John Adrian Louis Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, KT, GCMG, GCVO, PC (25 September 1860 – 29 February 1908) was a British aristocrat and statesman who served as the first governor-general of Australia, in office from 1901 to 1902.

However, he arrived in Australia ill-informed about the political aspects of federation, and his decision to call on William Lyne to form a caretaker government became known as the "Hopetoun Blunder".

Lyne, who had campaigned against federation, had little support from the political establishment, and Hopetoun was forced to turn to Edmund Barton to serve as Australia's first prime minister.

He married, in London on 18 October 1886, Hersey Alice Eveleigh-de Moleyns (formerly Mullins), a Scots-born Irish aristocrat (daughter of the 4th Baron Ventry) then aged 19.

Notwithstanding poor health and colonial astonishment at his habit of wearing hair-powder, his youthful enthusiasm for routine duties and his fondness for informal horseback tours won him many friends.

The economic boom in the colony was reversed by the Great Crash in 1891, leading to a decade of depression, bank failures, industrial action and political instability.

The economic crash and resultant political and social problems laid bare the inefficiencies of the colonial system and sparked renewed interest in an Australian federation.

[6] Intercolonial rivalries and traditional suspicions in Sydney of the excessive influence of Melbourne over national affairs were cause for some complex manoeuvres during Hopetoun's arrival.

Illness and misadventure following the Indian leg of the journey disrupted Hopetoun's tour and made the arduous arrival preparations difficult to complete.

In Australia, it had generally been assumed that Edmund Barton, a key leader of the Federation movement and drafter of the Constitution, would be offered the post in the first instance.

The decision was defensible in terms of protocol, but it ignored the fact that Lyne had long strongly opposed federation until the passage of the referendums of 1899, and was unpopular with the leading federalist politicians.

[14] Explanations for the appointment generally revolve around the precedent established by Canada, whereby the Premier of the senior colony, John A. Macdonald of Ontario, had formed the first federal Canadian government.

Lyne returned his commission on 24 December and Hopetoun sent for Edmund Barton, the leader of the federal movement and the man everybody believed was entitled to the post.

Hopetoun was well-acquainted with many members of the first government and built a strong personal relationship with Barton, placing him in a position of respect and influence with the new federal politicians.

[16] Hopetoun continued to struggle to diminish pre-existing local parochial sentiments within the states, though his position within the Commonwealth was much better publicised and secured after his co-ordination and hosting of the Royal Visit in 1901.

[17] Tactful dealings with state governors and his strength at mediation helped secure that position in the early years of the Commonwealth as confidence in the new national entity was forged.

Official visits to the states often incurred significant local expenses often not reimbursed by the Commonwealth, causing ructions in State-Federal relations until a resolution was reached in 1905, well after Hopetoun's term expired.

Though steering clear of any controversial subjects and stressing national unity and identity during his first months, in late 1901 and early 1902, he had committed several constitutional faux pas by publicly taking positions on political matters.

Though Barton and most of those who present were pleased with the patriotic speech, opposition leader George Reid quickly seized upon the issue as an example of inappropriate interference by the governor-general in political affairs that were the exclusive domain of parliament.

The Bulletin summarised the opposition opinion in its editorial: "Since the day of the Governor-General's arrival, he has shown a disposition to assert, and Mr Barton to allow, powers utterly at variance with the rights of a self-governing people.

Hopetoun was left in a difficult position, as fears of immigration were rampant in Australia at the time and the bill was popular, notwithstanding the disapproval of the British government.

A difficult period of private manoeuvring followed, after which Hopetoun was obliged to reserve assent on further amendments to the bill in the absence of instructions from London in an attempt to balance the interests of the Commonwealth and the Colonial Office.

However provision for the cost of maintaining two large residences, while planning the construction of a third in the future federal capital, became subject to the long-running dispute between the Commonwealth and the states.

Barton's speech in favour of the £8000 allowance was weak, and every other speaker in the debate on the bill opposed the legislation, which was subsequently amended into an unrecognisable measure designed to recoup the expense of the royal visit.

Publicly humiliated by the parliamentary rebuke, still in relatively ill health, and now under financial duress; on 5 May Hopetoun announced to the Colonial Office his desire to be recalled from the position.

Hopetoun's attempts to serve Australia as a glamorous figure of the British Empire had brought him into conflict with domestic politics and ultimately were cause for the abrupt end to his term.

[22] In the wake of his resignation, Alfred Deakin provided an explanatory editorial under alias for the British public in The Morning Post: "Our first Governor General may be said to have taken with him all the decorations and display and some of the anticipations that splendidly surrounded the inauguration of our national existence...we have...revised our estimate of high office, stripping it too hastily, but not unkindly, of its festal trappings.