Guide to the Papers of Alexander Home, 1777-1779

Summary

Collection number:

MS 690

Creator:

Alexander Home

Extent:

0.06 metres and (1 folder + 1 volume)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], MS 690, National Library of Australia, Papers of Alexander Home, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The collection comprises original material (two manuscripts) plus typescript transcripts. Folio manuscript, 32 pages, no covers, written by Alexander Home includes 'The Account of Ottihiti and Our Transaction there, Continued' [pp 19-27, 30-41]; 'A description of the Vale of Tiarabuwh some Remarks on its inhabitants' [pp 42-54]; 'Lattd and Long. of places Touched at and Discovered by the Resolution and Discovery wh the Dates. Var: hight of the tides there Set of the nidle Thermometer' [pp 28-29]. Octavo manuscript, 66 pages, vellum cover, inscribed 'LOG BOOK of Captain Alex: Home R.N. of Buskenburn, Berwickshire while with Captain Cook on his last voyage 1776' includes proceedings of HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery at Owyhee in the Sandwich Islands, 7 February - 15 March 1779, including a description of the death of Captain Cook (15pp);'An account of Kamschatska', April 1779 (48pp).The typescript transcripts cover the complete contents of the Folio manuscript plus the first 15 pages of the Octavo manuscript.

Biographical Note:

Alexander Home (c.1738-1823) joined the crew of HMS Discovery on 16 March 1776. In July 1776, when HMS Resolution and Discovery left Plymouth, he was promoted to master's mate. In December 1777, when the expedition was at Tahiti, he was made quartermaster.

In December 1780, after the ships had returned to England, Home was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He served in the American War of Independence, where his sight was damaged. He retired on half-pay in 1783 and spent the rest of his life on a small farm at Buskenburn, Berwickshire. His son George Home (b. 1794) was the author of Memoirs of an aristocrat and reminiscences of the Emperor Napoleon (1837), which contains references to Alexander Home.

Provenance:

The two manuscripts of Alexander Home were purchased by the Commonwealth National Library in December 1925 from the Museum Book Store, London.

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2245884).

Conditions Governing Use:

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], MS 690, National Library of Australia, Papers of Alexander Home, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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