Hersey Alice (Moleyns) Hope (1867 - 1937)

Born 31 Mar 1867 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, United Kingdom [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 3 Apr 1937 at age 70 in Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland [uncertain]

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Biography

Hersey De Moleyns was born on 31 March 1867 at Veitch's Hotel in Edinburgh to Dayrolles Blakeney Eveleigh-De Moleyns, the 4th Baron Ventry and Harriet (Wauchope) De Moleyns.^[1][2][3] She grew up at Burnham House, County Kerry as well as Ennismore Gardens, Knightsbridge, London.

At age 19, Hersey married John Adrian Louis Hope, the 7th Earl of Hopetoun, on 18 October 1886 at All Saints’ Ennismore Gardens.

Their son Victor Alexander John, Lord Hope (“Hopie”) was born a year later. As Lord Hopetoun was a Lord-in-Waiting to Queen Victoria, the little boy had the British Monarch as a godmother.

The Countess was a cartoonist, watercolourist and photographer.

She died on Saturday 3rd April 1937 at Lausanne,^[4] and was buried at Linlithgow on 8th April.^[5]

Hersey Alice Eveleigh de Moleyns^[6] aka Lady Hopetoun (Hon, Hersey Alice Evesleigh-de-Moleyns)^[7] aka Hersey Dowager-Marchioness of Linlithgow^[8]

'Four generations ago, plain Thomas Mullins was created Baron Ventry. His progeny altered the spelling to "Moleyns." The next generation prefixed a "de," the present generation stuck Eveleigh in front of all, and the present incumbent of the title writes himself "Dayrolles Blakeney Eveleigh de Moleyns." A big change from Tommy Mullins, and a proof of my assertion that, under English law, a man may call himself just what he pleases.'^[9]

Lady Ventry
The drawing we give of Lady Ventry (wife of Dayrolles-Blakeney Eveleigh de Moleyns, Baron Ventry), who has come to Victoria to pay a visit to her daughter and Lord Hopetoun, is from a recent photograph taken by F. Kingsbury, St. George's place, London. Her ladyship is the elder daughter of Andrew Wauchope of Niddrie, Marischal, Midlothian. The sons and daughters of Lord and Lady Ventry are—Frederick Rossmore Wauchope, Arthur William, Edward Day rolles, Richard Andrew, John Gilbert, Frances Elizabeth Sarah (Marchioness of Conyngham), Mildred Rose (Mrs. Acland Hood). Hersey Alice (Countess of Hopetoun), and Maud Helen. The likeness of her daughters Lady Hopetoun and Mrs. Hood to their mother is (as shown by this portrait) very remarkable. Lady Ventry's stay in Victoria will probably last over 12 months.^[10]

Hersey's youngest sibling. Maud Helen de Moleyns, was born in 1870.^[11]

THE EARL AND COUNTESS OF HOPETOUN.^[12]

Portraits are given of the new Governor of Victoria and his countess. By his friends Lord Hopetoun regarded as a man of ability and promise, with considerable taste for literature and art, which he inherited from his mother, who was a highly accomplished lady. He was born in 1860, and is therefore now in his 29th year. He was educated at Eton, and on leaving there about 12 years ago he travelled extensively, chiefly in the East and America. He is a keen sportsman, and during his visit to America, spent some time in shooting in the Rocky Mountains. He has resided a good deal in France, and is a proficient French scholar. He succeeded to the earldom in 1873, and has resided on his estates in Midlothian and Linlithgowshire almost continuously of late years. He is universally popular, and especially with his tenantry, who bewail his decision to proceed to Victoria. The Countess of Hopetoun is Hersey-Alice-Eveleigh de Moleyns, daughter of Lord Ventry. She was married to the earl on October 18, 1886, and they have one child— a son. His Excellency and Lady Hopetoun were to arrive in Melbourne on the 24th November by the P. and O. S. Britannia.

THE COUNTESS OF HOPETOUN.^[6]

The Countess of Hopetoun, whose portrait we give with that of her husband, is Hersey Alice Eveleigh De Moleyns, daughter of Lord Ventry, and was married to the Earl on October 18, 1886. They have one son. The Countess is greatly interested in charitable work, and will doubtless be keenly alive to the many social duties appertaining to her position in society in the sister colony. With respect to so young a Governor possessing the requisite experience for the administration of so important a colony as Victoria, Lord Knutsford, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, is reported to have reassured the new Governor by saying that "the knowledge he and Lady Hopetoun had acquired during their conduct of many important social functions in Holyrood Palace during the last three years would furnish the exact experience required for Victorian social life, while his political duties would probably not be onerous."

