Donald Horne

Donald Horne (1787–1870) was a Scottish lawyer, known as a political agent for the 5th Duke of Buccleugh. Life He was born at Stanstill into a prominent Caithness family, the second son of John Horne (died 1823) of Stirkoke. He was a nephew of James Horne of Langwell (1752–1831), a political agent there in the Conservative interest, and his brother William Horne of Stirkoke, both of whom were attorneys. Horne went to school in Musselburgh and was a student at Edinburgh University. He was an apprentice in law to his uncle James, and became a Writer to the Signet in 1813. For his role as electoral agent, John Prest called Horne "the F. R. Bonham of North Britain". He worked for the fifth Duke of Buccleugh, the leading Conservative figure in Scotland, and prepared reports covering Scottish parliamentary constituencies. He gave evidence on four days of March 1837 to the parliamentary select committee on fictitious votes in Scotland. The Reform Act 1832 had given the Whigs an electoral edge in Scotland. Subsequently Horne for the Tory side made incremental progress, exploiting weaknesses in the Act. His working relationship with the Duke ended in 1842.