>BrownHairedGirl: disambiguate Member of Parliament to Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)

2021-05-21T17:51:59Z

disambiguate Member of Parliament to Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)

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{{other people|Arthur Hope}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = The Lord Rankeillour
| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCIE|MC}}
| image =Arthur Oswald James Hope.jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = Arthur Hope in 1940
| order =
| office = [[Madras Presidency|Governor of Madras Presidency]]
| term_start = 12 March 1940
| term_end = 26 February 1946
|governor-general = [[Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow]]<br />[[Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|The Earl Wavell]]
| predecessor = [[John Erskine, Lord Erskine]]
| successor = [[Sir Henry Foley Knight]]<br /><small>As Acting Governor</small>
| birth_date = 7 May 1897
| birth_place = [[Marylebone]], [[London]], [[England]]
| death_date = 26 May 1958 (aged 61)
| death_place = [[Surrey]], [[England]]
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]
| spouse = Grizel Gilmour (1919–58, his death)
| profession =
| religion =
| signature =
}}
'''Arthur Oswald James Hope, 2nd Baron Rankeillour''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|GCIE|MC}} (7 May 1897 – 26 May 1958) was a British politician, soldier and administrator. He was a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] and served as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Nuneaton (UK Parliament constituency)|Nuneaton]] from 1924 to 1929 and for [[Birmingham Aston (UK Parliament constituency)|Birmingham Aston]] from 1931 to 1939, after which he was Governor of the [[Madras Presidency]] of [[British India]] from 1940 to 1946.

Hope was born to the [[James Fitzalan Hope, 1st Baron Rankeillour|first Lord Rankeillour]] in 1897 and had his early education in England. He served with distinction in [[France]] during the [[World War I|First World War]] and entered public life soon after his military service was over.

Hope married Grizel Gilmour (daughter of Brig.-Gen. Sir Robert Wolrige Gordon, 8th of Craigmillar and 13th of Liberton, 1st Bt. and Lady Susan Lygon) in 1919 and had four daughters. He died on 26 May 1958, nineteen days after his 61st birthday.

== Early life ==
Arthur Oswald James Hope was born to [[James Hope, 1st Baron Rankeillour]], by his marriage to Mabel Ellen Riddell, at [[Marylebone]], [[England]] on 7 May 1897.<ref name="glasgowherald_19390325">{{cite news|title=Next Governor of Madras: Appointment of Captain Hope|work=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]]|location=Glasgow|date=25 March 1939}}</ref> His father had served as a Deputy Speaker of the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]].<ref name="glasgowherald_19390325" /> Arthur was the eldest of four children, the others being Henry John Hope, 3rd Baron Rankeillour (1899–1967), Joan Mary Hope, and Richard Frederick Hope (1901–1964).<ref name="peeragep7866">{{cite web|title=Arthur Oswald James Hope, 2nd Baron Rankeillour|url=http://thepeerage.com/p7866.htm|publisher=John Cardinal}}</ref>

Hope was educated at [[The Oratory School]] and at [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst|Sandhurst]].<ref name="burkep683">{{cite book|title=Burke's landed gentry of Great Britain: together with members of the titled and non-titled contemporary establishment, Volume 1|pages=683|author=Peter Beauclerk Dewar|publisher=Burke's Peerage|year=2001|isbn=0971196605|id=}}</ref> He joined the [[Coldstream Guards]] in 1914 at the outbreak of the [[First World War]] and rose to be a [[Captain (land)|Captain]].<ref name="glasgowherald_19390325" /> He was wounded in action in France and was [[mentioned in dispatches]].<ref name="burkep683" /> He was awarded the [[Military Cross]] and the [[Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (France)|Croix de Guerre]].<ref name="glasgowherald_19390325" />

== Public life ==
Hope left the army at the conclusion of the First World War and entered public life. He joined the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] and at the [[1924 United Kingdom general election|1924 general election]] was elected to the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] from the [[Nuneaton (UK Parliament constituency)|Nuneaton constituency]] in [[Warwickshire]].<ref name="glasgowherald_19390325" /> Hope served a total of fourteen years in the House of Commons, representing Nuneaton from 1924 to 1929 and [[Birmingham Aston (UK Parliament constituency)|Birmingham Aston]] from 1931 to 1940.<ref name="glasgowherald_19390325" /> At the [[1935 United Kingdom general election|1935 election]], he defeated the only other candidate (Labour's [[Rudolph Putnam Messel]]) by a margin of 10,355 votes.<ref name="glasgowherald_19390325" /> He was still a member of the House of Commons when appointed as Governor of Madras but gave up his seat, thereby causing a [[1939 Birmingham Aston by-election|by-election in Birmingham Aston]].<ref name="glasgowherald_19390325" />

