Hopley was born in Whitstable, Kent, and resided for the early part of his life at Lewes in Sussex.

He was originally destined for the medical profession, but soon turned to art, settled in London, and after some years succeeded in gaining popularity as a painter of domestic subjects, and also of portraits.

‘Sir Isaac Newton explaining to Lord Treasurer Halifax his Theory of Colour’ and ‘Michael Angelo in the Gardens of the Medici.

In 1859, he exhibited a picture entitled The Birth of a Pyramid, the result of considerable archaeological research and industry, which attracted attention.

Hopley resided latterly at 14 South Bank, Regent's Park, where he died 30 April 1869, in his fifty-third year.