{{Short description|British author and politician (1820–1887)}} {{Use British English|date=March 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Sir Alexander Beresford Hope | honorific_prefix = [[The Right Honourable]] | honorific_suffix = [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|PC]] | image = Alexander Beresford Hope.jpg | caption = Hope, {{circa}} 1870s | constituency_MP = [[Maidstone (UK Parliament constituency)|Maidstone]] | parliament = British | majority = | predecessor = | successor = | term_start = 1841 | term_end = 1852 | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1820|1|25}} | birth_place = London, England | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1887|10|20|1820|1|25}} | death_place = [[Kilndown]], [[Kent]], England | spouse = Mildred Cecil | party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] | relations = Brother to [[Henry Thomas Hope]] | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Sir Alexander James Beresford Beresford Hope''' {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|PC]]|country=GBR}} (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 Party (UK)|Conservative]] politician.
==Biography==
===Early life=== Beresford Hope was the third and youngest son of [[Thomas Hope (1769–1831)|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 School|Harrow]] and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]].<ref>{{acad|id=HP837AJ|name=Hope <nowiki>[post Beresford-Hope]</nowiki>, Alexander James Beresford}}</ref> 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 licence the additional surname of Beresford. His brother was [[Henry Thomas Hope]].
===Parliamentary career=== [[File:A J B Beresford Hope (NPG D3335).jpg|thumb|Wood-engraving (after an intermediary drawing by [[Thomas Dewell Scott]]), after photograph by [[Henry Hering (photographer)|Henry Hering]], 1856]]
He sat as Member of Parliament for [[Maidstone (UK Parliament constituency)|Maidstone]] from 1841 to 1852 and from 1857 to 1859. He unsuccessfully contested [[Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)|Cambridge University]] in 1859 and [[Stoke-upon-Trent (UK Parliament constituency)|Stoke-upon-Trent]] in 1862, but was successfully returned for the latter 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 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 Republic|Batavia]]n graces" (in reference to his family's Dutch origins). He never held ministerial office but was sworn of the [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Council]] in 1880.
===Philanthropy and writing=== [[Image:Alexander Beresford Hope, Vanity Fair, 1870-09-10,crop.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Caricature of Alexander Beresford-Hope from ''[[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', 1870]] [[Image:Alexander James Beresford Beresford Hope (H Hering NPG Ax16414).jpg|thumb|right|200px|Henry Hering photo]] Beresford Hope's most prominent public feature was his ardent support for the [[Church of England]]. According to George Wakeling, "in Parliament his voice, in his slow, rather harsh, but very impressive way, would be raised on every Church question".<ref name=wake>{{cite book|title=The Oxford Church Movement: Sketches and Recollections|last=Wakeling|first=G|location=London |publisher=Swan Sonnenschein & Co|pages=276–8|year=1895}}</ref> He was especially steadfast in his opposition to the [[Deceased Wife's Sister Bill]].<ref name=wake/>
While at Trinity College in 1839, he was, along with [[John Mason Neale]] and [[Benjamin Webb (clergyman)|Benjamin Webb]] a founder of the [[Cambridge Camden Society]] (later the Ecclesiological Society). He re-established it in 1879 as the St Paul's Ecclesiological Society<ref>{{citation|publisher= Ecclesiological Society|title=History of the Society}}</ref> A very wealthy man, he purchased [[St Augustine's Abbey]] in [[Canterbury]] in 1844, to rebuild it as a college for missionary clergy.<ref name=wake/> He also supervised the commissioning and construction of the church of [[All Saints, Margaret Street]], London, to the designs of [[William Butterfield]] on behalf of the Ecclesiological Society.<ref name=eastlake>{{cite book |last1=Eastlake |first1=Charles Locke |title=A History of the Gothic Revival |url=https://archive.org/details/ahistorygothicr00eastgoog|year=1872 |publisher= Longmans, Green & Co|location=London |pages= [https://archive.org/details/ahistorygothicr00eastgoog/page/n183 151]–2}}</ref>
In about 1850 Beresford Hope inherited the Beresford estate in [[Alstonefield]] and [[Sheen, Staffordshire|Sheen]] in Staffordshire. He wanted to make Sheen "the Athens of the Moorlands". He rebuilt [[Church of St Luke, Sheen, Staffordshire|the church]], to the design of William Butterfield, and built a school and a lending library. It was remarked in ''The Ecclesiologist'' that "the general effect is that of an ecclesiastical colony in the wilds of Australia". Not all Hope's plans for Sheen were realized.<ref>[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol7/pp239-250 A P Baggs, M F Cleverdon, D A Johnston and N J Tringham, "Sheen", in ''A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 7, Leek and the Moorlands, ed. C R J Currie and M W Greenslade (London, 1996), pp. 239-250''] British History Online. Accessed 7 June 2019.</ref>
Beresford Hope 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 (London)|Saturday Review]]'' in 1855. He was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in 1880.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www2.royalsociety.org/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28Surname%3D%27beresford-hope%27%29| title= Library and Archive Catalogue| publisher= Royal Society| access-date= 14 December 2010}}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 1873 he was invited to lay the foundation stone of the new [[Christ Church, St Leonards-on-Sea|Christ Church]] in [[St Leonards-on-Sea]], East Sussex.<ref>{{cite book|last=Funnell|first=Barry|title=Christ Church, St Leonards-on-Sea: 1859–1975|year=1975|publisher=Budd & Gillatt|location=St Leonards-on-Sea|page=4}}</ref>
Beresford Hope was active in the funding [[Nathaniel Woodard|Canon Nathaniel Woodard's]] national network of [[Woodard Schools]].
