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

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 politician.

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

William Beresford, 1st Baron Decies was an Anglo-Irish clergyman.Decies was the third son of Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone, and Catherine Poer, 1st Baroness de la Poer. George de la Poer Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford, was his elder brother...

, younger son of George Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford

George Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford

George de la Poer Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford, KP, PC was an Irish politician, known as George Beresford, 2nd Earl of Tyrone from 1763 to 1789....

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

Harrow School

Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...

 and Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

. His father died in 1831 and his mother married as her second husband her first cousin General William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford

William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford

General William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, 1st Marquis of Campo Maior, GCB, GCH, GCTE, PC , was a British soldier and politician...

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

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, and Beresford Hall, Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, and assumed by Royal license the additional surname of Beresford.

Parliamentary career

He sat as Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Maidstone

Maidstone (UK Parliament constituency)

Maidstone was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The parliamentary borough of Maidstone returned two Members of Parliament from 1552 until 1885, when its representation was reduced to one member...

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

Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)

Cambridge University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950.-Boundaries, Electorate and Election Systems:...

 in 1859 and Stoke-upon-Trent

Stoke-upon-Trent (UK Parliament constituency)

Stoke-upon-Trent was a parliamentary borough in Staffordshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1832 until 1885, and then one member from 1885 until 1918, when the borough was enlarged, renamed Stoke-on-Trent, and split into three single-member...

 in 1862, but was successfully returned for the former 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

Reform Act 1867

The Representation of the People Act 1867, 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102 was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised the urban male working class in England and Wales....

 proposed by Benjamin Disraeli, nicknaming Disraeli "the Asian mystery" (referring to Disraeli's Jewish origins). Disraeli retorted by alluding to Beresford Hope's "Batavia

Batavian Republic

The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....

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

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

. A very wealthy man, he purchased St Augustine's Abbey

St Augustine's Abbey

St Augustine's Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in Canterbury, Kent, England.-Early history:In 597 Saint Augustine arrived in England, having been sent by Pope Gregory I, on what might nowadays be called a revival mission. The King of Kent at this time was Æthelberht, who happened to be married to a...

 in Canterbury

Canterbury

Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

, in 1844, with the intention that it should function as a college for missionary clergy, and he also constructed the church of All Saints, Margaret Street

All Saints, Margaret Street

All Saints, Margaret Street is an Anglican church in London built in the High Victorian Gothic style by the architect William Butterfield and completed in 1859....

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, at his own cost. He was also a writer on archaeological, architectural, ecclesiastical and artistic subjects and was President of the Royal Institute of British Architects

Royal Institute of British Architects

The Royal Institute of British Architects is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally.-History:...

 from 1865 to 1867 and a trustee of the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

. He co-founded the "Saturday Review

Saturday Review (London)

The Saturday Review of politics, literature, science, and art was a London weekly newspaper established by A. J. B. Beresford Hope in 1855....

" in 1855. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1880. In 1873 he was invited to lay the foundation stone of the new Christ Church

Christ Church, St Leonards-on-Sea

Christ Church is an Anglican church in the town and seaside resort of St Leonards-on-Sea, part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England...

 in St Leonards-on-Sea

St Leonards-on-Sea

St Leonards-on-Sea is part of Hastings, East Sussex, England, lying immediately to the west of the centre. The original part of the settlement was laid out in the early 19th century as a new town: a place of elegant houses designed for the well-off; it also included a central public garden, a...

, East Sussex.

In his lifetime Beresford Hope was active in the funding Canon Nathaniel Woodard's

Nathaniel Woodard

Nathaniel Woodard was a priest in the Church of England. He founded 11 schools for the middle classes in England whose aim was to provide education based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith...

 national network of Woodard Schools

Woodard Schools

Woodard Schools is a group of Anglican schools affiliated to the Woodard Corporation which has its origin in the work of Nathaniel Woodard, an Anglo-Catholic clergyman....

.

Family

Beresford Hope married Lady Mildred Arabella Charlotte, daughter of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury

James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury

James Brownlow William Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, PC , styled Viscount Cranborne until 1823, was a British Conservative politician. He held office under the Earl of Derby as Lord Privy Seal in 1852 and Lord President of the Council between 1858 and 1859...

, and sister of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years...

, 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 in Bedgebury Park, Cranbrook, Kent. He was buried at Kilndown, kent. His daughter, Bridget, married Alban Gibbs, 2nd Baron Aldenham

Alban Gibbs, 2nd Baron Aldenham

Alban George Henry Gibbs, MA, FSA, MP, 2nd Baron Aldenham was a British Conservative Party politician and peer, the son of Henry Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham....

.

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)

External links