Hersey founded the Victorian Ladies Work Association which ran the Hopetoun Tea Rooms in Melbourne, 'an oasis for "nice" families or ladies, alone or in pairs, seeking a teetotal environment "in town" for light lunch or tea', between 1893 and 1907.^[13]

COUNTESS OF HOPETOUN.^[7]

Lady Hopetoun (Hon, Hersey Alice Evesleigh-de-Moleyns, daughter of the fourth Baron Ventry), the wife of the Governor-General of Australia, is considered one of the best hostesses in England. She is always full of fun, very witty, and yet withal quite the 'grande dame.' She was exceedingly popular in Melbourne when Lord Hopetoun was Governor of Victoria. Lady Hopetoun is very fond of horses, is a splendid whip, and drives a four-in-hand. Her two sisters-in-law, the Ladies Hope, have a very successful Shetland pony farm, in which she is greatly interested. Her eldest boy, Lord Hope, is a godson of the late Queen. The second son was born in Australia, and was named Charles Melbourne Hope, by his mother's wish, in honor of the colony.

Hersey leaves Australia

The following is a copy of a telegram received on Tuesday by the Governor-General from the Countess of Hopetoun: — 'We are just sailing from Fremantle. In a few hours I shall see the last of Australia. I can never forget the kindness shown me by the people, or the happy days spent among them. I am grieved to go. — Hersey Hopetoun.'^[14]

Hersey has a daughter

A DAUGHTER FOR LORD LINLITHGOW.
LONDON, January 6, 2.40 p.m. — Lady Linlithgow has given birth to a daughter. [The Marquis of Linlithgow, then Earl of Hopetoun, married in 1886 the Hon. Hersey Alice Eveleigh-de-Moleyns, third daughter of Lord Ventry, and has now three children, viz., Victor Alexander John, born 1887, and known when his father was Governor-General as Lord Hope, and now as Earl of Hopetoun; Lord Charles Melbourne Hope, born at Melbourne in 1892; and the daughter mentioned in the cable. A daughter, Lady Jaqueline Alice Hope, born in 1896, died the same year.]^[15]

Hersey is a widow

LORD LINLITHGOW. REPLY TO PARLIAMENT'S MESSAGE.
In the Senate and in the House of Repre- sentatives yesterday it was announced that the following cable message had been re- ceived from the Marchioness of Linlithgow in reply to the messages of sympathy sent by both Houses:
"Please convey grateful thanks to Senate and House of Representatives for kind sympathy, which we deeply appreciate.
HERSEY LINLITHGOW."^[16]

Hersey Dowager-Marchioness of Linlithgow is Seriously Ill

Hersey Dowager-Marchioness of Linlithgow, whose serious illness has been the subject of an English cable, was one of the four daughters of the late Lord Ventry. At the time of her marriage with Lord Hopetoun, afterwards Marquis of Linlithgow, she was one of the most beautiful women in England. Her sisters are Lady Conyngham, Lady St. Audries, and Mrs. Gretton. the lastmentioned well known in the hunting field. The Dowager Marchioness, as Lady Hopetoun, entertained the King and Queen when on their Ophir trip in 1901; also the Duchess of Buckingham and Chandos, the first Duchess to visit Australia. As Lady Hopetoun she also witnessed the opening of the first Federal Parliament. The Dowager Marchioness has had four children. Her eldest son, the present Marquis, married Miss Doreen Milner, and they have four children, headed by twin boys. The first and second marquis were keen polo players, and the polo ground on the Hopetoun estate is reckoned the best in Britain. Lord Charles Melbourne Hope, her second son, gets his name because he was born in Victoria during his father's term of office as Governor. He was his brother's heir till 1912, when the Linlithgow twins arrived. Lord Charles's successes in the golfing world last year were considerable. He carried off the active services' championship at Sundy Lodge, and the medal at St. Andrew's. The Dowager-Marchioness took a property at Ascot, conveniently situated near the Swanley golf links, for her son's benefit. Lady Mary Hope is the only girl of the family. The body of Lady Jacqueline Hope, an infant, lies in the mausoleum at Hopetoun House with those of her father and grandparents. The Ladies Dorothea and Estella Hope, sisters of the late marquis, breed Shetland ponies on their farm in Kent. One of their ponies did quite a lot of war work, collecting money at bazaars and fetes by means of a ticket hung round his neck.^[8]

