Cospatrick Douglas-Home, 11th Earl Of Home

Cospatrick Alexander Douglas-Home, the 11th Earl of Home, was born on 27 October 1799 and died on 4 July 1881. He was known as Lord Dunglass until 1841. His nationality was Scottish, and he was involved in diplomatic and political roles during his lifetime.

He was born at Dalkeith House in Midlothian, which was the residence of his maternal grandfather. His father was Alexander Home, the 10th Earl of Home, and his mother was Lady Elizabeth Scott, daughter of Henry Scott, the 3rd Duke of Buccleuch.

For his education, he attended Christ Church at the University of Oxford.

Regarding his career, Home served as an Attaché in St. Petersburg from 1822 to 1823. Following that, he worked with the British Foreign Office from 1823 to 1827. During the premiership of the Duke of Wellington, Home was appointed Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, a position he held from 1828 until 1830.

In 1841, he succeeded his father as the Earl of Home. The following year, in 1842, he was elected as a Scottish representative peer, a role he maintained until 1874. In 1875, he was created Baron Douglas of Douglas in Lanark County within the Peerage of the United Kingdom, a revival of a title previously held by his wife's maternal grandfather. This peerage bestowed an automatic seat in the House of Lords to him and his descendants.

In terms of family, in 1832, Lord Home married Hon. Lucy Elizabeth Montagu-Scott. She was the daughter of Henry Montagu-Scott, the 2nd Baron Montagu of Boughton, and Hon. Jane Margaret Douglas, who was the only daughter from the first marriage of Archibald Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas. The Douglas title became extinct in 1857 upon the death of James Douglas, 4th Baron Douglas.

Upon succeeding to the estate, Lord Home adopted the additional surname Douglas, which was associated with extensive Douglas and Angus estates. The couple had several children, including William Sholto Home (1842–1916), who became a Major-General in the British Army.

His wife, the Countess of Home, died in May 1877 at the age of 71. Lord Home died at The Hirsel in Berwickshire in July 1881 at the age of 81. His eldest son, Charles, succeeded him as the Earl of Home.

His great-grandson, Alec Douglas-Home, became the 14th Earl of Home and served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1963 to 1964.

Additionally, Lord Home's family was among the early importers of Newfoundland dogs, known as Labrador Retrievers, for use as gundogs. In the 1830s, his father, along with cousins including the 5th Duke of Buccleuch and Lord John Scott, introduced the breed. The first known photograph of a Labrador Retriever, taken in 1856, features Lord Home's dog named "Nell."

References and external links include contributions by The Earl of Home in the Hansard parliamentary records from 1803 to 2005.