Helen Hope, Countess of Haddington

Helen Hope (167719 April 1768) was a Scottish forester and countess of Haddington through marriage. She planted many trees in Haddingtonshire and created Binning Wood at Tyninghame. Early life Helen Hope was born to Lady Margaret Hamilton and John Hope in Kirkliston, Linlithgowshire. She was baptized on 28 September 1677. Hope's brother Charles was born in 1681 and later became a peer and governor of the Bank of Scotland. When she was five, her father drowned whilst travelling with the Duke of York (later to be King James VII of Scotland). Her mother arranged her marriage to her first cousin Thomas Hamilton, 6th Earl of Haddington in 1696, at which point she became the countess of Haddington. Career Hope lived with her husband at Leslie House in Fife and had the first of four children, who was named Charles and had the title of Lord Binning from birth. Charles would become a politician and Knight Marshal of Scotland. In 1700, the family moved to the earl's ancestral home, Tyninghame House in Haddingtonshire. Hope immediately wanted to plant trees despite the initial disinterest of her husband and local people.