Edward Hopkins

Edward Hopkins (c. 1675 – 17 January 1736) was a British Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1701 and 1727 and in the Parliament of Ireland from 1721 to 1727. He held a number of government posts in Ireland.

Early life Hopkins was the son of Richard Hopkins of Coventry, who was MP for that city. He was educated at Eton College between 1687 and 1692 and matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford on 2 July 1692. Between 1696 and 1700 he went on a Grand Tour through Flanders, France and Italy.

Career Hopkins was elected as a Whig Member of Parliament for Coventry at the second general election of 1701, but lost the seat at the 1702 English general election. He stood for Coventry again at the 1705 English general election, although he could not attend the poll as he had fallen off his horse in Pall Mall. However the election turned into a riot, in which Hopkins and his fellow Whig candidate were defeated. A re-run of the election was held in 1707 and this time Hopkins was returned. He was elected again at the 1708 general election.

In Parliament he was a teller for the Whigs on divisions, he voted for the naturalization of the Palatines in 1709 and for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710. At the 1710 he was defeated in another hard contest. He transferred to Eye at the 1713 general election, where he was brought in on the interest of Lord Cornwallis. He was Irish Commissioner of Revenue from 1716 to 1722 and was a Member of the Parliament of Ireland for Dublin University from 1721 to 1727. He was Chief Secretary to the Duke of Grafton when the latter was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland between 1721 and 1724. He was also appointed Master of the Revels for Ireland for life in 1722 and a Privy Counsellor for Ireland the same year. He did not stand in the 1727 British general election. As Coventry Cathedral, the church was destroyed during World War II.

He and his wife had three sons, who all died childless, and two daughters. He was succeeded by his eldest son Richard Hopkins, an MP for more than 30 years. His daughter Anne married William Northey, MP.

The Warwickshire local historian Mary Dormer Harris published an article about his memoirs in the English Historical Review, in 1919.