John Hope was a French courtier and merchant who settled in Edinburgh. According to family histories "John de Hope" came to Scotland in the entourage of Madeleine of Valois in 1537. His family was from Picardy, and their original name was Houblon. It seems more likely that he was John Hope ''alias'' "Petit Johnne, Trumpetour", possibly in the service of John Stewart, Duke of Albany, governor of Scotland, and made a burgess of Edinburgh in March 1517. He set up business as a merchant in Edinburgh and married Bessie (or Elizabeth) Cumming. The royal treasurer's account mention French grey cloth bought from a "Johne Hoip" in September 1537 for the costumes of the grooms in the royal stable, and that in August 1537 "Johne Hope" was among the merchants who supplied black cloth for the mourning clothes and riding equipment worn by the ladies in waiting of Madeleine of Valois. The Hope family were dealers in textiles like many successful Edinburgh merchants, and imported luxury fabrics such as velvets, silver lace and cloth-of-gold. John's son Edward married a Parisian woman, Jacqueline de Tot. He supported the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke with the Pope, Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Church of Scotland, Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterianism, Presbyterian in ...

in 1560. John Hope built a house on Edinburgh high street between Chalmers and Barringers' closes. When this house was demolished an attractive fireplace was discovered and is now displayed in the rebuilt Trinity College Kirk. It appears to be older than John Hope's time. A gothic basin or piscina from the house was reused at Darnick Tower. The next family home in Edinburgh was at the top of the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

on the north side of Castlehill, entered through Tod's close or Edward Hope's Close. The complex of buildings was sometimes known as the palace of

Mary of Guise Mary of Guise (french: Marie de Guise; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560), also called Mary of Lorraine, was a French noblewoman of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine and one of the most powerful families in France. She ...

. Various items from the demolished buildings are displayed in the

National Museum of Scotland The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum (opened in ...

. John's grandson was the lawyer

Sir Thomas Hope of Craighall Sir Thomas Hope, 1st Baronet Hope of Craighall (1573–1646) was a Scottish lawyer, and Lord Advocate under Charles I. Life He was the son of an eminent Edinburgh merchant, Henry Hope, and his French wife, Jacqueline de Tott, her parents of ...

whose house was demolished to build the public library in Edinburgh.Alison Hay Dunlop, ''Anent Old Edinburgh'' (Edinburgh, 1890), pp. 11-12.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, John 16th-century Scottish people 16th-century Scottish businesspeople John French emigrants to Scotland