Sir Alexander James Beresford Beresford Hope PC (25 January 1820 – 20 October 1887), known as Alexander Hope until 1854 (and also known as A. J. B. Hope until 1854 and as A. J. B. Beresford Hope from 1854 onwards), was a British author and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician.

Biography

Early life

Beresford Hope was the third and youngest son of Thomas Hope, the writer and patron of art, and his wife the Hon. Louisa Beresford, daughter of

William Beresford, 1st Baron Decies William Beresford, 1st Baron Decies (16 April 1743 – 6 September 1819) was an Anglo-Irish clergyman. Early life Decies was the third son, out of seven sons and eight daughters, of Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone (himself the only son of ...

, younger son of

George Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford George de la Poer Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford, KP, PC (Ire) (8 January 1735 – 3 December 1800) was an Irish politician, known as George Beresford, 2nd Earl of Tyrone from 1763 to 1789. Beresford was the eldest son of Marcus B ...

. The Hope family was of Scottish descent but had been settled in

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

for many years, where they had a successful mercantile and banking business, but had returned to Britain after French troops occupied the country in 1795. Beresford Hope was educated at Harrow and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. His father died in 1831 and his mother married as her second husband her first cousin General

William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford General William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, 1st Marquis of Campo Maior, (; 2 October 1768 – 8 January 1854) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician. A general in the British Army and a Marshal in the Portuguese Army, he fought ...

. In 1854 he inherited his stepfather's estates, including Bedgebury Park,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, and Beresford Hall, Staffordshire, and assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Beresford. His brother was Henry Thomas Hope.

Parliamentary career

He sat as Member of Parliament for

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...

from 1841 to 1852 and from 1857 to 1859. He unsuccessfully contested

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

in 1859 and

Stoke-upon-Trent Stoke-upon-Trent, commonly called Stoke is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Longton and Tunstall form the city of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England. The town was incorporated as a municipal borough in 18 ...

in 1862, but was successfully returned for the latter constituency in 1865. From 1868 until his death he was one of two representatives for Cambridge University. From 1865 he sat as an independent Conservative. He vehemently opposed the Reform Act of 1867 proposed by Benjamin Disraeli, nicknaming Disraeli "the Asian mystery" (referring to Disraeli's Jewish origins). Disraeli retorted by alluding to Beresford Hope's "

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

n graces" (in reference to his family's Dutch origins). He never held ministerial office but was sworn of the Privy Council in 1880.

Philanthropy and writing

Beresford Hope's most prominent public feature was his ardent support for the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

. According to George Wakeling, "in Parliament his voice, in his slow, rather harsh, but very impressive way, would be raised on every Church question". He was especially steadfast in his opposition to the Deceased Wife's Sister Bill. While at Trinity College in 1839, he was, along with

John Mason Neale John Mason Neale (24 January 1818 – 6 August 1866) was an English Anglican priest, scholar and hymnwriter. He worked and wrote on a wide range of holy Christian texts, including obscure medieval hymns, both Western and Eastern. Among his most ...

and Benjamin Webb a founder of the

Cambridge Camden Society The Cambridge Camden Society, known from 1845 (when it moved to London) as the Ecclesiological Society,Histor ...

(later the Ecclesiological Society). He re-established it in 1879 as the St Paul's Ecclesiological Society A very wealthy man, he purchased St Augustine's Abbey in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

in 1844, to rebuild it as a college for missionary clergy. He also supervised the commissioning and construction of the church of

All Saints, Margaret Street All Saints, Margaret Street, is a Grade I listed Anglo-Catholic church in London. The church was designed by the architect William Butterfield and built between 1850 and 1859. It has been hailed as Butterfield's masterpiece and a pioneering buil ...

, London, to the designs of

William Butterfield William Butterfield (7 September 1814 – 23 February 1900) was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement (or Tractarian Movement). He is noted for his use of polychromy. Biography William Butterfield was born in Lon ...

on behalf of the Ecclesiological Society. In about 1850 Beresford Hope inherited the Beresford estate in Alstonefield and

Sheen Sheen may refer to: Places * Sheen or West Sheen, an alternative name for Richmond, London, England ** East Sheen ** North Sheen ** Sheen Priory * Sheen, Staffordshire, a village and civil parish in the Staffordshire Moorlands, England * Sheenb ...

in Staffordshire. He wanted to make Sheen "the Athens of the Moorlands". He rebuilt the church, to the design of William Butterfield, and built a school and a lending library. It was remarked in ''The Ecclesiologist'' that "the general effect is that of an ecclesiastical colony in the wilds of Australia". Not all Hope's plans for Sheen were realized. Beresford Hope was also a writer on archaeological, architectural, ecclesiastical and artistic subjects and was President of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

from 1865 to 1867 and a trustee of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. He co-founded the '' Saturday Review'' in 1855. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in 1880. In 1873 he was invited to lay the foundation stone of the new Christ Church in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex. Beresford Hope was active in the funding Canon Nathaniel Woodard's national network of

Woodard Schools Woodard Schools is a group of Anglican schools (both primary and secondary) affiliated to the Woodard Corporation (formerly the Society of St Nicolas) which has its origin in the work of Nathaniel Woodard, a Church of England priest in the Anglo- ...

Family

Graves of Sir Alexander James Beresford Beresford-Hope PC and his wife

Beresford Hope married Lady Mildred Arabella Charlotte Henrietta, daughter of

James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury James Brownlow William Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury, (17 April 1791 – 12 April 1868), styled Viscount Cranborne until 1823, was a British Conservative politician. He held office under The Earl of Derby as Lord Privy Seal in 185 ...

, and sister of

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a ...

, in 1842. They had three sons and seven daughters. Lady Mildred was a leading figure in London society for many years. She died in March 1881. Beresford Hope survived her by six years and died in October 1887, aged 67, at his home, Bedgebury Park, Goudhurst, Kent. He was buried at

Christ Church, Kilndown Christ Church is a Church of England parish church in Kilndown, Kent, England. It was built in 1839 under the commission of William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, and was substantially reordered in the early 1840s in accordance with the princi ...

, Kent. His daughter, Bridget, married

Alban Gibbs, 2nd Baron Aldenham Alban George Henry Gibbs, 2nd Baron Aldenham (23 April 1846 – 9 May 1936), was a British Conservative Party politician and peer, the son of Henry Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham. He was elected at the 1892 general election as a Member of P ...

Works

* ''Essays'' (1844) * ''English cathedrals in the XIX. century'' (1861) * ''The social and political bearings of the American disruption'' (1863) * ''Cathedrals in their missionary aspects'' (1872) * ''Hints towards peace in ceremonial matters'' (1874) * ''Worship in the church of England'' (1874) * ''Strictly tied-up'' (1880) * ''The Brandreth'' (1882) * ''Worship and order'' (1883)

Notes

References

* *
Article on Alexander Beresford Hope at americancivilwar.org
*

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beresford Hope, Alexander 1820 births 1887 deaths

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the University of Cambridge UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 Fellows of the Royal Society Presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Politicians from London