Sir Theodore Cracraft Hope (9 December 1831 – 4 July 1915), often referred to as T. C. Hope, was a British born civil servant of the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. His duties included

Public Works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

, and he was an active layman of the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

Life

Grave of Theodore Hope in Highgate Cemetery

Born in 1831, Theodore Hope was the only child of Dr. James Hope, F.R.S., a wealthy physician at

St George's Hospital St George's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Tooting, London. Founded in 1733, it is one of the UK's largest teaching hospitals and one of the largest hospitals in Europe. It is run by the St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundatio ...

, whose research in connection with

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

was cut short by his death from

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

in middle life. Theodore's mother, Anne was an author. Hope was privately educated for the most part, with spells at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

, and afterwards at Haileybury, then the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...

's college. From frequent

yachting Yachting is the use of recreational boats and ships called ''yachts'' for racing or cruising. Yachts are distinguished from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. "Yacht" derives from the Dutch word '' jacht'' ("hunt"). With sailboats, ...

practice abroad he was able to secure a master's certificate before he was 20; and when he joined the

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

in 1853 he spoke five European languages. Within two years of landing Hope became Inspector in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, India for the newly formed Education Department. With native scholars such as Dalpatram, he prepared a series of Gujarati textbooks which later came to be known as ''Hope Vachanmala'' (Hope's Readers). Next he served

Sir George Clerk Sir George Russell Clerk (pronounced ''Clark''; – 25 July 1889) was a British civil servant in British India. Life Clerk was born at Worting House in Mortimer West End, Hampshire,''1851 England Census'' the son of John Clerk of Glouc ...

, the Governor, as private secretary, and then was given charge of the

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per ...

district, where he pursued his archeological hobbies, and when he came home on long leave in 1865-66 he published three large works of the architectural monuments of Ahmedabad, Bijapur, and

Dharwar Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

. Returning to India, he spent eight years as Collector of Surat, and in 1871 he was called to Bombay, to preside over a committee appointed to deal with the unsatisfactory state of municipal finance. For a time he filled the post of the Commissioner there. He represented his province in the Viceregal Legislature in India and served also as secretary in the Revenue Department, and was made Secretary for Famine at the close of 1876. In 1880 he was appointed provisional member of the Bombay Government, but did not take up the post, as he was required at headquarters as Secretary of the Finance Department. In 1882 he became Public works Member of the Governor-General's Council and his 5½ years in that position were marked by a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

development which raised the open mileage from 8,000 to 14,000, and also by an advance of 20 per cent in the area of land brought under

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

. He was made a C.I.E. in 1882, and a K.C.S.I. four years later. He left India in 1888. Sir Theodore married in 1866 Josephine Fulton, the only daughter of Mr. J. W. Fulton, of Braidujle House, Co. Down. They had no children. He died on 4 July 1915 and is buried with his wife on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

(plot no 29005).

Books

He had published ''Gujarati Bhashanu Vyakaran'' (The grammar of

Gujarati language Gujarati (; gu, ગુજરાતી, Gujarātī, translit-std=ISO, label= Gujarati script, ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old ...

) (1858) which was one of the earlier attempts to write grammar of Gujarati. Another book is Surat, Broach and Other Old Cities of Goojerat.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, Theodore Cracraft, Sir 1831 births 1915 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery British East India Company civil servants Founders of Indian schools and colleges Gujarati-language writers English-language writers from India Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Members of Lincoln's Inn Members of the Imperial Legislative Council of India Members of the Council of the Governor General of India