Sir Peter Hope (29 May 1912 – 12 March 1999) was a British intelligence officer, later a diplomat, ambassador to Mexico.

Life

Born Charles Peter Hope, he went by his middle name of Peter. He was the son of George Leonard Nelson Hope and Honoria Mary Victoria Riddell. Hope was educated at

The Oratory School The Oratory School () is an HMC Co-educational independent Roman Catholic day and boarding school for pupils aged 11–18 located in Woodcote, north-west of Reading. Founded in 1859 by Saint John Henry Newman, The Oratory has historical ties t ...

and

Imperial College, London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

. While there he had an affair with Mary Farmar, later the novelist

Mary Wesley Mary Wesley was the pen name of Mary Aline Siepmann CBE (24 June 191230 December 2002), an English novelist. During her career, she was one of Britain's most successful novelists, selling three million copies of her books, including ten bestsell ...

. In 1936 Hope married Hazel Mary Turner, the daughter of G. L. Turner, and had three sons.

Career

In 1938 he joined the Territorial Army where he was recruited by the

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

(SIS) to work in Germany. He joined the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1939, but was attached to

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

and was involved with the formation of the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

. In 1941 he transferred to

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Go ...

and was posted to

SHAEF Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the commander in SHAEF th ...

in 1944 to track down British traitors, one of whom was

Harold Cole Harold Cole (24 January 1906 – 8 January 1946), also known as Harry Cole, Paul Cole, and many other aliases, was a petty criminal, a confidence man, a British soldier, an operative of the Pat O'Leary escape line, and an agent of Nazi German ...

who Hope arrested in 1945. In 1946 Hope transferred to the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

. He was Minister at

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

1959–62,

Consul-General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

1963–64, Minister and Alternate UK Representative to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

1965–68 and

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

1968–72. In retirement, he devoted his time to the affairs of the

Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

. Hope was appointed CMG in the

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

of 1957 and knighted KCMG in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1972. He was a Knight of the

Venerable Order of St John The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of c ...

, a Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the Aztec Eagle The Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle ( es, Orden Mexicana del Águila Azteca) forms part of the Mexican Honours System and is the highest Mexican order awarded to foreigners in the country. History It was created by decree on December 29, 193 ...

(Mexico), a Grand Officer of the Order of Malta and a member of the

Order of Saints George and Constantine The Royal Family Order of Saints George and Constantine ( el, Βασιλικόν Οἰκογενειακόν Τάγμα Ἁγίων Γεωργίου καὶ Κωνσταντίνου, Vasilikon Oikogeneiakon Tagma Agion Georgiou kai Konstantinou) ...

(Greece).

References

Sources

HOPE, Sir (Charles) Peter
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2012
Sir Peter Hope obituary
p. 21, ''The Times'' (London), 16 March 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, Peter 1912 births 1999 deaths

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

People educated at The Oratory School Alumni of Imperial College London MI5 personnel Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Mexico Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights of Justice of the Order of St John 20th-century British diplomats British Army personnel of World War II Royal Artillery personnel Secret Intelligence Service personnel