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 politician.
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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, younger son of George Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford. 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 and Trinity College, Cambridge.[1] His father died in 1831 and his mother married as her second husband her first cousin General William Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford. In 1854 he inherited his stepfather's estates, including Bedgebury Park, Kent, and Beresford Hall, Staffordshire, and assumed by Royal license the additional surname of Beresford.
He sat as Member of Parliament for Maidstone from 1841 to 1852 and from 1857 to 1859. He unsuccessfully contested Cambridge University in 1859 and Stoke-upon-Trent 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 proposed by Benjamin Disraeli, nicknaming Disraeli "the Asian mystery" (referring to Disraeli's Jewish origins). Disraeli retorted by alluding to Beresford Hope's "Batavian graces" (in reference to his family's Dutch origins). He never held ministerial office but was sworn of the Privy Council in 1880.
Beresford Hope's most prominent public feature was his ardent support for the Church of England. A very wealthy man, he purchased St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury, 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, London, 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 from 1865 to 1867 and a trustee of the British Museum. He co-founded the "Saturday Review" in 1855. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1880.[2] In 1873 he was invited to lay the foundation stone of the new Christ Church in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex.[3]
In his lifetime Beresford Hope was active in the funding Canon Nathaniel Woodard's national network of Woodard Schools.
Beresford Hope married Lady Mildred Arabella Charlotte, daughter of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury, and sister of Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, 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.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Benjamin Disraeli and John Minet Fector |
Member of Parliament for Maidstone 1841–1852 With: George Dodd |
Succeeded by George Dodd and James Whatman |
| Preceded by James Whatman and William Lee |
Member of Parliament for Maidstone 1857–1859 With: Edward Scott |
Succeeded by William Lee and Charles Buxton |
| Preceded by William Taylor Copeland and Henry Riversdale Grenfell |
Member of Parliament for Stoke-upon-Trent 1865–1868 With: Henry Riversdale Grenfell |
Succeeded by Henry Riversdale Grenfell and George Melly |
| Preceded by Spencer Horatio Walpole and Charles Jasper Selwyn |
Member of Parliament for Cambridge University 1868–1887 With: Spencer Horatio Walpole 1868–1882 Henry Cecil Raikes 1882–1887 |
Succeeded by Henry Cecil Raikes and Sir George Stokes |