Guide to the Papers of Alexander Home
MS 690
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Alexander Home
- Title
- Papers of Alexander Home
- Date Range
- 1777 - 1779
- Collection Number
- MS 690
- Extent
- 0.06 metres (1 folder + 1 volume)
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- Special Collections (Manuscripts)
Introduction
Scope and Contents
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.
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Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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]'.
Provenance
The two manuscripts of Alexander Home were purchased by the Commonwealth National Library in December 1925 from the Museum Book Store, London.
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.
Item Descriptions
Series 1. Original collection material
Folio manuscript, 32 pages, no covers, written by Alexander Home (File 1)
'The Account of Ottihiti and Our Transaction there, Continued' [pp 19-27, 30-41]. (Item) - Volume 1
Manuscript account of the visit of HMS Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, and HMS Discovery, commanded by Capt. Charles Clerke, to Tahiti, Sept. - Dec. 1777. It refers to a review of Tahitian war canoes, including Omai in English military uniform, relations with the chiefs Tu and Mahine, punitive measures taken by Cook at Moorea, the house erected for Omai at Huahine, the character of Omai and his predicament, visit to Bora Bora, desertions, imprisonment of Podua and her husband, Cook's exhortations against desertions, and trade with Tahitians.
'A description of the Vale of Tiarabuwh some Remarks on its inhabitants' [pp 42-54]. (Item) - Volume 1
An account of the topography and landscape of Taiarapu, the eastern part of Tahiti, and the social organisation, houses, weapons, customs and beliefs of the peoples.
'Lattd and Long. of places Touched at and Discovered by the Resolution & Discovery wh the Dates. Var: hight of the tides there Set of the nidle Thermometer' [pp 28-29]. (Item) - Volume 1
Extracts from 11 entries of log, not in date order and ranging from 26 December 1776 to 30 January 1778, referring to landings at the Sandwich Islands, Christmas Island, Marion Island, Kerguelen, Van Diemen's Land, Bora Bora and Tahiti.
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' (File 2)
Notwithstanding the title, the manuscript by Alexander Home is not a log but comprises two accounts.
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). (Item) - Volume 1
Home wrote 'I was not present in this Fray being Sick So this Account is entirely from the Mouths of others Who were present'.
'An account of Kamschatska', April 1779 (48pp). (Item) - Volume 1
Following the death of Captain Cook, the two ships, under the command of Charles Clerke, sailed north-west to Kamchatka, the peninsular that extends southward from Siberia, from where they made a second attempt to discover the North West Passage. The manuscript describes the arrival at Kamchatka, topography and landscape, flora and fauna, relations between Kamchatkans and Russians, social customs, government, trade, houses, crops, meetings between the English and the Russians at Petropavlovsk.
Series 2. Typescript transcripts
Typescript transcript from Folio manuscript - 'The Account of Ottihiti and Our Transaction there, Continued' [pp 19-27, 30-41]. (Item 1) - Box (Shared)