The death of Hersey Dowager Marchioness of Linlithgow

THE MARCHIONESS OF LINLITHGOW (Lady Hopetoun)
Her Years In Melbourne By W. A. Brennan
A wireless message from London on Monday announced the death of the Dowager Marchioness of Linlithgow, widow of the first Marquis of Linlithgow, who was first Governor-General of the Commonwealth.
Warm indeed were, those days of December, 1889, when Lord and Lady Hopetoun arrived in Melbourne to take their places at Government House. The retiring Governor (Sir Henry Loch), with flowing beard and a series of Colonial Officer appointments behind him, stood for all that the younger people of that day knew of Governors. The graciousness of Lady Loch (happily living still) reflected the winning manners of the late Victorian period.
Lord Hopetoun was 29 years of age and differed in many respects from the men who preceded him. He was very wealthy, and independent of an official salary. Clean-shaven, erect, pale-faced, quick-moving, the youthful Governor appeared to be a concession to a feeling in Victoria, inflated possibly with a little blatancy, that the "col- onial days" were passing.
Lady Loch radiated good will through smiling eyes alive with interest. The younger woman who succeeded bore her chin a shade higher than the level. Her classic features had the charm and the changelessness of a statue. In print - newspaper audacity was dawning - it was said later that she moved as if faintly conscious of an unpleasant odour. The fierce glare of publicity was not of her seeking, and mechanised mouthing for the camera was not done in that day.
Beautiful and Aloof
Lady Hopetoun was not noted for innovations. Doubtless an element of shyness was in her aloofness, for she was a Hersey de Moleyns of Kerry, and her ancestors (Mullens) were probably Wild Geese who returned from France with the name de Moleyns. Thee first Scotch ancestors of Lord Hopetoun had come to Scotland in the train of Magdalene de Valois, Queen of James V.
The Centennial Exhibition, the floodtide of booming glory in Victoria, had become only a memory. Paget coats and belltoppers were still in vogue. Bursting of balloons was heard at in- tervals, but the main boom was in full colour. Ominous signs there were, and a few croakers persisted with the truth. The great mass of the people, however, was required to believe and to assert that nothing would interrupt the progress of this great colony, to which every right-minded person was proud to belong.
Progress! Certainly! Had not W. A. Trenwith been elected the first Labour member as representative of Richmond, and entered the Legislative Assembly with frock coat and high hat? Were not carriages and pairs drawing up at the fashionable emporiums in Collins and Bourke streets and to the more secluded fashion centre in Smith street and Rath- down street?
Some of the older members of the ANA. may remember how a wealthy public man told them of the way in which he had saved his first £100. Who among them on that evening knew that in a short while they would watch the efforts of this distinguished man to save his last £100?
Carbine and the Cup
Lady Hopetoun saw Carbine win the Melbourne Cup - record time, record weight, record attendance. There had been some disturbance caused by the maritime strike. Dark streets at night and the words, "Fire low and lay 'em out," muttered in the military camp, were roared from tile housetops as a political battle-cry against the Gillies Ministry, and particularly against the mild-mannered Deakin, who by political chance, was Chief Secretary.
Despite Carbine's victory, things were becoming a little drab. .Frock coats were not renewed in 1891; high hats had become ruffled: sleek gentlemen were looking careworn; beards were no longer oiled and carefully trimmed. Railway deficits were becoming alarm- ing. Duncan Gillies, high hat set low, walked out of the Atheneum Club along the Block with Richard Speight, Chief Railways Commissioner, high hat set back, to allow for a bulge in the forehead and a hollow at the top of his head-delight of cartoonists. Gillies had a cherubic face, clean-shaven, with a droop at each end of the mouth, which gave him in repose a "Why pick on me?" expression. They picked on him, nevertheless. Lord Hopetoun rode to hounds.
Anecdotes
Lady Hopetoun gave birth to a second son, Charles Melbourne Hope, who temporarily put out of joint the nose of the young fellow now second Marquis and Viceroy of India. There was no truth in the current story that the officiating clergyman at the christening used the pious exordium : "The world is full of blasted hopes." Poor stories are always sure of a good circulation. In no better case was the anecdote about the country mayoress who sympatheticallv observed to the frigid Lady Hopetoun on the evening of the race dance, "I'm boiling hot, and sure yor Ladyship's a muck of sweat. " It was a good yarn, but Goldsmith told it first.
One would like to believe the story of the phillppina-a token of united hearts. A luckless ass at a dinner party found a double kernel in an almond and placed it on the plate of Lady Hopetoun. Her Ladyship made a slight movement of one eyebrow and a waiter removed the plate. With some wealth of detail it was also related that a confident escort of political standing, after having shown to Lady Hopetoun all the pictures in a minor gallery, led her to a full-length mirror It "see the most charming pic- ture of them all ." That poor fool found himself with an aide-de-camp and a secretary separating him from the living embodiment of charm, while she moved with chilling dignity to her carriage.
The Boom Bursts
William Shiels had become Premier. It looked like presumption for the young academic, briefless Irish barrister (born in Collingwood) to aspire but Shiels answered the unspoken criticism. ' Must our rulers always chew their food with dentist's teeth." The critics gnashed (or clashed) their teeth and were silent. Shiels delivered his policy speech at Casterton, and in eight columns of report deplored that the boom had burst, and, cursed spite, he was born to set it right. The worst had not happened. The boom "banks" were failing, and the wiseacres were saying, "Never trusted 'em. What I say is, I don't care who hears it, put your money in the associated banks." When the associated banks closed the wiseacres looked as wise as they could.
Lord and Lady Hopetoun were on a visit to England and Sir John Madden was enjoying, more or less, his first experience of Lieutenant-Governor.
A Baton in a Knapsack
Years passed. Federation came. 'The depression was lifting or was obscured in a flood of oratory and a flow of champagne. Lord Hopetoun, one of the most esteemed Governors Vic- toria had had, returned to Australia as the first Governor-General. In his knapsack he bore a baton for the first Prime Minister. Alas! He handed it to the wrong man. The Colonial Office, fearful that some mistake might be made, committed a gigantic mistake and instructed Lord Hopetoun to commission the Premier of the senior State of New South Wales to form the first Federal Ministry. Sir William Lyne was a worthy man, but his name fell like a wet bag on a dry dog. The howl that went up showed that the people were disappointed but Lord Hopetoun had to keep a stiff upper lip and bear the blame of his secret instructions.
The error was rectified. Barton came in with a blaze of glory soon dimmed. The Ministry for two years was 'steered from the steerage," as Sir George Reid aptly but ineptly remarked. The Labour party declared that too much money was being spent on defence and at Government House, and Barton concurred, in effect if not in words. Politics became slightly shop-soiled in 1902 and Lord Hopetoun resigned. He was created the first Marquis or Linlithgow, and died in 1908.
You friends to truth " you statesmen and historians who survey. 'Tis yours to say exactly what was in the mind of Lord Hopetoun on the politics and society of 1902, when he sent to the energetic and eloquent chairman of the unemployed the champagne remaining in the cellars of Government House. No written record of his feelings is known, but a future roving historian may find one.^[17]

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Sources

1. ↑ Lady's Own Paper, 13th April 1867
2. ↑ "Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQS3-15S : 12 February 2020), Hersey Alice De Moleyns, 1867.
3. ↑ Design & Art Australia On-Line https://www.daao.org.au/bio/countess-of-hersey-hopetoun/biography/
4. ↑ Aberdeen Press and Journal, 5th April 1937
5. ↑ Linlithgowshire Gazette, 9th April 1937
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} 1889 'THE COUNTESS OF HOPETOUN.', South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), 26 November, p. 6, viewed 19 February, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47289400
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} 1901 'COUNTESS OF HOPETOUN.', Daily Telegraph (Launceston, Tas. : 1883 - 1928), 6 July, p. 4, viewed 19 February, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article157729473
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} 1920 'Personal.', Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), 25 December, p. 28, viewed 19 February, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165915995
9. ↑ 1912 'What's in a Name.', Queensland Figaro (Brisbane, Qld. : 1901 - 1936), 24 December, p. 18, viewed 19 February, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article84396139
10. ↑ 1892 'THE NATURALIST.', The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), 13 February, p. 44, viewed 19 February, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article138623509
11. ↑ 1900 'Hons, de Moleyns' New Brother-in-law.', Morning Post (Cairns, Qld. : 1897 - 1907), 6 July, p. 3, viewed 19 February, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42942137
12. ↑ 1889 'THE LOCH GARRY DISMASTED.', The Australasian Sketcher with Pen and Pencil (Melbourne, Vic. : 1873 - 1889), 28 November, p. 177, viewed 19 February, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63224988
13. ↑ Matt Preston, "Hopetoun Tea Rooms", The Age, 18 March 2003, http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/18/1047749748043.html
14. ↑ 1902 'The Week.', Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), 14 June, p. 25, viewed 19 February, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87823715
15. ↑ 1904 'A DAUGHTER FOR LORD LINLITHGOW.', Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), 7 January, p. 4, viewed 19 February, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112790928
16. ↑ 1908 'LORD LINLITHGOW. REPLY TO PARLIAMENT'S MESSAGE.', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 18 March, p. 7, viewed 19 February, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10674799
17. ↑ 1937 'THE MARCHIONESS OF LINLITHGOW (Lady Hopetoun).', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), 10 April, p. 31 Supplement: Week-End Magazine, viewed 19 February, 2015, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11055607