Elizabeth Gibbons | |
|---|---|
| Countess of Home | |
| Born | 1703/1704 Jamaica |
| Died | 15 January 1784 London |
| Buried | Westminster Abbey |
| Spouse(s) | James Lawes William Home, 8th Earl of Home |
| Father | William Gibbons |
| Mother | Deborah Favell |
Elizabeth Home, Countess of Home (née Gibbons; 1703/04 – 15 January 1784) was a Jamaican-born heiress, noblewoman and absentee plantation owner. Already rich from her merchant father, she married James Lawes, the eligible son of Jamaica's governor, in 1720. They moved to London, and his death in 1734 left her a wealthy widow. Home married the spendthrift William Home, 8th Earl of Home in late 1742. He abandoned her soon after, and she spent her next years living an extravagant lifestyle. She owned plantations in the parishes of St Andrew and Vere in Jamaica, owning over 423 slaves on her plantations.[1]
Home earned the nickname "Queen of Hell" for her "irascible behaviour and lavish parties".[2][3] During the 1770s, Lady Home commissioned James Wyatt (and later the brothers Robert and James Adam) to design Home House, a lavish town house in Portman Square, London. It was then considered to have one of the finest interiors in London and still remains today. She died in 1784 and is buried in Westminster Abbey. Neither of her marriages produced any children.