Hume was born Nov. 29, 1926, in New York City. Through his father, Frederic Jay Wells, he was descended from John Jay, first chief justice of the United States.
Raised in New Canaan, Conn., Hume attended South Kent (Conn.) School and then served in the Army from 1944 to 1946. At Princeton he was a philosophy major, belonged to Elm Club, where he was editor of The Elm Blight, and roomed with Allen Beebe ’48 and Peter Labe.
Having long summered in Chester, Nova Scotia, he moved to Halifax after graduation to work for W.C. Pitfield as a stockbroker. He stayed with the company through its acquisition by Dominion Securities and the Royal Bank of Canada, served as manager of the Halifax office for many years, and retired in 1990.
He was an avid sailor, a past commodore of the Chester Yacht Club, and a life member of the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron. Active in civic affairs, he was on the board of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.
Hume died Sept. 28, 2008, of brain cancer. He is survived by his widow, Judith; his children, Nancy, Robert, and Michael Wells; stepchildren Kyle Shaw and Lesley Wingfield; six grandchildren; his brother, John; and his sister, Susan Sambasivan.