A three-quarter length portrait to the the right showing Hope in his rear-admiral's frock coat, 1856-78 pattern, and a double-breasted waistcoat. He carries a cape in his right hand; his left is in his trouser pocket.
James Hope was the son of Rear-Admiral Sir George Johnstone Hope (1767–1818), captain of the ‘Defence’ at the Battle of Trafalgar. In August 1820, he entered the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth and went to sea in June 1822 in the frigate ‘Forte’, bound for the West Indies. In the Mediterranean, Hope served in the ‘Cambrian’ and was promoted lieutenant on 9 March 1827, seeing further service in ‘Maidstone’ and the ‘Undaunted’. On 26 February 1830 he was promoted commander and between 1833 and 1838 commanded the ‘Racer’. He was posted captain on 28 June 1838.
Hope saw action in the steam frigate ‘Firebrand’ off the coast of Argentina in November 1845; he commanded the ‘Majestic’ in the Baltic during the Crimean War. He was made rear-admiral on 19 November 1857 and became commander-in-chief of the China station in March 1859. He was serious injured during the Second Opium War. He was nominated a KCB in 1860 and awarded the grand cross of the Legion d’honneur the following year. In 1862 he was wounded again in fighting against the Taiping rebels.
In 1863 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the North American and West Indies station, becoming vice-admiral on 16 September 1864. From 1869 to 1872 he was commander-in-chief at Portsmouth, during which time he appointed full admiral (21 January 1870) and oversaw the court martial arising from the loss of the ‘Captain’. He retired in March 1878.