Henry Home
Henry Home, known as Lord Kames, was an influential Scottish lawyer, philosopher, and judge born in Berwickshire in the early 18th century. The eldest son in a family of nine, he was educated privately and began his legal career as an advocate in Edinburgh in 1723. Home gained recognition for his contributions to legal philosophy, notably publishing "Essays upon the Several Subjects in Law" in 1732 and "Principles of Equity" in 1760, the latter being considered his most significant work by legal historians.
His intellectual circle included prominent figures like David Hume, Adam Smith, and Benjamin Franklin, which positioned him in the midst of the Scottish Enlightenment. Home’s philosophical views, especially on morality and the concept of free will, sparked controversy, leading him to withdraw some of his writings due to backlash from conservative clergy. His tenure as a judge included various judicial responsibilities, where he was known for his sharp wit and a strong inclination toward securing convictions.
In addition to his legal career, Lord Kames contributed to agriculture and manufacturing, writing "The Gentleman Farmer" in 1776, which served as a guide on agricultural practices. His legacy encompasses a wealth of writings that have significantly shaped Scottish legal thought and practice.
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Henry Home
Philosopher
- Born: 1696
- Birthplace: Eccles, Berwickshire, Scotland
- Died: 1782
Biography
Henry Home, Lord Kames, was the eldest son of George Home of Kames in Berwickshire, Scotland, and his wife Agnes, daughter of John Walkinshaw of Barrowfield. One of nine children, Home was educated at home by private tutors. In 1712, he was indentured to John Dickson, a writer to the signet in Edinburgh, but after meeting Sir Hew Dalrymple he decided to become an advocate. On January 22, 1723, he was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates. From 1716 to 1728, he compiled a series of cases, Remarkable Decisions in the Court of Session(1728). In 1732 he published Essays upon the Several Subjects in Law, a philosophical approach to the law.
Home’s father died in 1741, and on August 24, 1741, he married Agatha Drummond, daughter of James Drummond of Blair Drummond, Perthshire, and succeeded to her father’s estate in 1761. The couple had a son, George, born in November, 1743, and a daughter, Jean, born in 1744. In 1751, he published his Essays on the Principle of Morality and Natural Religion, maintaining the existence of innate ideas and conceding an apparent freedom of the will. The Scottish clergy were so concerned about the implications of this philosophy that Home withdrew the book and then said that God was not responsible for man’s delusive sense of freedom but that delusion was caused by the passions. His friendship with philosopher David Hume also made Home a target of conservative clergy.
On February 6, 1752, he was appointed an ordinary lord of session and took the title Lord Kames. Other appointments followed: he was named to the commission of forfeited estates in 1752; appointed to the board of trustees for the encouragement of fisheries, arts, and manufactures of Scotland in 1755; and served as a director of the British Linen Company from 1754 to 1756. In 1760, he published Principles of Equity, his principal work in the eyes of Scottish legal historians. In 1761, he wrote Introduction to the Art of Thinking, and the same year he befriended James Boswell, who was studying to be an advocate in Edinburgh. Boswell, famed for his biography of Samuel Johnson, recorded colorful details about Home in his writings. Homes also befriended Adam Smith and Benjamin Franklin.
In 1762, he published Elements of Criticism, an attempt to outline the principles of criticism based on human nature. In 1763, he was made one of the lords of the justiciary, an appointment that involved traveling to courts on a judicial circuit. He preferred the northern circuit with sittings at Perth, Inverness, and Aberdeen. He was reputed to be a judge interested in securing convictions and was famous for his cruel wit. His daughter Jean divorced in January, 1772, after a trial in which her husband charged her with adultery; Home sent her to France and eradicated her name from the family memorial in the churchyard of Kincardine. Based on his own management of an estate, he wrote The Gentleman Farmerin 1776, a theoretical and practical guide to crops, rotation, and stock. The author of numerous books and numerous essays on Scottish law, Home contributed extensively to agriculture and manufacturing as well as legal history.