Robert Hope Moncrieff (26 February 1846 – 10 August 1927), known by the pen names A. R. Hope Moncreiff and Ascott R. Hope, was a prolific Scottish author of children's fiction and of Black's Guides.
Early life
Robert Hope Moncrieff was born on 26 February 1846, the lawful son of George Moncrieff (11 May 1917 – 16 May 1865), a solicitor and his first wife Angela Birch (19 September 1820 – 25 December 1848). The couple had married the previous year in St Brides Church in Liverpool on 2 June 1845. Robert was quickly followed by a brother, John Forbes (5 July 1847 – 7 March 1927), and a sister, Angela Mary (27 November 1848 – 8 March 1864).
Moncrieff's mother, Angela, died of childbed fever four weeks after the birth of Angela Mary. Moncrieff was under three. His father married a second time on 27 June 1854 to Maria Wilks Williamson Rodgers (1830 – 30 March 1859) in Kilkenny, Ireland. The family now lived at No 7, Atholl Crescent in Perth. Maria gave George three more children: George Henry (2 November 1855 – 23 February 1947); Francis Edward (24 March 1857 – 7 January 1884); and Henrietta (14 June 1858 – 30 April 1859), who died in infancy.
Moncrieff's step-mother, Maria, died when he was just 13, and his father married again before he was 15. His third wife was Isabella Roy (29 October 1828 – 18 January 1879) whom he married on 16 January 1861 in 2, Atholl Crescent. Perth, Scotland. Her father was not a soldier, but the Captain of a ship trading in Asia with the permission of the East India Company.
