Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Selwyn Peter Hope, known as Peter, was born on 11 February 1889 at Timaru, the third son of Arthur Hope and Frances Emily née Tripp. Peter was educated briefly at Orari Gorge School (also known as Tripp School), probably while staying with his grandparents. Later he attended Wanganui Collegiate School. In June 1897, Mr and Mrs Arthur Pope, Norman, Edith, Owen, Peter and Roma sailed to London, England by the “Ionic”. As of 1901, Peter was school pupil at Tower House, Dorking, Surrey. He was a student visiting Kingsland Bank House at Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

Selwyn Peter Hope, a student at Isaac Newton University Lodge, Cambridge, was initiated into Cambridge No. 859 Lodge of the Freemasons’ United Grand Lodge of England on 29 October 1912. In the latter part of 1913 Mr S. Peter Hope (Timaru) called at the High Commissioner’s Office. After completing his studies at Cambridge, he had visited New Zealand and then gone to Moscow, chiefly to learn the language, and was back in London by December 1913. Come October 1915, and Peter Hope had received a commission in the Grenadier Guards. Second-Lieutenant S. Peter Hope was stationed at Chelsea Barracks in mid-November. From 30 November 1915 Lieutenant Peter Hope was at the Front in France. As of December 1917, he was still in the Army.

In February 1919, Lieutenant Hope called at the High Commissioner’s Office. Lieutenant S. Peter Hope, Grenadier Guards, served in France and Belgium and was awarded the 1914-1915 Star and the Victory Medal. Having returned from active service, Peter was able to stay with his mother at her home, “Tumanoka”, Timaru in March 1920. The visit home was well worthwhile. Peter was best man for his oldest brother, Norman Hope, when he married Esther Studholme Barker at St Thomas’ Church, Woodbury in May 1920. In April 1921, the engagement of Peter Hope, of Timaru, and Cecile Palmer Chapman, of Timaru, was announced. And at the beginning of June 1921, Selwyn Peter Hope and Cecile Palmer-Chapman married at St Mary’s Church, Timaru.

Mr and Mrs Peter Hope visited his parents in Timaru from 4 November 1924 until February 1925 when they returned to England. They were unable to come for his parents’ golden wedding celebrations at their residence, 101 Wai-iti Road, in July 1932. They did visit, with their children, in November 1934 and returned to England in January 1935. Mr Arthur Hope died in April 1935, survived by his wife, all four sons and two of his three daughters. Peter and his family made another trip to New Zealand in late 1938. Mrs Hope died in 1950.

Selwyn Peter Hope, a gentleman, died on 7 November 1973 at Colehayes Lodge, Bovey Tracey, Devon, England. His will was proved by his widow, Mrs Cecile Palmer Hope, his daughter and son-in-law, Rosemary and John Langley Humphreys, and a solicitor (£22432).

Sources

NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [27 August 2021]; School Admission record (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [27 December 2021]; 1901, 1911 England census returns (ancestry.com.au) [27 August 2021]; Medal Card (The National Archives – Discovery) [27 August 2021]; Press, 26 June 1897, Evening Post, 14 January 1914, Timaru Herald, 24 January 1914, 4 December 1915, 29 May 1920, 12 July 1924, 20 September 1924, 27 July 1932, 22 November 1934, 2 April 1935, Otago Witness, 27 October 1915, 23 March 1920, 19 April 1921, Star, 18 November 1915, 6 June 1921, Otago Daily Times, 7 May 1919 (Papers Past) [26 & 27 August 2021]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.