Colonel John Hopton (born John Dutton Hunt; 30 December 1858 – 1 June 1934) was a British soldier, landowner, musician, and Olympic

marksman A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting using projectile weapons (in modern days most commonly an accurized scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle or a sniper rifle) to shoot at high-value targets at longer-than- ...

Biography

Educated at Harrow and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

, Hopton was commissioned into the British Army on 13 August 1879 as a second lieutenant in the

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First and Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 to form the Royal Highland Fus ...

. He had a career in the Army Ordnance Department, and was Chief Inspector for Small Arms with the temporary rank of

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

from 1 October 1900. He received the substantive promotion to lieutenant-colonel on 29 October 1902. By 1908, he was on retired pay. He was one of the greatest rifle shots of his day. He represented England 36 times in the Elcho long-range Match against Scotland and Ireland, and captained the Great Britain team both at home and on tour in Australia. At the age of 49, he competed in the 1000 yard free rifle event at the 1908 Summer Olympics, placing 24th. 1000 yard free rifle was not contested at any Olympic Games after 1908. At the Imperial Meeting, held at Bisley, his name is given to the Hopton Aggregate, being the overall aggregate of each shooter's individual scores in the long-range discipline of Match Rifle. Outside shooting, Hopton was an accomplished musician, serving as director of the Royal Academy of Music. In 1883 he married Harriette Mary Rudd Stevenson (1863–1939) but they Divorced in 1897 when she ran off with Claud Berkeley Portman (1864–1929) Later 4th Viscount Portman and in 1899 he married Sybil Maude. Hopton tomb general view

Hopton lived at Canon Frome Court, Herefordshire, his ancestral home, where he had a private rifle range. He is buried in an imposing tomb at the top of Meephill to the east of the parish of Canon Frome, taking the form of a stone classical temple with resonant musical qualities. The mausoleum marks the spot from which Hopton once hit the bulls-eye of a target 1,500 yards away, at Old Birchend. Probate on Hopton's will was granted to his widow, Sybil Maude Hopton, on an estate valued at £96,194,"Hopton John Dutton of Canon-ffrome Court Ledbury Herefordshire" in Probate Index for England and Wales, 1934, at ancestry.co.uk, accessed 24 May 2020 .

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopton, John 1858 births 1934 deaths People educated at Harrow School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Highland Light Infantry officers British male sport shooters Olympic shooters for Great Britain Shooters at the 1908 Summer Olympics People from Stroud Sportspeople from Gloucestershire