General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

John Hope, 4th Earl of Hopetoun, (17 August 1765 – 27 August 1823), known as The Honourable John Hope from 1781 to 1814 and as Lord Niddry from 1814 to 1816, 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 ...

politician and

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer.

Military career

Hopetoun was the only son of John Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun, by his second wife Jane or Jean Oliphant. His mother died when he was only one year old. He was commissioned into the 10th Light Dragoons in 1784. He sat as Member of Parliament for

Linlithgowshire West Lothian, also known as Linlithgowshire (its official name until 1925), is a counties of Scotland, historic county in the east central Lowlands of Scotland. until 1925. It is bounded geographically by the River Avon, Falkirk, Avon to the wes ...

from 1790 to 1800. He took part in the capture of the

French West Indies The French West Indies or French Antilles (, ; ) are the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: * The two overseas departments of: ** Guadeloupe, including the islands of Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Les Saintes, Ma ...

and

Spanish West Indies The Spanish West Indies, Spanish Caribbean or the Spanish Antilles (also known as "Las Antillas Occidentales" or simply "Las Antillas Españolas" in Spanish) were Spanish territories in the Caribbean. In terms of governance of the Spanish Empir ...

in 1796 and 1797. In 1799 he was sent to

Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO fe ...

as Deputy Adjutant-General and was present at the Battle of Bergen and the

Battle of Castricum The Battle of Castricum (October 6, 1799) saw a Franco-Dutch force defeat an Anglo-Russian force near Castricum, Netherlands. The battle was fought during the War of the Second Coalition against Revolutionary France between French and Dutch for ...

. In 1801 he was sent to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

and then to

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

to take the surrender of the French

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

s there. He became Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth and General Officer Commanding South-West District in June 1805. He commanded a division during the advance into

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and commanded the British left at the

Battle of Corunna The Battle of Corunna (or ''A Coruña'', ''La Corunna'', ''La Coruña'' or ''La Corogne''), in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a Briti ...

in 1809, succeeding to overall command when Sir John Moore was killed. Later that year he commanded the reserve army during the

Walcheren Campaign The Walcheren Campaign () was an unsuccessful United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British expedition to the Kingdom of Holland in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with First French Empire, France ...

. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Ireland and was admitted to the

Irish Privy Council His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal execut ...

in 1812. He then commanded the 1st Division under The Duke of Wellington at the

Battle of Nivelle The Battle of Nivelle (10 November 1813) took place in front of the river Nivelle near the end of the Peninsular War (1808–1814). After the Allied siege of San Sebastian, Wellington's 80,000 British, Portuguese and Spanish troops (20, ...

and at the

Battle of the Nive The Battles of the Nive (9–13 December 1813) were fought towards the end of the Peninsular War. Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington's Anglo-Portuguese Army, Anglo-Portuguese and Spanish Army ...

in 1813. He was captured fighting the French sortie at the

Battle of Bayonne The Battle of Bayonne (14 April 1814), the last major battle of the Peninsular War, ensued when the French garrison of Bayonne led by General of Division Pierre Thouvenot launched a sortie against a besieging force of British, Portuguese, and ...

in 1814. He served as Lord-Lieutenant of Linlithgowshire from 1816 to 1823. On 17 May 1814, two years before he succeeded in the earldom, he was raised to the peerage in his own right as Baron Niddry, of Niddry Castle in the County of Linlithgow. In 1816 he succeeded his elder half-brother as fourth Earl of Hopetoun. He died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 27 August 1823.

Family

In 1798 Lord Hopetoun married firstly Elizabeth Hope Vere (or Weir) of Craigiehall, daughter of Charles Hope-Weir. They had no children. After her death in 1801, he married secondly, in 1803, Louisa Dorothea Wedderburn, daughter of John Wedderburn of Ballendean, and granddaughter of

Sir John Wedderburn, 5th Baronet of Blackness Sir John Wedderburn, 5th Baronet of Blackness, (1704–1746) was a Perthshire gentleman who joined the 1745 rebellion of Charles Edward Stuart. He was captured at the Battle of Culloden, taken to London, and convicted of treason. He was hanged, ...

. By his second wife Hopetoun had ten sons; he was succeeded in his title by his eldest son,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

. His seventh son was Louis Hope.

Monuments

Following Lord Hopetoun's death, the Hopetoun Monument was erected on Byres Hill,

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

, in 1824. This was followed in 1826 by a similar monument on Mount Hill in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

. In 1824 the city of Edinburgh commissioned a bronze statue of Lord Hopetoun, by Thomas Campbell, and originally designed as a centrepiece for

Charlotte Square file:Charlotte Square - geograph.org.uk - 105918.jpg, 300px, Robert Adam's palace-fronted north side Charlotte Square is a garden square in Edinburgh, Scotland, part of the New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site ...

in 1829, but which was eventually placed in St Andrew Square in 1834, in front of Dundas House where he had acted as vice governor of the bank. The text on the latter is by

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

. In the wake of the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests, riots, and demonstrations against police brutality that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. The protests and civil unrest began in Minneapolis as Reactions to the mu ...

, a plaque was installed by its owners in June 2020 on the statue which reflected Lord Hopetoun's role in suppressing Fédon's rebellion, an uprising against British rule on the island of

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * Smith, Digby. ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.'' London: Greenhill, 1998.

External links

* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopetoun, John Hope, 4th Earl 1765 births 1823 deaths Nobility from West Lothian British Army generals British Army personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars British Army commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Earls of Hopetoun Gordon Highlanders officers King's Royal Rifle Corps officers Commanders-in-Chief, Ireland Lord-lieutenants of West Lothian 42nd Regiment of Foot officers

Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Members of the Royal Company of Archers Peers of the United Kingdom created by George III Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh