Sir Thomas Hope, 8th Baronet
Sir Thomas Hope, 8th Baronet Hope of Craighall was a Scottish aristocrat and agricultural reformer.Life
Hope was born c. 1677. He was the son of Margaret, the daughter of Sir John Aytoun of Aytoun and Sir Archibald Hope, Lord Rankeillor. His grandfather was Sir John Hope, Lord Craighall, 2nd Baronet Hope of Craighall. The Hope baronetcy of Craighall in the county of Fife was created in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia on 19 February 1628 for Thomas Hope, a Scottish lawyer, and advisor to Charles I.
Like his ancestors before him, Hope studied the law. He was admitted as an advocate 8 July 1701 and served as an MP for Fifeshire from 1706-1707.
Hope succeeded to the baronetcy on 5 June 1766 on the death of his cousin Lieutenant-General Sir John Bruce Hope, 7th Baronet.
He was an early promoter of agriculture in Scotland. One of his ambitious projects was the draining and cultivating of a marshy piece of land south of Edinburgh. Today that area is known as The Meadows, but historically was often referred to as Hope Park.
Sir Thomas died 17 April 1771 and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his grandson, Sir Archibald Hope, 9th Baronet.Family
Sir Thomas married Margaret Lowis, the eldest daughter of James Lowis of Merchiston on 16 March 1702. The couple had the following children:
- Archibald, married Catherine Todd, eldest daughter of Hugh Todd. Died young and the baronetcy passed to his son, Sir Archibald Hope, 9th Baronet
- James, of London, merchant, governor of Cape Coast Castle
- Thomas, physician to the English factory at Cartagena
- John, a merchant, married Isabel, daughter of Sir Alexander Bannerman, Bannerman Baronet of Elsick
- Charles, a captain of marines, died unmarried
- Margaret, died unmarried
- Agnes, died unmarried
- Helen, died unmarried
