HOPTON, Richard (1685-1764), of Canon Frome, nr. Hereford.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1715 - 1722

Family and Education

b. 1685, s. of Edward Hopton of Canon Frome, Herefs. by his 1st w. Hannah, da. of Robert Clarkson, draper and alderman of London. educ. Ch. Ch. Oxf. 11 Oct. 1700, aged 15; I. Temple 1704. m. 29 Dec. 1705, Elizabeth, da. of Thomas Geers, M.P., of Bridge Sellers, Herefs., wid. of William Gregory of How Caple, Herefs., 8s. 6da. suc. fa. 1692.

Offices Held

Biography

Richard Hopton came of an old Herefordshire family. Immediately on Queen Anne’s death he notified Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, that ‘upon the ... assurances my Lord Scudamore has given me of his desisting I design to offer my service to the county.’1 Returned unopposed as a Tory, he spoke against the repeal of the Occasional Conformity and Schism Acts in 1719, voting against the Government except on the peerage bill, when he was absent. He did not stand again, but in 1722 took a leading part in the agitation against the attempt to compromise the Hereford borough election. He died 21 Feb. 1764.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: A. N. Newman

Notes

  • 1. 21 Aug. 1714, Portland mss.