John Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun
John Adrian Louis Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow, 7th Earl of Hopetoun was a British aristocrat and statesman who served as the first governor-general of Australia, in office from 1900 to 1902. He was previously the seventh governor of Victoria from 1889 to 1895.
Hopetoun was born into the Scottish nobility, and succeeded his father as Earl of Hopetoun at the age of 12. He attended Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, but opted not to pursue a full-time military career. Hopetoun sat with the Conservative Party in the House of Lords, and became a Lord-in-waiting in 1885 and Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1887. He was appointed Governor of Victoria at the age of 29, and had a successful tenure in a time of political and economic instability.
After returning to England in 1895, Hopetoun served in Lord Salisbury's cabinet as Paymaster General and Lord Chamberlain. The announcement of his appointment to the new governorship-general in July 1900 was met with praise. However, he arrived in Australia ill-informed about the political aspects of federation, and his decision to call on William Lyne to form a caretaker government became known as the "Hopetoun Blunder". Lyne, who had campaigned against federation, had little support from the political establishment, and Hopetoun was forced to turn to Edmund Barton to serve as Australia's first prime minister. His relationship with Barton once in office was civil, although his interferences in political matters were not well received.
Hopetoun was popular with the general public, but developed a reputation for flamboyance and ostentation. The Cookatoo Inn in Surry Hills was revamped and renamed the Hopetoun Hotel in 1901 in his honour. His desire for a large expenses allowance was rebuffed by parliament, and he consequently relinquished office in July 1902. He was granted a marquessate upon his return to England, and thereafter withdrew from public life, except for a brief term as Secretary of State for Scotland in 1905. He died in France at the age of 47, after several years of ill health. Hopetoun's term as governor-general is generally regarded as a failure, and his successors generally avoided emulating his extravagance. Only Lord Denman held the position at a younger age.
Early life and career
Hope was born at South Queensferry, West Lothian, Scotland, the eldest son of John Hope, 6th Earl of Hopetoun, and the former Ethelred Anne Birch-Reynardson. He was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he passed out in 1879. However, he chose not to join the regular army upon graduation. He later explained "the affairs of the family estate, to which I succeeded at 13, seemed to call for my personal attention". Subsequently, he devoted his attentions to managing the more than seventeen thousand hectares of family estate located around the Firth of Forth.He married, in London on 18 October 1886, Hersey Alice Eveleigh-de Moleyns, a Scots-born Irish aristocrat then aged 19. They had two sons and a daughter; a second daughter died in infancy. Their elder son, Victor, became Viceroy and Governor-General of India, after having declined the governorship of Madras and the governor-generalship of Australia.
In 1883, Hopetoun became Conservative whip in the House of Lords and served as a Lord in Waiting to Queen Victoria from June 1885 to January 1886 and August 1886 to August 1889. From 1887 to 1889 he was also appointed Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Governor of Victoria
In 1889 he was appointed Governor of Victoria, where he served until 1895. His appointment came amid a general stylistic change in colonial governors. Reflecting "Britain's more flamboyant pride in Empire, Australian colonial governors began to display a new colour and ostentation". Increased interest in Empire had spurred the appearance of young and wealthy aristocrats in place of previous career administrators.Hopetoun's time as Governor was in keeping with the newly emerging style. He rapidly developed a reputation for lavish entertaining and spectacular vice-regal galas. Notwithstanding poor health and colonial astonishment at his habit of wearing hair-powder, his youthful enthusiasm for routine duties and his fondness for informal horseback tours won him many friends.
Hopetoun's term coincided with a number of serious difficulties being faced by the colonies. The economic boom in the colony was reversed by the Great Crash in 1891, leading to a decade of depression, bank failures, industrial action and political instability. In contrast to the troubles faced during this period by other colonial governors, Hopetoun by most accounts handled this period ably and subsequently stayed in office for longer than the usual term. However, the reality of the 1890s was that colonial governors had lost much of their administrative and political power, instead assuming more figurative and representative roles.
