image copyright Rachel Windsor

The Rev. John Home, relative of the Earls of Home and author of Douglas, was born in this house on Maritime Street, and was a member of Edinburgh's intellectual elite, counting Mrs Henry Siddons and David Hume amongst his friends. Despite a long and serviceable career in the clergy, Home always wanted to be a playwright, and in 1745 he was able to put on a production of his most famous work, 'Douglas', at Allan Ramsay's theatre on Playhouse Close. The performance was a resounding success, but the Reverend never really capitalised on his new popularity, partly due to his lack of material of equivalent quality, and in part owing to the ongoing distaste for the theatre amongst his colleagues in holy vows. The play continued to be played, to much public enjoyment, for around 50 years, and then faded into obscurity, where it remained until the middle of the twentieth century when it was revived for the Edinburgh Festival. He was buried in South Leith Churchyard. His relatives include William Douglas Home, the playwright, and Alec Douglas Home, the British Prime Minister of little renown.