, (the Kerrs), Madam Margaret Eliott of Redheugh, Lady Macgregor of Macgregor (Armstrongs), Major Alexander Trotter of Mortonhall, Michael Dewar of Vogrie, Master of Lauderdale (Maitlands), Andrew Marjoribanks, George Turnbull and Wally Turnbull USA, Lord Borthwick, Mark Nesbitt of Nesbitt, Sir William Jardine of Applegirth, Dr Ian Maitland Hume (Homes). Apologies for absence from the Earl of Annandale (Johnstones), Sir Alistair Buchan-Hepburn (Hepburns), James Pringle of Torwoodlee & Sir John Riddell of Riddell.
This initiative had been planned by our Convenor Dr Ian Maitland Hume and the Duke of Buccleuch in order to agree upon future coordination of our Clan events in the Borders and for possible future Border Gatherings in the years ahead agreed in advance by all the Border Clans. Linking websites, helping each other from the experiences we are all gaining, sharing ideas and above all championing the beauty of the Borders from coast to coast for those returning to Scotland for holidays are among the concepts. The Duke has kindly offered his Secretariat to initiate meetings and get these proposals moving. It is generally true that the Borders can easily br forgotten by Tour Operators in favour of the Highland region and we hope to redress this.

On the Friday prior to the weekend a Conference of Chiefs and Convenors had taken place in the Scottish Parliament building with keynote speakers of distinction focussing on Scotland’s unique opportunity to encourage those with Scottish ancestry to return to their former homeland and rediscover their roots while enjoying the hospitality available to them.

Holyrood Park was like a tented city all week end as Highland Games, Highland Dancing competitions, massed Bands, Reeling and Rocking, Music, Storytelling, A Hill Race up Arthur’s Seat, a Kid’s Zone added to the fun and interest of this superbly organised event. It was announced on the Monday following that a repeat event was to be scheduled in 4 years time so successful had it been for all those participating and for all the official organisations who had got behind it. Congratulations to Lord Semple and Jenny Gilmour, who co-directed the event from all the Home Clan!

View the Great Clan Gathering Photo Album

American Couple Wed at Hume Castle

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Tony and Megan Hume from Georgia were married at Hume Castle in March 2009. The ceremony was conducted by the Minister of Stitchill before sixteen people. Tony also made a kind donation which will be used to plant trees in memory of his parents.

Tony and Megan outside Hume Castle looking

supremely happy after the wedding service

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What began as a vision for an amazing honeymoon trip to explore our heritage in Ireland and Scotland quickly turned in to the most amazing story book and fairy tale setting for our first and only wedding.

Fed up with the process of planning our USA wedding, Megan said one day “why not just get married in Scotland?” – and my reply, as to raise the anty “well if we’re going to get married in Scotland why not Hume Castle as you take the Hume name.” And thus, the dream began.
With the assistance of the Clan Hume Association secretary, Stephen Hume, we contacted convenor Dr. Ian Maitland Hume with the idea of a Spring Equinox date. As easy going as anyone we’ve ever had contact with abroad, Ian seemed to think it would be no problem with the date and future contacts were made with the government to obtain wedding visas and the proper forms needed.

All paperwork aside we arrived in the Kelso area on March 18, 2009 along with Megan’s oldest brother David and his wife Deborah. Much to our surprise while staying at the amazing Edenwater House B&B, Megan’s aunt Betty, and her daughter and Megan’s cousin Kirby, gave a surprise overseas visit to join the party.

With family in tow, and with the assistance of Rev. Jenny Earl of Stichill, and the talents of local Coldstream piper Robert Bell, our wedding party was complete. The day of Friday March 20, 2009 – the first day of spring – offered up a rare glimpse of what a perfect spring day can be, much to the surprise of everyone who exclaimed that mid March is not usually supposed to be so flawless, so perfect, so warm, and so breeze free. It was indeed a series of perfect spring days … nary a cloud in the sky, no uncalled for winds, and just a shimmering sunlight filled day atop a hill in the hamlet of Hume.

Rosemary Maitland Hume lent her talents as a florist and created the most amazing of bouquets for Megan and Deborah as well as boutonnieres for myself and David. Local Kelso outfitter A. Hume outsourced the making of my ancient Hume tartan kilt, while Megan found a beautiful white dress in Ireland, completed by the addition of a Hume shawl across her shoulders.
Piper Rob Bell led Megan, escorted by brother David, through the front gate of Hume Castle to my hands, anxiously awaiting at the bottom of the observation deck stair ramp. Our wedding party was complete on the observation deck with Rev. Jenny Earl, the bride and groom, David and Deborah Hearn, and piper Rob Bell. Cousin Kirby Morrow and sister-in-law Deborah Hearn blessed us with readings, and the ceremony was rounded out by a handful of local Hume townsfolk, who were happily invited to help us celebrate.

We can’t thank everyone enough for their time, for their talents, for their eagerness to assist, and for the love that was felt by us on that very special summer like spring day in March.

- Tony & Megan Hume

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Tony and Megan with Ian and Rosemary Maitland Hume

Kelso Laddie Common Riding Ceremony

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The annual Kelso Laddie Common Riding Ceremony this year included a rideout rom Kelso to Hume Castle some miles to the north. The Laddie was ccompanied by some 200 mounted followers and a further hundred or so reeted their arrival in the fields below the Castle. Hume village laid on a varbecue in the Castle car park and then the Kelso Laddie and his followers rode on to the village of Edrom. The Kelso Laddie has been riding out annually for the last 71 years.

