Origins of the Scottish Surname of Hope - Section 6
6 The English Hopes.
Compared to Scotland the origin of the English surname of Hope is exceedingly complex but like Scotland the origin is associated with a topographical feature - several were listed on the Origins page. A complete research on the English Hopes is well beyond this website but I have selected some areas of particular interest
a) Derbyshire
As mentioned previously the appearance of the name Hope in England predates its arrival in Scotland. It may also here have one of its possible origins in the names of topographical features where hope is part of the word ie similar to the Scottish Borders names but in England/Wales Hope also appears in it own right. In England these names can be traced back to the Doomsday Book of 1087, principally in Derbyshire, Shropshire and Cheshire/Wales. In Derbyshire - Hope, Hopton, Hopwell and Glossop. In Nottinghamshire - Worksop. In Shropshire - Easthope, Edenhope, Hope Bendrid, Hope Bowdler, Hopesay, Hopton, Hopton Castle, Hopton Wafers, Middlehope, Millichope, and Ratlinghope. Cheshire/Wales - Hopton, Hope, Hope Hall and Hope Mountain. It should be noted that the Doomsday Book did not cover any areas north of Derbyshire.
Unfortunately any solid connection between the above examples in the Doomsday Book and the surname of Hope is proving difficult apart from Hopewell (Hopwell) which survives as an English surname and possibly also Hopton, see below.
An interesting feature of the Derbyshire Hopes is that their heraldry is remarkably similar to that found in Flintshire in North Wales - see Section 9 Hope Family Heraldry. This can not be coincidence and deserves investigation.
A further line of inquiry is the subject of mining particularly lead mining from Roman times or even earlier. If this suggestion proves correct you saw it here first. See map of roman mines in England and images below. New
The above map shows mines at Matlock in Derbyshire and many in the Shropshire/North Wales area corresponding with some locations that included Hope in their name in the Doomsday Book.
image above shows the remnants of the Roman lead/silver mine at Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills in Somerset showing how extensive the workings were.
Image above shows the remnants of lead mines at Hopton in Derbyshire. Hopton is mentioned in the Doomsday Book in connection with the Manor at Wicksworth and its lead mines.
When the Romans left the UK c400 AD many of the mines were abandoned and by the time of the Middle Ages only a few were left in operation and those were in Derbyshire. In 1066 it is recorded that the people of Bakewell, Ashford and Hope had rendered money, honey and five cartloads of lead. In the Doomsday Book it is recorded that the Manor of Wirksworth in Derbyshire had three lead mines and that one of the outliers of the Manor was Hopton.
The abondoned mines would leave large scars on the landscape - huge holes in the ground, large spoil heaps and foundry areas where the lead would be recovered and poured into ingots. These sites would initially be a significant topographical feature as they grassed over. But over the centuries these features would gradually be smoothed out by weather and also agriculture. Would these features be significant enough for the local inhabitants to apply the name of a hope to them. A hope in old english being described as a hollow in the hills and would the local inhabitants adopt the name as a Surname?
This connection between the surname Hope and lead mines in England is tenuous and more research is required.
Lancashire/Cheshire.
It is said that the descendants of a brother - Henry Hope? - of Sir Thomas Hope of Craighall (1573-1746) - See family Tree on page 3. Edinburgh Hopes settled in Lancashire. New One of these descendants was a Henry Hope who married a daughter of James Wilde (d1819) of Manchester. A son of Henry was Thomas Hope (1753-1838) of Presbury Hall, Macclesfield who married Anne Jackson and had twelve children. One of the twelve was James Hope MD (1801-1841) born in Stockport, Cheshire and died and buried in Highgate London. James married Anne Fulton and had one son Sir Theodore Cracroft Hope (1832-1915). Theodore married Josephine Mary McGildowny Hope and latterly lived at Hope Farm in Lancashire. He was in the Indian Civil Service and was honoured with a C.I.E. - Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire and also the K.C.S.I. - Knight Commander of the Star of India.
There was a John Hope of Astley in Lancashire who died in 1601 who had many descendants that emigrated to Mexico, USA, Canada and Australia. There are records of quite a number of Hope families who were merchants and Bankers in Liverpool and Manchester particularly in Liverpool where they are remembered in the name of Hope Street and also Hope Park where can be found the Liverpool Hope University. A grandson of John Hope of Astley was a William Hope (d1666) who was the ancestor of the Hope family of Rostherne. One of these descendants was Rebekah Maria Hope (1818-1888) - daughter of Samuel Hope of Everton (1781-1837) and Rebekah Bateman. Rebekah Maria Hope married Samuel Morley and they are the progenitors of the family of Hope-Morley - Baron Hollenden of Hall Place, Leigh, Tonbridge, Kent.
c) Cumbria. New
Cumbria is a hot spot for the surname of Hope as indicated by the Surname profiling map on the Hope origins page. Recent research - January 2012 - indicates that the Hopes of the Scottish Borders are probably descended from Angles in Northumbria. So did the descendants of the Cumbrian Hopes also originate from there or perhaps they came from further south in England? Or from Ireland? A lot of very interesting DNA work required here!
d). Northumbria. New
Hope families of this area, certainly from the area around and north of the River Tyne will be descended from Angles similar to the Scottish Border Hopes. See page 2.1. Scottish Border Hopes prior to 1296 AD. Site names mentioned here include Blenkinsope, Kershope and Trollope. Another interesting name is Westerhope now a western suberb of Newcastle on Tyne. Westerhope would be quite at home in the Scottish Borders but as this area is more associated with mining than agriculture it is perhaps more associated with the Hope names further south ie in Derbyshire.
(Note from Ed - a gentleman with initials HH sent me an email on Tuesday 27th November 2012 concerning Hope families in Northumbria. However the return email address given proved to be invalid. If he would like to get in touch again I will be happy to respond to his queries.)
e) Yorkshire.
An interesting Hope from this area is the Rev. David Hope, lately Archbishop of York and now Lord Hope of Thornes, Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
f) Somerset.
Following on from the image of Roman lead mines at Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills shown above. Charterhouse is associated with the ancient Priory of Witham. The family of Sir Ralph Hopton a General in the army of King Charles Ist came from Witham. Was his surname derived from the lead mines - the suffix ton (present day town) would be derived from the cluster of worker's dwelling around the mine? This is similar to the Scottish Hopetoun which is the old name for Leadhills. See section 3 Edinburgh Hopes. Although Somerset does not appear as a Hope stronghold on the Surname Profiling Chart on the Hope Origins page there is evidence that there is a cluster of Hopes in the County that in the past also included William Hendry Hope, born in Weston super Mare, the father of the American comedian Leslie Townes Hope (Bob Hope). Bob Hope himself was born in Eltham, London in 1903.
_________________________________________________________________
TOP & Navigation Bar
or
Back to Hope Origins Page
or
Continue to 7 Irish Hopes