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Sir Alexander James Beresford Beresford Hope PC (25 January 1820 – 20 October 1887), known as Alexander Hope until 1854 (and also known as A. J. B. Hope until 1854 and as A. J. B. Beresford Hope from 1854 onwards), was a British author and
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
politician.


Biography


Early life

Beresford Hope was the third and youngest son of Thomas Hope, the writer and patron of art, and his wife the Hon. Louisa Beresford, daughter of
William Beresford, 1st Baron Decies William Beresford, 1st Baron Decies (16 April 1743 – 6 September 1819) was an Anglo-Irish clergyman. Early life Decies was the third son, out of seven sons and eight daughters, of Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone (himself the only son of ...
, younger son of
George Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford George de la Poer Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford, KP, PC (Ire) (8 January 1735 – 3 December 1800) was an Irish politician, known as George Beresford, 2nd Earl of Tyrone from 1763 to 1789. Beresford was the eldest son of Marcus B ...
. The Hope family was of Scottish descent but had been settled in
The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
for many years, where they had a successful mercantile and banking business, but had returned to Britain after French troops occupied the country in 1795. Beresford Hope was educated at Harrow and
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
. His father died in 1831 and his mother married as her second husband her first cousin General
William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford General William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, 1st Marquis of Campo Maior, (; 2 October 1768 – 8 January 1854) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician. A general in the British Army and a Marshal in the Portuguese Army, he fough ...
. In 1854 he inherited his stepfather's estates, including Bedgebury Park,
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, and Beresford Hall,
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
, and assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Beresford. His brother was
Henry Thomas Hope Henry Thomas Hope (30 April 1808 – 4 December 1862) was a British MP and patron of the arts. Biography Henry Thomas Hope was born in London on 30 April 1808, the eldest of the three sons of the connoisseur Thomas Hope (banker, born 1769), T ...
.


Parliamentary career

He sat as Member of Parliament for
Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...
from 1841 to 1852 and from 1857 to 1859. He unsuccessfully contested
Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in 1859 and
Stoke-upon-Trent Stoke-upon-Trent, commonly called Stoke is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Longton and Tunstall form the city of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England. The town was incorporated as a municipal borough in 18 ...
in 1862, but was successfully returned for the latter constituency in 1865. From 1868 until his death he was one of two representatives for Cambridge University. From 1865 he sat as an independent Conservative. He vehemently opposed the Reform Act of 1867 proposed by
Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...
, nicknaming Disraeli "the Asian mystery" (referring to Disraeli's Jewish origins). Disraeli retorted by alluding to Beresford Hope's "
Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
n graces" (in reference to his family's Dutch origins). He never held ministerial office but was sworn of the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
in 1880.


Philanthropy and writing

Beresford Hope's most prominent public feature was his ardent support for the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
. According to George Wakeling, "in Parliament his voice, in his slow, rather harsh, but very impressive way, would be raised on every Church question". He was especially steadfast in his opposition to the
Deceased Wife's Sister Bill The Deceased Wife's Sister's Marriage Act 1907 ( 7 Edw.7 c.47) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, allowing a man to marry his dead wife's sister, which had previously been forbidden. This prohibition had derived from a doctrine ...
. While at Trinity College in 1839, he was, along with
John Mason Neale John Mason Neale (24 January 1818 – 6 August 1866) was an English Anglican priest, scholar and hymnwriter. He worked and wrote on a wide range of holy Christian texts, including obscure medieval hymns, both Western and Eastern. Among his most ...
and Benjamin Webb a founder of the
Cambridge Camden Society The Cambridge Camden Society, known from 1845 (when it moved to London) as the Ecclesiological Society,Histor ...
(later the Ecclesiological Society). He re-established it in 1879 as the St Paul's Ecclesiological Society A very wealthy man, he purchased St Augustine's Abbey in
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...
in 1844, to rebuild it as a college for missionary clergy. He also supervised the commissioning and construction of the church of
All Saints, Margaret Street All Saints, Margaret Street, is a Grade I listed Anglo-Catholic church in London. The church was designed by the architect William Butterfield and built between 1850 and 1859. It has been hailed as Butterfield's masterpiece and a pioneering buil ...
, London, to the designs of
William Butterfield William Butterfield (7 September 1814 – 23 February 1900) was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian Movement). He is noted for his use of polychromy. Biography William Butterfield was born in Lon ...
on behalf of the Ecclesiological Society. In about 1850 Beresford Hope inherited the Beresford estate in
Alstonefield Alstonefield (alternative spelling: Alstonfield) is a village and civil parish in the Peak District National Park and the Staffordshire Moorlands district of Staffordshire, England about north of Ashbourne, east of Leek and south of Buxton. ...
and
Sheen Sheen may refer to: Places * Sheen or West Sheen, an alternative name for Richmond, London, England ** East Sheen ** North Sheen ** Sheen Priory * Sheen, Staffordshire, a village and civil parish in the Staffordshire Moorlands, England * Sheenb ...
in Staffordshire. He wanted to make Sheen "the Athens of the Moorlands". He rebuilt the church, to the design of William Butterfield, and built a school and a lending library. It was remarked in ''The Ecclesiologist'' that "the general effect is that of an ecclesiastical colony in the wilds of Australia". Not all Hope's plans for Sheen were realized. Beresford Hope was also a writer on archaeological, architectural, ecclesiastical and artistic subjects and was President of the
Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...
from 1865 to 1867 and a trustee of the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
. He co-founded the '' Saturday Review'' in 1855. He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in 1880. In 1873 he was invited to lay the foundation stone of the new Christ Church in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex. Beresford Hope was active in the funding Canon Nathaniel Woodard's national network of
Woodard Schools Woodard Schools is a group of Anglican schools (both primary and secondary) affiliated to the Woodard Corporation (formerly the Society of St Nicolas) which has its origin in the work of Nathaniel Woodard, a Church of England priest in the Anglo- ...
.


Family

Beresford Hope married Lady Mildred Arabella Charlotte Henrietta, daughter of
James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury James Brownlow William Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury, (17 April 1791 – 12 April 1868), styled Viscount Cranborne until 1823, was a British Conservative politician. He held office under The Earl of Derby as Lord Privy Seal in 185 ...
, and sister of
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen y ...
, in 1842. They had three sons and seven daughters. Lady Mildred was a leading figure in London society for many years. She died in March 1881. Beresford Hope survived her by six years and died in October 1887, aged 67, at his home, Bedgebury Park, Goudhurst, Kent. He was buried at
Christ Church, Kilndown Christ Church is a Church of England parish church in Kilndown, Kent, England. It was built in 1839 under the commission of William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, and was substantially reordered in the early 1840s in accordance with the princi ...
, Kent. His daughter, Bridget, married
Alban Gibbs, 2nd Baron Aldenham Alban George Henry Gibbs, 2nd Baron Aldenham (23 April 1846 – 9 May 1936), was a British Conservative Party politician and peer, the son of Henry Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham. He was elected at the 1892 general election as a Member of P ...
.


Works

* ''Essays'' (1844) * ''English cathedrals in the XIX. century'' (1861) * ''The social and political bearings of the American disruption'' (1863) * ''Cathedrals in their missionary aspects'' (1872) * ''Hints towards peace in ceremonial matters'' (1874) * ''Worship in the church of England'' (1874) * ''Strictly tied-up'' (1880) * ''The Brandreth'' (1882) * ''Worship and order'' (1883)


Notes


References

* *
Article on Alexander Beresford Hope at americancivilwar.org
*


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beresford Hope, Alexander 1820 births 1887 deaths
Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the University of Cambridge UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 Fellows of the Royal Society Presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Politicians from London