Alexander Humphrys-Alexander

Alexander Humphrys-Alexander (1783–4 May 1859) was a claimant to the vacant Earldom of Stirling and rights to vast lands in eastern Canada, referring back to a Royal Charter granted to the 1st Earl by James I in 1621 to colonize Nova Scotia and surrounding areas of North America.

[1] At some point he met Thomas Christopher Banks, genealogist and author of a book on the Extinct and Dormant Baronage of England, who became his adviser.

These were originally restricted to the direct male line, but Humphrys-Alexander cited a special charter (or ‘Novodamus’) that Charles I had granted in 1639 which obviated this requirement.

He then proceeded to give Banks 16,000 acres of land in Canada and made him a baronet,[3] followed by other attempts to make profitable use of his American interests.

[1] The ambitious scope of Humphrys-Alexander's activities inevitably involved the British government and eventually his claims were challenged, culminating in a celebrated trial in Edinburgh in 1839 in which he was accused of forgery.