Hope served as the [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]] to Colonel [[George Lane-Fox, 1st Baron Bingley|George Lane Fox]],<ref name="burkep683" /> [[Secretary for Mines]] from 1924 to 1926<ref name="burkep683" /> and was a whip from 1935 to 1939,<ref name="glasgowherald_19390325" /><ref name="burkep683" /> first as an unpaid Assistant Whip in 1935,<ref name="burkep683" /> then as an unpaid [[Lord of the Treasury]] from 1935 to 1937, as [[Vice-Chamberlain of the Household]] from May 1937 to October 1937<ref name="glasgowherald_19390325" /><ref name="burkep683" /> and finally as [[Treasurer of the Household]] from 1937 to 1939.<ref name="glasgowherald_19390325" />

He was a [[cricket]]er for a time and played a [[First-class cricket|first-class match]] for the [[British Army]] against [[Cambridge University]] at [[Fenner's|Fenners Ground]] on 7 June 1926.<ref name="cricketmatch">{{cite web|title=Cambridge University vs Army, University Match 1926 :Scorecard|work=CricketArchive |url-access=subscription |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/11/11875.html}}</ref>

== As Governor of Madras ==

Hope was appointed Governor of Madras in 1940<ref name="glasgowherald_19390325" /> and succeeded [[John Erskine, Lord Erskine]] on 12 March 1940.

Hope served as the Governor throughout the [[Second World War]]. Following the Japanese conquest of [[Burma]] and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, there were strong apprehensions about possible Japanese attacks on coastal Indian cities. On 18 April 1942, in a secret communication to [[Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow]], the [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy of India]], Hope described reports of a Japanese force heading towards India.<ref name="shamefulflightp37">{{cite book|title=Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the British Empire in India|pages=37|author=Stanley Wolpert|publisher=Oxford University Press US|year=2009|isbn=978-0195393941|id=}}</ref> There were Japanese air raids on the coastal towns of [[Vizagapatam]] and [[Cocanada]] on 6 April 1942 followed by sea attacks on Madras port.<ref name="shamefulflightp37" /> Hope responded by evacuating commercial and administrative establishments and business offices along the Madras coast and moving them inland.<ref name="shamefulflightp37" /><ref name="frontline">{{cite journal | author=S. Theodore Baskaran|author-link=S. Theodore Baskaran|title=War relic | journal=Frontline| year=2006| volume=23| issue=19| url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fline/fl2319/stories/20061006000707900.htm}}</ref>

Madras was in a state of emergency when Hope assumed his post, as the last elected government had resigned in October 1939. An anti-British campaign, the [[Quit India Movement]], was launched in 1942. The provincial governments responded with a crackdown. Hope imposed censorship of newspapers in the Presidency and reporting on internal politics was suppressed.<ref name="nytimes_19430107">{{cite news|title=Newspapers in India Suspend for One Day; Protest Suppression of Items of Internal Politics|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=7 January 1943}}</ref> In protest against the government's actions, newspapers all over India were suspended for a day.<ref name="nytimes_19430107" /> Hope responded by withdrawing special privileges accorded to striking newspapers.<ref name="nytimes_19430107" />

The government also imposed censorship of Indian-language films.<ref name="frontline" /> A provincial propaganda officer, G. D. B. Harvey was appointed to promote propaganda films in support of the British war effort.<ref name="frontline" /> In 1943, the government issued an order under the Defence of India rules restricting the size of indigenously made films to 11,000 feet.<ref name="frontline" />

In the beginning, the provincial leadership of the [[Indian National Congress]] under [[Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari]] was strongly opposed to India's forcible involvement in the Second World War<ref name="shamefulflightp38">{{cite book|title=Shameful Flight: The Last Years of the British Empire in India|pages=38|author=Stanley Wolpert|publisher=Oxford University Press US|year=2009|isbn=978-0195393941|id=}}</ref> but later, Rajagopalachari changed his mind and spoke in support of the British war effort even while his colleagues in [[New Delhi]] were still agitating against the war.<ref name="shamefulflightp38" />

Due to economic reasons, the different battalions of the [[Madras Regiment]] had been disbanded in stages.<ref name="indianarmyp53">{{cite book|title=Valour and sacrifice: famous regiments of the Indian Army|pages=53|year=1990|author=Gautam Sharma|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=817023140X|id=}}</ref> With the transferring of the 1st Battalion in 1928, the Madras Regiment ceased to exist.<ref name="indianarmyp53" /> When Hope became governor in 1940, he tried to revive the Madras Regiment and canvassed for the same.<ref name="indianarmyp54">{{cite book|title=Valour and sacrifice: famous regiments of the Indian Army|pages=54|year=1990|author=Gautam Sharma|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=817023140X|id=}}</ref>

{{quotation|I have always felt reading the history of the Madras army in the old days that there must be something fundamentally wrong in ignoring the Madrasis in recent years. When you read the history of the past from 1750 onwards, you will see that the Madras troops did a great part of the fighting in India in those days and were nearly always successful.

It only required a good lever and a good office to bring a Madrasi back to his proper place and, therefore, almost from the first week that I was in the country, I have impressed on the late Commander-in-chief and his successor the fact that Madrasis were as good as, if not better, than anybody else and they have fought, are fighting and would fight again, as well as any other people in India, or indeed in the whole world.<ref name="indianarmyp54" />}}

Due to the efforts of Hope, the Madras Regiment was revived in 1942 and Hope was appointed the regiment's first Colonel-in-chief.<ref name="indianarmyp54" /> A training centre was raised at [[Madukkarai]] in [[Coimbatore district]] in July 1942<ref name="indianarmyp54" /> and the regiment fought with distinction in the Burma campaign.<ref name="indianarmyp55">{{cite book|title=Valour and sacrifice: famous regiments of the Indian Army|pages=55|year=1990|author=Gautam Sharma|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=817023140X|id=}}</ref>

In 1945, Hope inaugurated a polytechnic college built by [[G. D. Naidu]]<ref name="The Hindu_G D Naidu & Hope College">{{cite news|title= Coimbatore shows the way in skill training|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=7 October 2015}}</ref> in [[Coimbatore]] which was later named "Arthur Hope Polytechnic" in his honour.<ref name="technologyp1020">{{cite book|title=History of Technology in India: From 1801 to 1947 A.D, Volume 3|pages=1020|author=A. K. Bag|publisher=Indian National Science Academy|year=1997}}</ref><ref name="The Hindu_G D Naidu & Hope College II">{{cite news|title= Memories of Coimbatore - Meet the headmaster
|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=30 August 2011}}</ref> The polytechnic was later upgraded to a college of science and technology and renamed [[Government College of Technology, Coimbatore|Government College of Science and Technology]] in 1950. Though the college was renamed and moved to a new campus, the area where it was originally located is still called "Hope College".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/01/stories/2010040151170300.htm|title= Bridge work to be over in May |date=1 April 2010|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=8 April 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100411020422/http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/01/stories/2010040151170300.htm| archive-date= 11 April 2010 | url-status= dead}}</ref>

==Embezzlement and forced resignation==
Hope's tenure came to an end on 26 February 1946. Papers preserved at [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] indicate [[Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|Lord Wavell]] (by then Viceroy) and the British government feared scandal after it became known to officials that Hope was receiving loans from wealthy Indians to pay off large debts incurred by Hope "speculating on the racecourse" before his appointment. Hope eventually claimed this assumption was accurate.<ref name="Kennedy110319">{{cite news|last=Kennedy|first=Dominic|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/42dec15a-256c-11e9-b782-40e94f317da5|title=Mischief in Madras: How the Establishment closed ranks to cover up one of the last scandals of the British Empire|work=The Times|location=London|date=11 March 2019|access-date=11 March 2019|url-access=subscription}}</ref> It was feared by Lord Wavell that Hope might be sued if he was merely removed from office; governors had protection from litigation while they remained in office. It was decided that Hope must be quickly removed as governor without raising suspicion.<ref name="Kennedy160319">{{cite news|last=Kennedy|first=Dominic|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/sir-arthur-hope-scandal-of-governor-s-theft-hushed-up-7rx579gsq|title=Sir Arthur Hope: Scandal of governor's theft hushed up|work=The Times|date=16 March 2019|access-date=16 March 2019|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Hope was diagnosed as suffering from Tropical Neurasthenia, a pseudo-medical health condition used at the time for the cover of Europeans returning home.<ref name="Kennedy110319" />

Hope was succeeded by [[Henry Foley Knight]] in early March 1946 who served as the Acting Governor till the arrival of Hope's designated successor [[Archibald Edward Nye]]. Nye told his superiors in September 1946, that he discovered Hope had misappropriated 50,000 rupees (£3,750) given to him the previous year and intended for the [[Indian Red Cross Society|Red Cross in India]] (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|3750|1945|r=0}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}).<ref>{{cite book|page=137|title=The Statesman's Year-Book|publisher=The Macmillan Company|year=1946}}</ref> Other money given to Hope was found to have been misappropriated in the same way; no proper auditing of what was termed a "special pod account" had taken place.<ref name="Kennedy110319"/> The prime minister of the day, [[Clement Attlee]], consented in April 1947 for Hope's debts to paid off from British government funds. An account based in India was used to prevent any indication to the local population London had become involved in the issue.<ref name="Kennedy110319"/> Hope is thought to have misappropriated about £40,000 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|40000|1946|r=0}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}) to settle his debts.<ref name="Kennedy160319" /> His obituary in ''[[The Times]]'', published in 1958, maintained the official account given a decade earlier: "He was compelled by ill-health to resign . . . before his extended term of office was complete."<ref name="Kennedy160319" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/archive/article/1958-05-27/10/15.html|title=Lord Rankeiillour: Former Governor of Madras|work=The Times|date=27 May 1958|access-date=16 March 2019|page=10|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

== Honours ==

Hope was appointed to the [[Order of the Indian Empire]] as a Knight Grand Commander in 1939 just before his appointment as Governor of Madras.<ref name="whoswhop905">{{cite book|title=Who was who: a companion to Who's who, containing the biographies of those who died, Volume 5|pages=905|publisher = A. & C. Black|year=1961}}</ref><ref name="toiwhoswhop1257">{{cite book|title=Times of India directory & yearbook including who's who, Volume 32|pages=1257|publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Co|year=1945}}</ref> Arthur Hope succeeded to the barony on the death of his father, the 1st Baron on 14 February 1949.<ref name="almanackp243">{{cite book|title=An Almanack for the year of our Lord|author=Joseph Whitaker|year=1958|publisher=Whitaker's Almanack}}</ref>

== Death ==

Hope died on 26 May 1958 at the age of 61.

== Family ==

On 2 June 1919, at the age of 22, Hope married Grizel Gilmour, the second daughter of Brigadier-General Sir [[Robert Gordon Gilmour]] (1857–1939) and Lady Susan Lygon (1870–1962).<ref name="peeragep7866" /> The couple had four daughters:<ref name="peeragep7866" />

* Bridget Mary Hope (b. 1920)
* Jean Margaret Hope (b. 1923)
* Alison Mary Hope (b. 1927)
* Barbara Mary Hope (b. 1930)

On Hope's death in 1958, as he had no son, his title and Scottish estate were inherited by his younger brother, [[Henry Hope, 3rd Baron Rankeillour|Henry John Hope]] (1899–1967), a barrister.

== Notes ==

{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/30/30361/30361.html CricketArchive: Arthur Hope]
* {{Hansard-contribs | captain-hon-arthur-hope | Arthur Hope }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Nuneaton (UK Parliament constituency)|Nuneaton]]
| years = [[1924 United Kingdom general election|1924]]–[[1929 United Kingdom general election|1929]]
| before = [[Herbert Willison]]
| after = [[Frank Smith (UK politician)|Francis Smith]]
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Birmingham Aston (UK Parliament constituency)|Birmingham Aston]]
| years = [[1931 United Kingdom general election|1931]]–1939
| before = [[John Strachey (politician)|John Strachey]]
| after = [[Edward Orlando Kellett]]
}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | before=[[George Davies (politician)|George Davies]] | title=[[Vice-Chamberlain of the Household]] | years=1937 | after=[[Sir Ronald Cross, 1st Baronet|Ronald Cross]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Sir Lambert Ward, 1st Baronet|Sir Lambert Ward]] | title=[[Treasurer of the Household]] | years=1937–1939 | after=[[Charles Waterhouse (British politician)|Charles Waterhouse]]}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{succession box|title=[[Baron Rankeillour]]|before=[[James Fitzalan Hope, 1st Baron Rankeillour|James Fitzalan Hope]]|after=[[Henry Hope, 3rd Baron Rankeillour|Henry John Hope]]|years=1949–1958}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hope, Arthur}}
[[Category:1897 births|Rankeillour, Arthur Hope, 2nd Baron]]
[[Category:1958 deaths|Rankeillour, Arthur Hope, 2nd Baron]]
[[Category:Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom|Rankeillour, Arthur Hope, 2nd Baron]]
[[Category:British Army cricketers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Coldstream Guards officers]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Embezzlement]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:Governors of Madras]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:Hope family|Arthur]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Ministers in the Chamberlain peacetime government, 1937–1939]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:Treasurers of the Household]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1924–1929]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1931–1935]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1935–1945]]
[[Category:UK MPs who inherited peerages|Rankeillour, Arthur Hope, 2nd Baron]]

Arthur Hope, 2nd Baron Rankeillour - Revision history

>BrownHairedGirl: disambiguate Member of Parliament to Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)