Let me recount the fascinating history of your family, the Hopes. Your family’s name may have originated in Scotland, specifically from the Borders family of Hop or Hoip. In 1296, John de Hop of Peeblesshire and Adam le Hoip were listed on the Ragman Roll, a record of Scottish nobles submitting to the authority of Edward I of England. The direct ancestor of your principal line, John de Hope, is believed to have arrived in Scotland from France in 1537 as part of the retinue of Magdalen, the first wife of James V.

Your family’s lineage includes Sir Thomas Hope, who was appointed Lord Advocate by Charles I. He acquired the estate of Craighall in the parish of Ceres in Fife, which became the primary designation for your family. Sir Thomas was renowned as one of the greatest legal minds of his time and played a significant role in drafting the National Covenant in 1638. His eldest son, also a jurist known as Lord Craighall, served as an advisor to Charles II during his exile. In the early eighteenth century, the sixth baronet sold Craighall to a relative, the Earl of Hopetoun.

Sir Thomas Hope, the eighth Baronet of Craighall, was a notable agricultural improver and is credited with developing the Edinburgh parklands known as The Meadows, adjacent to Hope Park Street. The sixteenth Baronet served as a Member of Parliament for Midlothian from 1912 to 1918 and demonstrated distinguished service in both the Boer War and the First World War. Another branch of your family held the designation ‘of Hopetoun’. John Hope of Hopetoun tragically drowned in a shipwreck but was hailed for saving the life of the Duke of York, who later became James VII. This act may have contributed to the swift rise of his son Charles, who was granted the title of Earl of Hopetoun in 1703. The magnificent Hopetoun House, a grand mansion, was initially planned during the early years of the first Earl’s life and is considered one of William Adam’s architectural masterpieces.

General Sir John Hope, later the fourth Earl, was a distinguished soldier who hosted a splendid reception for George IV during his visit to Scotland in 1822. John Adrian Hope, the seventh Earl, served as the first Governor General of Australia in 1900. Your family continues to reside at Hopetoun, which has been placed in trust to preserve its grandeur for the nation. The senior lines of the Hope family, the Baronets of Craighall, also endure to this day and are the rightful claimants to the esteemed chiefship of this noble name.