Home Family Genealogy & History

Fly Away Home is a celebrated 1996 family adventure drama film directed by Carroll Ballard, featuring prominent actors Anna Paquin, Jeff Daniels, and Dana Delany. Known for its compelling storytelling and visual appeal, the film dramatizes Bill Lishman's pioneering efforts to lead Canada geese migration using ultralight aircraft, a venture known as "Operation Migration." The film also draws inspiration from Dr. William J. L. Sladen's expertise, a renowned British-born zoologist. This movie, released by Columbia Pictures, became a notable highlight in the genre, emphasizing themes of adventure, innovation, and family bonding.

The film centers around the character of Amy Alden, whose journey from New Zealand to Ontario, Canada, following the tragic death of her mother Aliane, underscores the narrative. Amy's relationship with her estranged father, Thomas Alden, a sculptor and inventor, forms the emotional core of the story as they bond over their shared mission to lead the geese to safety. This plotline highlights themes of reconciliation and resilience within the family.

Daniel Dunglas Home was a renowned Scottish physical medium, celebrated for his reported abilities to levitate, communicate with the dead, and produce supernatural phenomena like rapping and knocking sounds. His séances, attended by numerous prominent Victorians, made him one of the most famous figures of his time. While biographer Peter Lamont highlighted his fame, Harry Houdini critiqued him as a precursor to mediums exploiting public gullibility. Despite claims of fraud, Home's captivating performances marked a significant era in the history of spiritualism.

Daniel's mother, Elizabeth "Betsy" Home (née McNeill), hailed from a lineage of Scottish seers, including her great uncle Colin Urquhart. His father, William Home, was the illegitimate son of Alexander, the 10th Earl of Home. Elizabeth and William married young and had eight children, living in a mill house in Currie, Scotland. Daniel was raised by his childless aunt Mary Cook after being deemed a delicate child.

David Douglas-Home, 15th Earl of Home, was a prominent British banker and hereditary peer, known for his influential roles in the House of Lords and the finance sector. Serving as a Conservative member from 1996 until his passing in 2022, he was among the select hereditary peers who retained their seats after the House of Lords Act 1999. Beyond politics, he held significant positions in banking, including Chairman of Coutts & Co from 1999 to 2013. Additionally, he was recognized as a Knight of the Order of the Thistle in 2014, underscoring his distinguished public service.

David Douglas-Home was born in London as the only son of Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the 14th Earl of Home, who also served as the British Prime Minister, and Elizabeth Alington, the daughter of Cyril Alington. This lineage connects David to a notable heritage of British aristocracy and public service.

Stewart Home, born Kevin Llewellyn Callan on March 24, 1962, in Wimbledon, South London, is a multifaceted English artist, writer, filmmaker, and activist. Known for his avant-garde and provocative novels, Home's works like "69 Things to Do with a Dead Princess" and "Tainted Love" showcase his flair for blending political agit-prop with punk rock and avant-garde art. His early parodistic pulp fiction mimics 1970s skinhead pulp novels, while his activism in the 1980s and 1990s featured plagiarism, pranks, and collective monikers like "Karen Eliot." Home's engagement with subcultures like Neoism and his use of group identities underscore his radical leftist and anti-art stance, making him a distinctive figure in contemporary art and literature.

Stewart Home's family background is marked by his mother, Julia Callan-Thompson, who was a model linked to the radical arts scene in Notting Hill Gate. This connection to the arts and radicalism likely influenced Home's later endeavors in the artistic and literary fields.