Sir Thomas Hope, 8th Baronet (1681–17 April 1771) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

aristocrat, lawyer and agricultural reformer.

Life

Hope was born in 1681 at Rankeillor House near Monimail in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

. He was the son of Margaret, the daughter of Sir John Aytoun of Aytoun and Sir Archibald Hope, Lord Rankeillor. His grandfather was

Sir John Hope, Lord Craighall Sir John Hope, Lord Craighall (1605?–1654) was a Scottish judge. Life Born about 1605, he was eldest son of Sir Thomas Hope of Craighall, 1st Baronet, by Elizabeth, daughter of John Bennet of Wallyford in Haddingtonshire; Sir James Hope (161 ...

, 2nd Baronet Hope of Craighall. The Hope baronetcy of

Craighall Craighall is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa and is bordered by Hyde Park, Dunkeld and Parkhurst. It sits in between the busy arterial routes of Jan Smuts Avenue and William Nicol highway and is located in Region B of the City of Johan ...

in the county of

was created in the

Baronetage of Nova Scotia Baronets are a rank in the British aristocracy. The current Baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier but existing Baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland, and Great Britain. Baronetage of England (1611–1705) King James ...

on 19 February 1628 for Thomas Hope, a Scottish lawyer, and advisor to

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. Like his ancestors before him, Hope studied the law. He was admitted as an advocate 8 July 1701 and served as an MP for Fifeshire from 1706 to 1707. He opposed the Treaty of Union 1707 and left politics at that point. In 1723 he founded the Society of Improvers in the Knowledge of Agriculture. He served as the first president of this society with Robert Maxwell of Arkland as its secretary. In 1741 Hope engaged in correspondence with

James Erskine, Lord Grange James Erskine, Lord Grange (167920 January 1754) was a Scottish advocate, judge and politician. He served as Lord Justice Clerk and a Lord of Justiciary. The son of Charles Erskine, Earl of Mar, by his spouse Lady Mary, eldest daughter of Geo ...

, with a view to ending the incarceration on the island of Hirta of his wife,

Rachel Chiesley, Lady Grange Rachel Chiesley (baptised 4 February 1679 – 12 May 1745), usually known as Lady Grange, was the wife of Lord Grange, a Scottish lawyer with Jacobite sympathies. After 25 years of marriage and nine children, the Granges separated ac ...

, proposing that she be allowed to live with relatives in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area incl ...

. His efforts were unsuccessful. Hope succeeded to the baronetcy on 5 June 1766 on the death of his cousin Lieutenant-General Sir John Bruce Hope, 7th Baronet (c. 1684 – 5 June 1766). He was an early promoter of agricultural improvement and land improvement. One of his ambitious projects was the draining of the Borough Loch and adjacent marshy land south of Edinburgh which was then put to use as common grazing land. Today that area is known as The Meadows, but historically was often referred to as Hope Park. He built a villa, Hope House, in 1770 on the east side of the reclaimed land.Edinburgh: An Illustrated Architectural Guide, by Charles McKean ISBN 0 9501462 4 2 Sir Thomas died 17 April 1771 and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his grandson,

Sir Archibald Hope, 9th Baronet Sir Archibald Hope, 9th Baronet (1735 – 30 July 1794) was a Scottish aristocrat. Life Sir Archibald Hope was born in 1735, the only surviving son of Archibald Hope and Catherine Todd, eldest daughter of Hugh Todd. Sir Archibald's fath ...

Family

Sir Thomas married Margaret Lowis, the eldest daughter of James Lowis of Merchiston on 16 March 1702. The couple had the following children: *Archibald, married Catherine Todd, eldest daughter of Hugh Todd. Died young and the baronetcy passed to his son, Sir Archibald Hope, 9th Baronet *James, of London, merchant, governor of

Cape Coast Castle Cape Coast Castle ( sv, Carolusborg) is one of about forty "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) by European traders. It was originally a Portuguese "feitoria" or trading post, establish ...

*Thomas,

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to the English factory at Cartagena *John, a merchant, married Isabel, daughter of Sir Alexander Bannerman, Bannerman Baronet of Elsick *Charles, a captain of marines, died unmarried *Margaret, died unmarried *Agnes, died unmarried *Helen, died unmarried

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, Thomas 1771 deaths

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the ...

Baronets in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia Members of the Parliament of Scotland 1702–1707 1681 births