Peregrine Thomas Hopson (5 June 1696 – 27 February 1759) was aBritish army officer who commanded the40th Regiment of Foot and saw extensive service during the eighteenth century and rose to the rank of Major General. He also served as British commander inLouisbourg during the British occupation between 1746 and 1749, then became Governor of Nova Scotia and later leda major expedition to theWest Indies during theSeven Years' War during which he died.^[2]

Hopson is perhaps best known for creating and signing the PeaceTreaty of 1752 with Mi'kmaq chief,Jean-Baptiste Cope which is celebrated (along with other treaties) every year byNova Scotians onTreaty Day.

Hopson was born on 5 June 1696, the second son ofvice admiralSir Thomas Hopsonn and Elizabeth Timbrell.^[3][4] He initially joined theRoyal Marines in 1703, but later transferred to join theBritish Army. He rose his way up tolieutenant colonel by 1743, serving mainly inGibraltar.

Following ColonelHugh Warburton, in the Spring of 1746 Hopson arrived inLouisbourg,Nova Scotia with a number of reinforcements intending to relieve the existing British garrison. The settlement had only been captured from the French the previous year. From 1747 until 1749 he served as commander of the town, until it was handed back as part of theTreaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. On 12 July 1749 he formally handed over the town to the returning French troops.

DuringFather Le Loutre's War, Hopson served asGovernor of Nova Scotia (1752–1754) from the British capital ofHalifax. While combating the Mi'kmaq and Acadian raids, he maintained relatively good relations with the French atLouisbourg andQuebec. Hopson created theTreaty of 1752, which was signed byJean-Baptiste Cope, on behalf of his Mi'Kmaq tribe. Hopson then sent the delegation that ended in theAttack at Isle Madame, which led to Cope destroying the treaty.

Once a fresh war broke out with France in 1756, Hopson returned to Halifax and helped organise the British response to the threat of a French attack. He also played a role in theGreat Upheaval of French-speaking inhabitants of Nova Scotia before returning home to Britain. He was passed over for a role in thelarge British attempt to capture Louisbourg in 1758.

Instead he was appointed to command a major expedition to theWest Indies. The campaign was a central part ofWilliam Pitt's strategy to win the war, by seizing profitable French colonies in the Caribbean. Hopson's choice was particularly favoured byGeorge II, while opposed by Pitt who insisted on appointing one of his own protégésJohn Barrington as second-in-command.^[5]

Hopson sailed from Portsmouth in 1758 with 9,000 troops.^[6] Once in the West Indies the British set upBarbados as a base to strike out against the two main French targetsMartinique andGuadeloupe. However the British attempt to capture Martinique ended in failure, with heavy casualties and growing rates of disease and the British were forced to switch their attentions to Guadeloupe.^[7] As they attempted to capture the island, the British were hit by a wave of diseases, and 1,500 men swiftly fell ill. Hopson also contracted a tropical disease and died in February 1759 inBasse-Terre.^[8] His force fell under the command of Barrington, who successfully completed the capture of Guadeloupe two months later.

• Anderson, Fred.Crucible of War: Faber and Faber, 2000
• McLynn, Frank.1759: The Year Britain Became Master of the World. Pimlico, 2005

• 1696 births
• 1759 deaths
• British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession
• British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War
• British military personnel of the French and Indian War
• British Army major generals
• West Yorkshire Regiment officers
• 48th Regiment of Foot officers
• Worcestershire Regiment officers
• Governors of the Colony of Nova Scotia
• People of Father Le Loutre's War

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