\"Lord of the Admiralty\" William Johnstone Hope Clipped Signature For Sale

Up for sale the "Lord of the Admiralty" Sir William Johnstone Hope Clipped Signature. 

ES-3902D

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 actions, disputes with royalty, party politics and

entry to both Russian and British orders of chivalry. A

popular officer, Hope served with Nelson, Duncan and Lord Keith through

several campaigns, making connections which enabled him to secure a lengthy

political career after his retirement from the Royal Navy in 1804 due to ill-health. After 26 years

in Parliament,

Hope was largely inactive and instead served as a Lord of the Admiralty and

commissioner of Greenwich Naval Hospital.

Hope died in 1832 after 55 years of naval and political service and was buried

in the family plot in Scotland. William Johnstone Hope was born the third son

of John Hope and his

wife Mary Breton. The Hopes were descendants of the first Earl of Hopetoun and

maintained strong political links with the family; his brothers were also

prominent figures, Charles Hope later

became Lord Granton and Sir John Hope served

as War.

Hope

was educated at Edinburgh High School between

1774 and 1776 and the following year, aged 12, he entered the Royal Navy sloop commanded by his uncle Captain Charles Hope.As his uncle's protégé, William

traveled with his relative through various commands, serving during the American Revolutionary War off

the Home, Lisbon and Newfoundland Stations. In 1782 he was promoted to lieutenant and left his uncle, taking a position At the

conclusion of the war, Hope returned home on Daedalus and

remained on her until 1785 when his uncle returned him to his own ship, now Hope's career suffered a blow when he was stationed aboard by Prince William Henry. Hope and Prince William fell out

badly and in less than a year Hope had been transferred to the frigate HMS Boreas, at that time commanded by

Captain Horatio Nelson, with whom

Hope had good relations. Two years later, Hope was

transferred to HMS Adamant at

the request of Sir Richard

Hughes. When Hughes reached flag rank in 1790 whilst stationed in Newfoundland, he

promoted Hope to commander and gave him in command of small ships for several years, pausing in 1792 to marry

his distant cousin, Lady Anne Hope Johnstone. The couple would have two

daughters and four sons before Anne's death in 1818. In 1794, Hope was in command of

HMS Incendiary, a fireship of the Channel Fleet attached to Lord Howe's force

sent to engage the French. In March, Hope was given his step to post captain, taking command of the ship of the line HMS Bellerophon,

the flagship of Admiral Thomas Pasley.

Hope

was still in command of the Bellerophon three months later

when he was heavily engaged in the van of Howe's fleet at the Glorious First of June,

when an equally sized French fleet was defeated 200 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean. At the start of 1795, within two months was requested on board HMS Venerable by Admiral Duncan.

However, while visiting aboard a Russian ship in 1796, Hope suffered a serious

accidental head injury that left him an invalid for two years, consequently

missing Duncan's victory at the Battle of Camperdown.

Returning

from his long convalescence, Hope was again requested by Duncan and the next three years. In 1799,

the Kent was Duncan's flagship in supporting the Anglo-Russian

invasion of the Batavian Republic, with

Hope being present at the surrender of the Dutch fleet in Texel to

the Royal Navy. Sent to Britain with the dispatches proclaiming the

surrender, Hope was lauded by both the British and Russian courts, King George III presenting

him with £500 and Tsar Paul  making

him a Commander of the Order of

St John.

In

1801 in the Mediterranean, under the

command of Admiral Lord

Keith, Kent carried Sir Ralph Abercromby and his headquarters for the

invasion of Egypt, a successful campaign which forced the surrender of the

French occupying force. Hope was not present for the conclusion of the action,

returning to Britain with Admiral Duncan after Sir Richard Bickerton raised

his flag on Kent. He was awarded the Order of the Crescent by

Emperor Selim III for this service. In 1800, Hope began his second

career, gaining the seat of Dumfries

Burghs in the House of Commons through

family influence. During his time as MP, Hope rarely

visited his constituency and equally rarely appeared in parliament. He lost the

constituency to his brother in 1802, but in 1804 was elected to the through family connections. He retained this post until his retirement

from public life in 1830.