The Hon. Charles Hope-Weir (or Hope-Vere; 8 May 1710 – 30 December 1791) was a Scottish politician.

Life

Born The Hon. Charles Hope, he was the second son of

Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun, Order of the Thistle, KT, Privy Council, PC (1681 – 26 February 1742) was a Scotland, Scottish nobleman. Early life He was the son of John Hope of Hopetoun by a daughter of the John Hamilton, 4th Earl of Had ...

and Lady Henrietta Johnstone, daughter of

William Johnstone, 1st Marquess of Annandale William Johnstone, 2nd Earl of Annandale and Hartfell, 1st Marquess of Annandale KT (17 February 1664 – 14 January 1721) was a Scottish nobleman. He was the son of James Johnstone, 1st Earl of Annandale and Hartfell and Henrietta Douglas. ...

. In 1730 he inherited the Craigiehall estate, in the parish of

Dalmeny Dalmeny () is a village and civil parish in Scotland. It is located on the south side of the Firth of Forth, southeast of South Queensferry and west of Edinburgh city centre. It lies within the traditional boundaries of West Lothian, and ...

, West Lothian, from his uncle, the 2nd Marquess of Annandale. He adopted the name Hope-Weir, and the arms of the Weir family, on his marriage in 1733 to Catherine Weir, daughter and heiress of the Weir Baronets of Blackwood, Lanarkshire. The family name was later changed to Hope-Vere. On 13 May 1743 he was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for

Linlithgowshire West Lothian, also known as Linlithgowshire (its official name until 1925), is a counties of Scotland, historic county in the east central Lowlands of Scotland. until 1925. It is bounded geographically by the River Avon, Falkirk, Avon to the wes ...

, a seat he held until 1769, when he stepped down. He was appointed Governor of

Blackness Castle Blackness Castle is a 15th-century fortress, near the village of Blackness, Falkirk, Blackness, Scotland, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth. It was built, probably on the site of an earlier fort, by George Crichton, 1st Earl of Caithness ...

in 1744. He later held the posts of Commissary General of the Musters in Scotland, and Ranger of

Ettrick Forest Selkirkshire or the County of Selkirk is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. It borders Peeblesshire to the west, Midlothian to the north, Roxburghshire to the east, and Dumfriesshire to the south. It de ...

.Wood, pp. 150–151 In 1754, with the encouragement of his uncle, the Marquess of Annandale, and his brother, the Earl of Hopetoun, Hope-Weir set off for Italy on the grand tour. His son William was already in Italy with his tutor. At his brother's suggestion, Hope-Weir took with him the young architect

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

, who had been advising Lord Hope on the decoration of

Hopetoun House Hopetoun House is a country house near South Queensferry owned by the Hopetoun House Preservation Trust, a charity established in 1974 to preserve the house and grounds as a national monument, to protect and improve their amenities, and to pre ...

. The pair met up in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in November 1754, and travelled through France and Italy together, on the typical grand tour route, taking in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, Nice and

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. They met William at

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

, and arrived in Rome in February 1755. They then fell out over travelling expenses, and over the Casa Guarnieri, a house which they both hoped to rent. Although they remained civil whenever they met, Adam wrote in a letter that Hope was a "poor, vain, affected, childish coxcomb". After Easter, Hope-Weir went on to Naples, taking with him the minor Scottish painter and art dealer Colin Morison (1732–1810) in Adam's place. He returned home in late 1755 with his son, travelling via

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

due to the political situation in France, and arriving in Britain in May 1756. On his return he set about improving his estate at Craigiehall, building a grotto, bridge and temple, all to designs by the Adam Brothers ( James Adam, John Adam, and

).Innes, pp.42–43 The bridge is carved with Hope-Weir's initials and the date 1757, as well as a quote from

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

, ''UTILI DULCI'', "the useful with the sweet". The bath house is now ruined, and the temple, at the top of Lennie Hill, was truncated in the 1970s due to its proximity to

Edinburgh Airport Edinburgh Airport is an international airport located in the Ingliston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located west of the city centre, just off the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 and M9 motorway (Scotland), M9 motorways. It is owned and oper ...

