James Robert Hope-Scott (July 15, 1812 - April 29, 1873) was an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
barristerA barrister is a lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions that employ a split profession in relation to legal representation. In split professions, the other types of lawyers are mainly solicitors...
and Tractarian.
Born at
Great MarlowGreat Marlow is a civil parish within Wycombe district in the English county of Buckinghamshire located north of the town of Marlow and south of High Wycombe....
, then in
BerkshireBerkshire is a county in the South East of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1958, and Letters...
but now in the county of
BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury and the largest town in ceremonial Buckinghamshire is Milton Keynes....
, and
christenedChristening may refer to:*Baptism*Infant baptism*Ship naming and launching...
James Robert Hope, he was the third son of Sir Alexander Hope, and grandson of
John Hope, 2nd Earl of HopetounJohn Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun was the son of Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun and Lady Henrietta Johnstone....
. After a childhood spent at the
Royal Military College, SandhurstThe Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is the British Army officer initial training centre...
, of which his father was commander, he was educated at
Eton CollegeEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent boarding school for boys aged approx. 13 to 19. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and
Christ Church, OxfordThis article is about the Oxford college. For other uses, see Christ Church or Christchurch .Christ Church , is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
, where he was a contemporary and friend of
William Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart Gladstone was a British Liberal Party statesman and four times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom...
and
John Henry NewmanVenerable John Henry Newman, CO was a Roman Catholic priest and cardinal, a convert from Anglicanism in October 1845. In his early life, he was a major figure in the Oxford Movement to bring the Church of England back to its Catholic roots.
Eventually his studies in history...
.
James Robert Hope-Scott (July 15, 1812 - April 29, 1873) was an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
barristerA barrister is a lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions that employ a split profession in relation to legal representation. In split professions, the other types of lawyers are mainly solicitors...
and Tractarian.
Early life and conversion
Born at
Great MarlowGreat Marlow is a civil parish within Wycombe district in the English county of Buckinghamshire located north of the town of Marlow and south of High Wycombe....
, then in
BerkshireBerkshire is a county in the South East of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1958, and Letters...
but now in the county of
BuckinghamshireBuckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury and the largest town in ceremonial Buckinghamshire is Milton Keynes....
, and
christenedChristening may refer to:*Baptism*Infant baptism*Ship naming and launching...
James Robert Hope, he was the third son of Sir Alexander Hope, and grandson of
John Hope, 2nd Earl of HopetounJohn Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun was the son of Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun and Lady Henrietta Johnstone....
. After a childhood spent at the
Royal Military College, SandhurstThe Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is the British Army officer initial training centre...
, of which his father was commander, he was educated at
Eton CollegeEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent boarding school for boys aged approx. 13 to 19. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and
Christ Church, OxfordThis article is about the Oxford college. For other uses, see Christ Church or Christchurch .Christ Church , is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
, where he was a contemporary and friend of
William Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart Gladstone was a British Liberal Party statesman and four times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom...
and
John Henry NewmanVenerable John Henry Newman, CO was a Roman Catholic priest and cardinal, a convert from Anglicanism in October 1845. In his early life, he was a major figure in the Oxford Movement to bring the Church of England back to its Catholic roots.
Eventually his studies in history...
. In 1838 he was called to the bar at
Lincoln's InnThe Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn...
. Between 1840 and 1843 he helped to found Trinity College,
GlenalmondGlenalmond is a glen in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is situated some 12 miles to the west of the city of Perth and forms the upper portion of the strath of the River Almond.Glenalmond is the location for Glenalmond College, a private boarding school....
. In 1840-41 he spent some eight months in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
,
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
included, in company with his close friend Edward Louth Badeley.
On his return he became, with Newman, one of the foremost promoters of the Tractarian movement at
OxfordOxford is a city, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. The city has a population of just under 165,000, with 151,000 living within the district boundary. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre...
and entirely in Newman's confidence. In 1841, he published an attack on the
Anglican-German Bishopric in JerusalemThe Anglican-German Bishopric in Jerusalem was an episcopal see founded in Jerusalem in the nineteenth century by joint agreement of the Anglican andthe German Lutheran churches.-Background:...
, and further defended the "value of the science of
canon lawCanon law is the body of laws and regulations made by or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
, in a pamphlet.
Edward Bouverie PuseyEdward Bouverie Pusey , was an English churchman and Regius Professor of Hebrew at Christ Church, Oxford. He was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement.-Early years:...
also valued Hope's advice and canvassed him in 1842 before publishing the
Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury on some Circumstances connected with the Present Crisis in the Church. Hope supported publication.
Along with other Anglo-Catholics, Hope was disturbed by the Gorham judgment and, on 12 March 1850, a meeting was held at his house in
Curzon StreetCurzon Street is located within the exclusive Mayfair district of London. The street is located entirely within the W1J postcode district and is 400 yards to the north west of Green Park tube station...
,
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
which was attended by fourteen leading Tractarians including: Badeley, Henry Edward Manning and
ArchdeaconA position of archdeacon is a senior position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, and in some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...
Robert Isaac WilberforceRobert Isaac Wilberforce was an English clergyman and writer, second son of abolitionist William Wilberforce, and active in the Oxford Movement.-Early life and education:Robert Wilberforce was born in December 1802...
. They eventually published a series of resolutions which started the process of distancing Hope, Badeley, Manning and Wilberforce from the Anglican Church.
