Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/319

 plants throughout life. His explanation of the origin of the pitcher in Nepenthes is substantially accepted. In 1863 he produced his great paper on the South African Welwitschia, which Darwin thought 'a vegetable ornithorhynchus' and Asa Gray 'the most wonderful discovery, in a botanical point of view,' of the century. In his last years he found recreation in studying the copious material which the exploration of Eastern Asia supplied in the genus Impatiens (balsams). They were the subject of thirteen papers, the last only appearing shortly after his death. Beginning with 135 species in 1862, he finally was able to recognise some 500.

The eminence of his work received general recognition. He received honorary degrees from Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin, Edinburgh and Glasgow. He was created C.B. in 1869; K.C.S.I. in 1877; G.C.S.I. in 1897; in 1907 the Order of Merit was personally presented to him at Sunningdale on behalf of King Edward VII on his ninetieth birthday, and he had the Prussian pour le mérite. From the Royal Society he received a royal medal in 1854, the Copley in 1887, and the Darwin in 1892; from the Society of Arts the Albert medal in 1883; from the Geographical their Founder's medal in 1884, and from the Manchester Philosophical its medal in 1898; from the Linnean in 1888, one specially struck on the completion of the 'Flora of British India' in 1898, and that struck on the occasion of the Darwin celebration in 1908; in 1907 he was the sole recipient from the Royal Swedish Academy of the medal to commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Linnaeus. He was one of the eight associés étrangers of the French Académie des Sciences, and member of other scientific societies throughout the world.

Hooker was five feet eleven inches in height and spare and wiry in figure. There are portraits by George Richmond (1855) in the possession of his son C. P. Hooker, by the Hon. John Collier at the Royal Society, and by Sir Hubert von Herkomer at the Linnean, and a bronze medallion modelled from life by Frank Bowcher for the same society. He possessed great powers of physical endurance, and could work continuously with a small amount of sleep. In temperament he was nervous and high-strung; he disliked public speaking, though when put to it he could speak with a natural dignity and some eloquence. He completely outlived some heart trouble in middle life (doubtless of rheumatic origin). His mental powers retained unabated vigour and activity until the end. The summer of 1911 enfeebled him. What seemed a temporary illness compelled him at last to remain in bed. He passed away unexpectedly in his sleep at midnight at his house at Sunningdale on 10 Dec. 1911.

Tho dean and chapter of Westminster offered with public approval the honour of burial in the Abbey, where it would have been fitting that his ashes should be placed near Darwin. But at his own expressed wish he was interred at Kew, the scene of his labours.

Hooker was twice married: (1) in 1851 to Frances Harriet (d. 1874), eldest daughter of [q. v.], by whom he left four sons and two surviving daughters; (2) in 1876 to Hyacinth, only daughter of [q. v.], and widow of Sir, seventh baronet [q. v.], by whom he left two sons.



HOPE, JOHN ADRIAN LOUIS, seventh and first  (1860–1908), first governor-general of the commonwealth of Australia, born at Hopetoun on 25 Sept. 1860, was eldest son of John Alexander Hope, sixth earl of Hopetoun, by his wife Ethelred Ann, daughter of Charles Thomas Samuel Birch-Reynardson of Holywell-hall, Lincolnshire. He succeeded to the earldom in 1873 and was educated at Eton. After leaving school he travelled in the East and in America Hopetoun, who identified himself with the conservative party, was a lord-in-waiting to Queen Victoria in Lord Salisbury's first and second administrations (1885-6 and 1886-9). At the same time he took a strong interest in Scottish affairs. He became deputy-lieutenant of the counties of Linlithgow, Lanark, Haddington and Dumfries. From 1887 to 1889 he acted as high commissioner to the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, and discharged his duties with ease and hospitality. In spite of physical weakness and strong attachment to domestic life and sport, Hopetoun's public career was mainly spent in appointments overseas. In September 1889 he became governor of Victoria, Australia, receiving at the same time the honour of G.C.M.G. He was in office during the financial crisis, due to excessive speculation in lands, which began