.Innes, pp.37–41

Marriages and progeny

He married three times: *Firstly on 26 July 1733, to Catherine Weir (d. 1743), daughter of Sir William Weir, 2nd Baronet of Blackwood, by whom he had three surviving children: **William Hope-Weir (1736–1811), MP and father of

James Joseph Hope-Vere James Joseph Hope-Vere of Craigiehall FRSE (3 June 1785 – 19 May 1843) was a 19th-century Scottish landowner and politician. As a politician he was deemed a moderate Whig. Early life He was born on 3 June 1785 the first surviving son of ...

, MP **Henrietta Hope ** John Hope (1739–1785), worked for Hope & Co., father of Charles Hope, Lord Granton, Lieutenant General Sir John Hope, and Vice-Admiral Sir

William Johnstone Hope Vice-Admiral Sir William Johnstone Hope, GCB (16 August 1766 – 2 May 1831) was a prominent and controversial British Royal Navy officer and politician in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century Britain, whose career experienced fleet ...

*Secondly on 20 March 1745 he married Lady Anne Vane (1726–1776), daughter of

Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (c. 1705 – 6 March 1758), known as Lord Barnard between 1753 and 1754, was a British politician who sat in the British House of Commons, House of Commons from 1726 to 1753 wh ...

. They were divorced by Act of Parliament in 1757. They had two sons: **Captain Charles Hope (d. 1808), RN, father of Admiral Sir

Henry Hope Henry Hope (1735–1811) was an Amsterdam merchant banker born in Braintree, Province of Massachusetts Bay. He emigrated to the Netherlands to join the family business, the Dutch bank Hope & Co., at a young age. From 1779, Henry became the man ...

**Brigadier-General

(d. 1789), Deputy Governor General of Canada *Thirdly in 1766 he married Helen Dunbar (d. 1794), daughter of George Dunbar, by whom he had four children: **Admiral Sir

George Johnstone Hope Rear-Admiral Sir George Johnstone Hope, Order of the Bath, KCB, Order of the Sword, KSO (6 July 1767 – 2 May 1818) was a British naval officer, who served with distinction in the Royal Navy throughout the French Revolutionary Wars, French Revol ...

(1767–1818) **Helen Charlotte Hope (d.pre-1812), 1st wife of John Knight (1765–1850) of Lea Castle,

Wolverley Wolverley is a village; with nearby Cookley (1 mi northeast), it forms a civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England. It is 2 miles north of Kidderminster and lies on the River Stour and the Staffordshire a ...

, and of

Simonsbath House Simonsbath House is a historic house in Simonsbath on Exmoor in Somerset, England. The Grade II listed building is now the Simonsbath House Hotel, and outdoor activity centre. It lies in the valley of the River Barle and on the Two Moors Way fo ...

Exmoor Exmoor () is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simons ...

, Somerset, an agricultural pioneer who commenced the reclamation of the barren moorland of the former

royal forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...

. **Margaret Hope **Elizabeth Vere Hope (d. 1801), married

John Hope, 4th Earl of Hopetoun General John Hope, 4th Earl of Hopetoun, (17 August 1765 – 27 August 1823), known as The Honourable John Hope from 1781 to 1814 and as Lord Niddry from 1814 to 1816, was a Scottish politician and British Army officer. Military career Hopetoun ...

References

* Innes, C. B. (1996). ''Craigiehall: The story of a fine Scots country house'', Army Headquarters Scotland * Fleming, John (1962). ''Robert Adam and his Circle'', John Murray * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hope-Weir, Charles 1710 births 1791 deaths Nobility from West Lothian Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 Younger sons of earls

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

Fellows of the Royal Society