Charles Felix Otho Victor Gabriel John Adrian Hope-Nicholson
[Family First: Tracing Relationships in the Past, Ruth Alexandra Symes, Pen and Sword History, 2015, pg 83] (21 July 1921 – 15 September 1990) was a British aristocrat and genealogist. ''
The Herald'' of Scotland called him a "tall, imposing figure known as the Squire of Chelsea", and noted that after
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
,
Christ Church, Oxford, and the war he had "dedicated his life to the greater glory of his ancestors, in particular the
Linlithgow
Linlithgow (; gd, Gleann Iucha, sco, Lithgae) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a ...
family and the Hopes of
Hopetoun House
Hopetoun House is a country house near South Queensferry owned by the Hopetoun House Preservation Trust, a charity established in 1974 to preserve the house and grounds as a national monument, to protect and improve their amenities, and to pr ...
."
The son of
Hedley Hope-Nicholson
Hedley Hope-Nicholson (born William Hedley Kenelm Nicholson; 17 July 1888 – 18 July 1969), barrister and littérateur, was, with his wife Jaqueline, notable in English artistic and literary circles in the first half of the twentieth century.
Ear ...
, a barrister, head of the
Society of King Charles the Martyr
The Society of King Charles the Martyr is an Anglican devotional society dedicated to the cult of King Charles the Martyr, a title of Charles I of England (1600–1649). It is a member of the Catholic Societies of the Church of England, an Ang ...
and heir to a raincoat fortune, in his young years Felix Hope-Nicholson was a notable figure in high society in London, and was often seen socialising at
The Ritz.
During an air raid during World War II, in a drunken state, he tripped and fell on King
Zog of Albania
Zog I ( sq, Naltmadhnija e tij Zogu I, Mbreti i Shqiptarëve, ; 8 October 18959 April 1961), born Ahmed Muhtar bey Zogolli, taking the name Ahmet Zogu in 1922, was the leader of Albanian Kingdom (1928–1939), Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27 ...
, who was staying at the hotel at the time. By the 1970s he was described as "impoverished",
but successfully kept up the appearance of a "bachelor dandy".
He lived in the house in which he was raised, More House on
Tite Street
Tite Street is a street in Chelsea, London, England, within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, just north of the River Thames. It was laid out from 1877 by the Metropolitan Board of Works, giving access to the Chelsea Embankment.
Hist ...
.
Hope-Nicholson was a friend of
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
and
Hamish Erskine (son of the 5th Earl of Rosslyn),
a "notoriously vain, rather silly and extremely amusing" homosexual, unofficially ('listlessly') engaged to
Nancy Mitford
Nancy Freeman-Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973), known as Nancy Mitford, was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the London ...
until Erskine ended the relationship.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, Felix
1921 births
1990 deaths
1940s in London
English genealogists
English socialites
Nobility of the United Kingdom
People educated at Eton College
People from Chelsea, London
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford