John Hope

John Adrian Louis Hope, count d' Hopetoun, 1st Marquis de Linlithgow (September 25th 1860 - February 29th 1908) was the first General governor of Australia.

Hope was born with South Queensferry in the West Lothian in Scotland. It made its studies with the Collège of Eton and with the military royal Académie of Sandhurst where it obtained its diploma but did not join the army thereafter. It was satisfied to manage the good family and carried out an idle life. In 1883, it became the preserving Whip of the House of Lords.

In 1889 it was named Gouverneur of Victoria station whom it occupied until 1895. After its return in Great Britain, it was named with the private Conseil of the Queen then was named paymaster in the Salisbury government of 1895 to 1898 then became Lord Chamberlain until 1900. As the Australian colonies had agreed to federate to form off the the Commonwealth Australia on January 1st, 1901 and as Lord Hopetoun had been very popular as governor of Victoria while having known to bind friendship with the Australian political leaders, it was him which was named first General governor of Australia in July 1900. It arrived at Sydney the December 15th.

The first task of Hopetoun was to appoint a Prime Minister to form the temporary government which would take its functions on January 1st. Since the first legislative federal elections were not envisaged before March, it could not choose like tradition, the chief of the majority to the House of Commons also proposed you it posts it in Sir William Lyne, the Prime Minister for the state more populated, the News-Wales of the South.

This decision was perfectly justifiable but he was unaware of that Lyne had been opposed to the creation of the federation and was very unpopular in all the federalistic politicians. Alfred Deakin and other eminent politicians said to Hope that they would refuse to be useful under his orders. Finally Lyne gave its resignation and Hopetoun named Edmund Barton, the leader of the federalistic movement and that which everyone saw at this station. Hopetoun was strongly criticized for what is called currently the " blunder of Hopetoun".

Other problems arose very quickly. Hopetoun had brought with him its principal private secretary, William Wallington, who managed all the communications with London. The Australian ones did not appreciate that a British is in load of an official station in Australia. They did not appreciate either the royal pump with which Lord Hopetoun wanted to ensure his role and the expenditure that involved. It tended also a little too to behave as if it had the same capacities as the Prime Minister what the authors of the Constitution had not envisaged.

Finally a dissension rose on the amount of the sums to pay the general governor to enable him to maintain its residences in Sydney, more the big city of the country, and Melbourne, the provisional capital. The competition between News-Wales of the South and Victoria led the federal Parliament and that of Victoria to reject the bill on an increase in its expenditure. Hopetoun resigned in May 1902 at once.

A friendship enough surprising bound Lord Hopetoun and the trade unionist and anarchist of Melbourne Chummy Fleming. In May 1901, Fleming protested against unemployment with Melbourne while being ruant on the vehicle of the general governor. Hopetoun required of the police force not to intervene and listened to the explanations of Fleming on the situation of people without employment. A friendship bound the two men which continued after the return of Hopetoun in England. According to certain rumors, one puts in the active of Hopetoun to have asked with insistence on the government to accelerate the vote of the laws on work.

Hopetoun left Australia in July 1902, perfectly conscious of having failed in its role. It was named Ministre for the Scottish Businesses in 1905 and died suddenly the February 29th 1908.

References

Torrance, David, The Scottish Secretaries (Birlinn 2006)

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