2009 AGM

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We are gathering at council member Brigadier Dick Hume's house near Guildford on Sunday September 6th, 2009. We shall start with the CHA AGM and then enjoy a buffet lunch and there will be plenty of time to relax and chat. I hope that as many as possible will be able to make this get-together and we are most grateful to Dick and Jane for hosting this occasion; more details will be circulated nearer the time, but if you intend coming please let the secretary know.

Clan Home Association

The Gathering 2009

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The great Clan Gathering taking place during the Homecoming Scotland 2009 events will take place July 25th and 26th in Edinburgh. There promises to be a very large attendance, with over 120 clans taking tents. The Clan Home tent will be there and I hope that as many Homes and Humes and others of the CHA will try and visit us there. A very large Highland Gamers is scheduled and other events will take place over the two days, culminating in a march of the clans up the Royal Mile to the Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle for the great ceremony to take place there. The more Homes we have marching the better!

Ian Maitland Hume

All the details can be found on the Gathering 2009 Website at http://www.clangathering.org/ and there are various types of tickets available.

Clan Home Association

Homes And Humes Gather From All Over The World

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FLAG RAISING (Photo at right): The Earl of Home, Clan Chief, and association convenor Dr Ian Matiland Hume, at Hume Castle for the flag raising

CLAN GATHERING AT THE HIRSEL

THE Clan Home Association hosted a Gathering over the past weekend attended by Homes and Humes from all over the UK as well as from overseas, with a strong contingent from the USA.

The convenor of the association, Dr Ian Maitland Hume, said: "We were particularly fortunate to enjoy two days of dry weather, which allowed those events out-of-doors to proceed as planned."Our AGM once again took place at the Hirsel, presided over by our chief the Earl of Home. The association took its present form following our last Gathering there five years ago."

Members enjoyed lunch and the hospitality of the Earl and Countess of Home before proceeding to Hume Castle."The main event of the afternoon was the raising of the Home Banner on the castle's new flagpole, so that once again the Lion Rampant argent on a green field flew from the battlements, possibly for the first time since Cromwell's Colonel Fenwick destroyed it in 1651. "We were glad to welcome Jim Hume, one of the MSP's for the South of Scotland, to the ceremony and the tea that followed within the castle walls."

A total of 45 members attended the formal dinner at Paxton House, which took place in the elegant setting of the Picture Gallery and the occasion was enhanced by nearly all present wearing the Home tartan as some part of their dress.

Sunday's events included an extensive coach tour of Berwickshire during which members visited properties and places historically linked with the name, with commentary given by the convenor.The site of Blackadder House recalled the more violent days of Blackadder Castle and its acquisition by the Homes of Wedderburn. The de la Bastie monument at Broomhouse reminded those present of the revenge sought by the Homes for the execution of Lord Home in 1517, through the killing of the imposed warden of the East March.The well-known trials and tribulations which Sir Patrick Hume of Polwarth endured whilst he hid in the crypt of Polwarth Kirk were recalled during a visit to the kirk which he substantially restored once he had become the Earl of Marchmont.The more peaceful times of the 18th century were celebrated with a visit to Marchmont House, where a picnic lunch was enjoyed, through the courtesy of the new proprietors.The skies where wonderfully clear when the group stopped at Scott's View, before making their way to Cowdenknowes to admire the very attractive exterior, the principal part of which was built by Sir James Home of Cowdenknowes in 1574, and from which line the present earl descends.The afternoon ended with tea in the Mellerstain House tea room, where the Earl of Haddington gave a much appreciated description of the part played by his forebear, Lady Grizell Baillie – the daughter of Sir Patrick Hume, in commissioning William Kent to design the first stage of the building of Mellerstain House.

The Gathering ended with an informal supper at Wedderburn Castle, which included members of the Home-Robertson family.The proceedings were rounded off by a superb hour of music from Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis, the duo now celebrated for singing their version of Auld Lang Syne in the recent film hit 'Sex and the City'. Mairi is currently also the Scots Singer of the Year.The relaxed family atmosphere of the whole Gathering weekend concluded with a rousing reel and a determination to meet again soon.

CLAN GATHERING (Photo above): Members of the Clan Home Association gather at The Hirsel for lunch.

Additional pictures of the events and sights from the Clan Home gathering can be seen at the following links:
Clan Gathering 2008
and
James R. Hume's Flickr Page

Clan Home Association

The Clan Home Association

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The Association was inaugurated following the very successful and enjoyable Gathering attended by fifty-five people in the summer of 2003. During the course of this Gathering a formal meeting was held at the Hirsel, the home of our chief, the earl of Home, in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders. This meeting voted unanimously in favour of the formation of an Association of those bearing the name of Home or Hume, those related thereto, or those wishing to join by affinity or affection to the Clan Home. A working party was formed from volunteers and the following year, 2004, the Constitution of the Association was adopted at the first Annual General meeting presided over by Lord Home.

The Council of the Association then devoted its main efforts to examining the best way of taking up an offer by the Berwickshire Civic Society for us to purchase Hume Castle, of which they were the proprietors for the time being. Consequently, the Association resolved to form the Hume Castle Preservation Trust, which is a company limited by guarantee and which is registered as a Scottish charity and the castle was conveyed to the Trust on August 31^st 2005 at a ceremony of ‘Turf and Stane’ the ancient way of taking Sasine of a property.

In addition to the castle, the Association intends to devote its efforts to promulgating in different ways as full and as accurate a history as possible of the Name, its origins, its leading and interesting personalities through the ages and its influence on the history of the East March of the Scottish Border, Berwickshire, Scotland, the United Kingdom and beyond.

Clan Home Association