Sir Thomas Hope of Kerse (1606–1643) was a Scottish judge and politician.

Life

edit

The second son of Sir Thomas Hope of Craighall, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Bennett of Wallingford, Berkshire, he was born on 6 August 1606. On 17 July 1631 he was admitted advocate.[1]

On 16 July 1633 Hope was knighted by Charles I at Innerwick. He bought the heritable position of the Sheriff of Clackmannan in 1738 from William Livingston and was commissioner in the Scottish parliament for Clackmannanshire in 1639, 1640, and 1641. In 1639, and again in 1640, he was colonel of the troop raised by the College of Justice to attend General David Leslie as his bodyguard. In September 1641 he proposed in parliament, on behalf of the barons, that the estates should appoint officers of state and privy councillors by ballot, but the proposal was lost.[1]

Hope was prominent in opposing Charles I's demand for a public inquiry into "The Incident", and was the author of the compromise made between the king and the estates over the appointment of John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun, as Lord Chancellor. On 13 November 1641 the estates appointed him an ordinary lord of session and lord justice-general, and he was also a commissioner to treat with the English parliament for the suppression of the Irish Rebellion.[1]

In the parliament of 1643, Hope was member for Stirlingshire, but died that year on 23 August, at Edinburgh. He wrote the book The Law Repertorie.[1]

Recognition

edit

He gave his name to Hope's Close on Edinburgh's Royal Mile.[2]

Family

edit

He married Helen Rae, daughter of Adam Rae of Pitsindie and had the following known children:

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Hope, Thomas (1606-1643)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. ^ Grant's Old and New Edinburgh, vol1 chapter 12
  3. ^ James MacVeigh (1889). The Scottish Nation: or the Historical and Genealogical Account of All Scottish Families and Surnames, Vol. II, DAL-MAC. Dumfries, Scotland. pp. 489–496. Retrieved 30 July 2017.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Attribution

  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainLee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Hope, Thomas (1606-1643)". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co.