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Elizabeth Reid Cotton,〔Her maiden name is sometimes incorrectly given as Stapleton-Cotton, an error that first appeared in Burke's Peerage; the Stapleton-Cotton name later branched from the Cotton lineage.〕 Lady Hope (9 December 1842 – 8 March 1922) was a British evangelist active in the Temperance movement. In 1915, she claimed to have visited the British naturalist Charles Darwin shortly before his death in 1882, during which interview Hope said Darwin spoke of second thoughts about publicising his theory of natural selection. That Hope visited Darwin is possibly true, though denied by Darwin's family, but her interpretation of what Darwin said at the putative interview is much less likely. == Biography == Elizabeth Cotton was born in 1842 in Tasmania, Australia, the daughter of British irrigation engineer, General Sir Arthur Cotton, and spent her childhood in Madras, India, while her father supervised water management and canal projects in Andhra Pradesh. Returning to England on her father's retirement in 1861, the family resided in Hadley Green and came under the influence of the Rev. William Pennefather, an evangelical Anglican clergyman. Cotton also met many contemporary evangelicals during a three-year stay in Ireland.〔L. R. Croft, ''Darwin and Lady Hope: The Untold Story'' (Preston, Lancashire: Elmwood Books, 2012), 47–53.〕 In 1869 the family settled in Dorking, Surrey—about 12 miles from Downe, home of Charles Darwin—where Elizabeth began evangelistic and philanthropic work, first organising a Sunday school and then a "Coffee-Room," where food and non-alcoholic drinks were served. (She advocated total abstinence.〔E. R. Cotton, ''Our Coffee-Room'' (London: James Nisbet & Co., c. 1876/1884)〕) Cotton held Bible classes and prayer meetings in the hall, and spoke at a Sunday evening service. A contemporary reported that she had "a pleasing, engaging manner and silvery voice, and her message was simple."〔Croft, 54–55.〕 In 1874–75, Cotton assisted in the evangelistic meetings held by American evangelists Dwight L. Moody and Ira Sankey, counselling women converts.〔Croft, 63–64.〕 In 1877, at the age of 35, she married a widower, retired Admiral Sir James Hope, an evangelical and temperance advocate who was 34 years her senior. Cotton therefore became Lady Hope of Carriden. Sir James died four years later. Thereafter Lady Hope opened several additional coffee houses and settled in London where she became involved in the work of the Golden Bells Mission in Notting Hill Gate. She was a prolific author, writing more than thirty books "which dealt with evangelistic and temperance themes," many containing "personal anecdotes reminiscent of the Darwin story."〔James Moore, ''The Darwin Legend'' (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1994), 24.〕 In 1893, she married T. A. Denny, an evangelical Irish businessman, 24 years her senior—though she continued to use the name "Lady Hope." She and Denny opened hostels for working men and provided accommodation for soldiers returned from the Boer War. Her father died in 1899, after which she published a biography.〔Elizabeth Hope (Lady.), ''General Sir Arthur Cotton, His Life and Work – On the work of Sir Arthur Cotton, 1803–1899, a pioneer in irrigation and water management'' with irrigation studies by William Digby – 1900〕 After Denny died in 1909, Hope befriended an ex-convict and entrusted her finances to him. He took advantage of her trust, and in 1911 she was declared bankrupt.〔Croft, 69–71.〕 In 1915, 33 years after Darwin's death and shortly after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, Hope attended a Bible conference in Northfield, Massachusetts, where she apparently first told her story about meeting Darwin. In 1922, Hope died in Sydney, where she is buried. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Elizabeth Cotton, Lady Hope」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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