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Daniel Dunglas Home

Daniel Home
Daniel Dunglas Home

Daniel Dunglas Home (1833 - 1886) was a famous Scottish spiritualist. His abilities were reported to include levitation, telekinesis and channeling. Two things made his career notable:

  1. Unlike most mediums of the time who tended to rely on a single trick, Home demonstrated a variety of psychic abilities.
  2. Home was never conclusively proven to be a fraud.

Daniel Dunglas Home was born in Currie, near Edinburgh, on March 20th 1833. He claimed that his mother's family was gifted with psychic ability. On his paternal side, he claimed that his father was the son of the 10th Earl of Home (a claim later supported by financial records).

At age nine he moved with his aunt and uncle to the United States. Around 1950, shortly after the death of his mother, his aunt's house was apparently subject to unexplained noises. His aunt, concerned that Home was attracting evil influences, evicted him. The young Home was left to pursue an itinerant lifestyle staying with sympathetic family and friends. He developed a pattern of demonstrating psychic abilities in return for board.

This lifestyle continued throughout Home's adult life. He was never formally employed, instead relying on gifts and the hospitality of patrons.

Despite being seriously ill with tuberculosis, Home travelled widely throughout England and Europe. He held sittings with many well-known people including royalty, socialites and authors. In general he is said to have left a good impression and many notable people wrote of being convinced of his abilities. One exception was Robert Browning who wrote the unflattering poem Sludge the Medium (1864) about Home.

Home married twice (his first wife died of tuberculosis). He died on the 21st June 1886 and was buried at St. Germain-en-Laye.