[1] He was educated for the law, and having been admitted advocate acquired a practice, and in 1632 was knighted and appointed an ordinary lord of session.
In 1640 he was placed on the committee of estates appointed to provide for the defence of the kingdom against Charles I; was reappointed ordinary lord of session in the following year; and in 1644 was made one of the commissioners for the visitation of St. Andrews, the plantation of kirks, the administration of the exchequer and the excise.
In 1651 his brother, Sir Alexander Hope, underwent examination by the committee of estates for advising the king to surrender Scotland and Ireland to Oliver Cromwell, and quoted Lord Craighall to the effect that it would be wise in the king to "treat with Cromwell for one-half of his coat before he lost the whole".
In May 1652 Craighall was appointed one of Cromwell's committee, consisting of five English and three Scottish judges, for the administration of justice.
[3] The elder son, Thomas, born on 11 February 1633, was grandfather of Sir John Hope Bruce, 7th baronet, with whom his line became extinct.