In 1851 Hope was received with Manning into the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
.
Legal practice
On 15 June 1841, Hope wrote to Gladstone:
Ormsby believed that Hope found some distraction from his frustration with the Anglican Church through his secular work.
By 1839, Hope was becoming involved in parliamentary work. He was retained as counsel for the British government on the Foreign Marriages Bill and in 1843, the report on the Consular Jurisdiction Bill. His brother's appointment as Under Secretary of State for the Colonies in Sir
Robert PeelSir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was the Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835, and again from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846...
's administration may have opened some doors. In 1843-44 he was engaged again by the government in the matter of the aftermath of the
Pastry WarThe Pastry War was an invasion of Mexico by French forces in 1838.-Background:...
, whose settlement Britain had
arbitratedArbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, wherein the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
, to prepare a report on some points in dispute between
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
As an established ecclesiastical lawyer, he was much involved in the Ecclesiastical Courts Bill in 1843 and the same year he took the
DCLSome universities, such as the University of Oxford, award Doctor of Civil Law degrees instead of Doctor of Laws degrees.At Oxford, the degree of Doctor of Civil Law by Diploma is customarily conferred on foreign Heads of State, as well as on the Chancellor of the University...
degree at Oxford. In 1844 an
English Criminal CodeThe jurisdiction of England and Wales does not have a Criminal Code though such an instrument has been often recommended and attempted. , the Law Commission is again working on the Code.-History:...
was under serious consideration and
Bishop of LondonThe Bishop of London is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...
Charles James BlomfieldCharles James Blomfield was an English divine, and a Church of England bishop for 32 years.-Early life:Blomfield was born on 29 May, 1786 at Bury St. Edmunds....
recommended Hope to the
Lord ChancellorThe Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
John Copley, 1st Baron LyndhurstJohn Singleton Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst PC , was a British lawyer and politician. He was three times Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...
as a commissioner to consider offences
against religion and the Church. By the end of 1845 he stood at the head of the parliamentary bar but his objections to taking the
Oath of SupremacyThe Oath of Supremacy, imposed by the Act of Supremacy 1559, provided for any person taking public or church office in England to swear allegiance to the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Failure to do so swear was to be treated as treasonable...
detered him from accepting the professional honour of
Queen's CounselQueen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of "Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law". Membership exists in various Commonwealth countries around the world and it is a status, conferred by the Crown,...
. In 1849, he therefore asked
Lord ChancellorThe Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of CottenhamCharles Christopher Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham PC KC was a British lawyer, judge and politician. He was twice Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.-Background and education:...
for, and was granted, a
patent of precedenceA patent of precedence is a grant to an individual by letters patent of a higher social or professional position than the precedence to which his ordinary rank entitles him.-Historical user in the English legal profession:...
conferring equal status.
In 1852 he gave Newman the disastrously misleading legal advice that he was unlikely to be sued for libel by
Giacinto AchilliGiovanni Giacinto Achilli was an Italian Roman Catholic who was discharged from the priesthood for sexual misconduct and subsequently became a fervent advocate of the protestant evangelical cause...
, advice that led to Newman's criminal conviction for defamatory libel. Thereafter, Newman relied on Badeley for legal advice though in 1855 Hope-Scott conducted the negotiations which ended in Newman's accepting the
rectorThe word rector has a number of different meanings; they indicate an academic, religious or political administrator...
ship of the
Catholic University of IrelandThe Catholic University of Ireland was a Catholic university in Dublin, Ireland and was founded in 1851 in response to the Queen's University of Ireland and its associated colleges which were nondenominational...
.
Personal and family life
In 1847 he married Charlotte Harriet Jane Lockhart, daughter of
John Gibson LockhartJohn Gibson Lockhart , Scottish writer and editor, is best known as the author of the definitive "Life" of Sir Walter Scott...
and granddaughter of Sir
Walter ScottSir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet, popular throughout Europe during his time....
, and, on her coming into possession of
Abbotsford HouseAbbotsford is a historic house in the region of the Scottish Borders in the south of Scotland, near Melrose, on the south bank of the River Tweed. It was formerly the residence of historical novelist and poet, Walter Scott...
six years later, he assumed the surname of
Hope-Scott. After her death on 26 October 1858 he married as his second wife in 1861, Lady Victoria Fitzalan-Howard, daughter of the
14th Duke of NorfolkHenry Granville Fitzalan-Howard, 14th Duke of Norfolk was the son of Henry Charles Howard, 13th Duke of Norfolk and Charlotte Sophia Leveson-Gower...
. He retired from the bar in 1870 and spent the rest of his life in charitable and literary work, in particular an abridgment of his father in law's seven volume biography of Scott with a preface dedicated to Gladstone. He maintained a life-long correspondence with Badeley.
Both his wives died in childbirth. He left an only daughter by his first marriage, Mary Monica (born 2 October 1852), later wife of Joseph Constable Maxwell, third son of
William, Lord HerriesLord Herries of Terregles is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1490 for Herbert Herries. On the death of his grandson, the third Lord, the male line failed. He was succeeded by his daughter Agnes. She married Sir John Maxwell, second son of Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell...
. Two other children of this marriage died in infancy. By his second marriage he left a son,
James Fitzalan Hope-ScottJames Fitzalan Hope, 1st Baron Rankeillour PC was a British Conservative politician.The son of J. R...
(1870-1949), and three daughters. Two other children died young.