Hopetoun's term also coincided with the important years of the federation movement in Victoria. The economic crash and resultant political and social problems laid bare the inefficiencies of the colonial system and sparked renewed interest in an Australian federation. Hopetoun was an active supporter of the movement, appearing at numerous banquets and giving speeches in its favour. At one such banquet he even offered to return to Australia as their first governor-general should Federation be implemented. Upon leaving the governorship and returning to the United Kingdom in 1895, Hopetoun was a widely popular figure in Victoria and New South Wales.
Governor-General of Australia
After his return to the United Kingdom he was made a privy councillor, was appointed Paymaster-General in the Salisbury government from 1895 to 1898, and then became Lord Chamberlain until 1900. 1900 also saw his appointment as a Knight of the Order of the Thistle and a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.The Australian colonies had agreed to federate, to form the Commonwealth of Australia from 1 January 1901. Hopetoun's popularity in Victoria and his friendship with leading Australian politicians made him an obvious choice to be the first Governor-General of Australia. In his submission to Queen Victoria in July 1900, Secretary of State for the Colonies Joseph Chamberlain described Hopetoun as "exceptionally qualified to discharge the duties of this important position with ability and efficiency" and stated that he would be "heartily welcomed" in Australia. His strong ties with the Queen and with the incumbent British administration were also important to appointers in London. His appointment was approved by the Queen on 14 July 1900 and on 29 October letters patent were issued constituting the office and his own instructions. Hopetoun arrived in Sydney on 15 December, via India, where he had caught typhoid fever and his wife malaria. Already in poor health during the preceding years in England, the trip further diminished Hopetoun's capacities.
Intercolonial rivalries and traditional suspicions in Sydney of the excessive influence of Melbourne over national affairs were cause for some complex manoeuvres during Hopetoun's arrival. Though he was initially intended to arrive via Melbourne, local politicians insisted that the incoming Governor-General should disembark in Perth before going on to Sydney. Illness and misadventure following the Indian leg of the journey disrupted Hopetoun's tour and made the arduous arrival preparations difficult to complete. Lady Hopetoun had suffered a relapse of her condition during the trip across Australia, adding further to Hopetoun's personal troubles.
"Hopetoun Blunder"
Hopetoun's immediate task was to appoint a prime minister to form an interim government, which would take office on 1 January 1901. Since the first federal election was not scheduled to be held until March, he could not follow the usual convention of appointing the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives. On 19 December 1900 Hopetoun chose to ask Sir William Lyne, the Premier of New South Wales, to form the first Commonwealth ministry. This caused great surprise amongst Australian and British politicians. In Australia, it had generally been assumed that Edmund Barton, a key leader of the Federation movement and drafter of the Constitution, would be offered the post in the first instance. The decision was defensible in terms of protocol, but it ignored the fact that Lyne had long strongly opposed federation until the passage of the referendums of 1899, and was unpopular with the leading federalist politicians. Explanations for the appointment generally revolve around the precedent established by Canada, whereby the Premier of the senior colony, John A. Macdonald of Ontario, had formed the first federal Canadian government. Also, Barton was not a member of any parliament, and, although he had considerable political experience, he was considered in some quarters to be politically inept. Lyne, on the other hand, was recognised as a tough and experienced politician.However, it quickly became apparent that Lyne would not be able to form the first government. Alfred Deakin and other prominent politicians, particularly Victorian politicians, told Hopetoun they would not serve under Lyne. Lyne returned his commission on 24 December and Hopetoun sent for Edmund Barton, the leader of the federal movement and the man everybody believed was entitled to the post. Barton successfully assembled a cabinet, one that included Lyne, and it was sworn in by Hopetoun on the inauguration of the Commonwealth on New Year's Day, 1901. That afternoon, Hopetoun and the new government assembled at Government House, Sydney for the first meeting of the Federal Executive Council.
Hopetoun, wary that his actions would constitute important precedents for the new nation, generally followed pre-existing Canadian and British conventions in discharging his constitutional duties. Hopetoun was well-acquainted with many members of the first government and built a strong personal relationship with Barton, placing him in a position of respect and influence with the new federal politicians. He consulted regularly with the Prime Minister and with George Reid, the effective leader of the opposition, in the lead up to the first federal election in March 1901.