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, 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. 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 ), after photograph by
Henry Hering, 1856 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 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 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 '', 1870 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". He was especially steadfast in his opposition to the
Deceased Wife's Sister Bill. A very wealthy man, he purchased
St Augustine's Abbey in
Canterbury in 1844, to rebuild it as a college for missionary clergy. In about 1850 Beresford Hope inherited the Beresford estate in
Alstonefield and
Sheen in Staffordshire. He wanted to make Sheen "the Athens of the Moorlands". He rebuilt
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. 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 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 in
St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex. Beresford Hope was active in the funding
Canon Nathaniel Woodard's national network of
Woodard Schools.
Family 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 Park, Goudhurst, Kent. He was buried at
Christ Church, Kilndown, Kent. His daughter, Bridget, married
Alban Gibbs, 2nd Baron Aldenham. ==Works==