 Henry Thomas Hope was born in London on 30 April 1808, the eldest of the three sons of the connoisseur Thomas Hope (1769–1831) and his wife Louisa de la Poer Beresford.However, he was estranged from his brothers (including Alexander James Beresford Hope) when he inherited their father's art collections, wealth and property along with those of their uncle Henry Phillip Hope (died 1839).Part of Hope's inheritance from his uncle included the Hope Diamond.