===Family=== [[File:Graves of Sir Alexander James Beresford Beresford-Hope PC and his wife.JPG|thumb|His grave at Christ Church, Kilndown]] Beresford Hope married Lady Mildred Arabella Charlotte Henrietta, 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, [[Bedgebury National Pinetum|Bedgebury Park]], Goudhurst, Kent. He was buried at [[Christ Church, Kilndown]], Kent. His daughter, Bridget, married [[Alban Gibbs, 2nd 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)
==Notes== {{Reflist|2}}
==References== *{{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}} *{{cite web |last=Lundy |first=Darryl |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/info.htm |title=FAQ |publisher= The Peerage}}{{Unreliable source?|failed=y |date=February 2013}}<!--Lundy is not a reliable source so cite Lundy's reliable source See [[WP:SAYWHEREYOUREADIT]]--> *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928140358/http://www.americancivilwar.org.uk/news_batavian-grace-alexander-beresford-hope_13.htm/ Article on Alexander Beresford Hope at americancivilwar.org] *{{cite DNB|wstitle=Hope, Alexander James Beresford|volume=27}}
== External links == {{Commons category}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Alexander Beresford Hope}} * {{Hansard-contribs | mr-alexander-beresford-hope | Alexander Beresford Hope }}
{{S-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box | title = [[Maidstone (UK Parliament constituency)|Member of Parliament for Maidstone]] | years = 1841–1852 | with = [[George Dodd (MP)|George Dodd]] | before = [[Benjamin Disraeli]] and<br />[[John Minet Fector]] | after = [[George Dodd (MP)|George Dodd]] and<br />[[James Whatman (politician)|James Whatman]] }} {{succession box | title = [[Maidstone (UK Parliament constituency)|Member of Parliament for Maidstone]] | years = 1857–1859 | with = [[Edward Scott (MP for Maidstone)|Edward Scott]] | before = [[James Whatman (politician)|James Whatman]] and<br />[[William Lee (1801-1881)|William Lee]] | after = [[William Lee (1801-1881)|William Lee]] and<br />[[Charles Buxton]] }} {{succession box | title = [[Stoke-upon-Trent (UK Parliament constituency)|Member of Parliament for Stoke-upon-Trent]] | years = 1865–1868 | with = [[Henry Riversdale Grenfell]] | before = [[William Taylor Copeland]] and<br />[[Henry Riversdale Grenfell]] | after = [[Henry Riversdale Grenfell]] and<br />[[George Melly]] }} {{succession box | title = [[Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)|Member of Parliament for Cambridge University]] | years = 1868–1887 | with = [[Spencer Horatio Walpole]] 1868–1882 | with2 = [[Henry Cecil Raikes]] 1882–1887 | before = [[Spencer Horatio Walpole]] and<br />[[Charles Jasper Selwyn]] | after = [[Henry Cecil Raikes]] and<br />[[George Gabriel Stokes|Sir George Stokes]] }} {{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beresford Hope, Alexander}} [[Category:1820 births]] [[Category:1887 deaths]] [[Category:Hope family|Alexander]] [[Category:People educated at Harrow School]] [[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]] [[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]] [[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the University of Cambridge]] [[Category:UK MPs 1841–1847]] [[Category:UK MPs 1847–1852]] [[Category:UK MPs 1857–1859]] [[Category:UK MPs 1865–1868]] [[Category:UK MPs 1868–1874]] [[Category:UK MPs 1874–1880]] [[Category:UK MPs 1880–1885]] [[Category:UK MPs 1885–1886]] [[Category:UK MPs 1886–1892]] [[Category:British fellows of the Royal Society]] [[Category:Presidents of the Royal Institute of British Architects]] [[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Politicians from London]]