Ralph Hopton, 1st Baron Hopton

The Right Honourable The Lord Hopton KB, JP, DL, MP
Sir Ralph Hopton, Baron Stratton
Member of Parliament for Wells 1628
In office 1640–1642
Member of Parliament for Somerset
In office 1640–1640
Member of Parliament for Bath
In office 1625–1626
Member of Parliament for Shaftesbury
In office 1623–1625
Personal details
Born	1596 Witham Friary, Somerset, England
Died	28 September 1652(1652-09-28) (aged 56) Bruges
Cause of death	Ague
Resting place	St Mary, Witham Friary
Spouse	Elizabeth Capel (1596-1646)
Relations	Sir Arthur Hopton (1588-1650)
Parent(s)	Robert Hopton and Jane Kemys
Alma mater	Lincoln College, Oxford
Occupation	Politician, soldier and landowner
Awards	Order of the Bath
Military service
Allegiance	Palatinate 1620-1623  England 1624-1642 Royalist 1642-1648
Years of service	1620 to 1625, 1639 to 1646
Rank	Major General
Commands	Commander, Royalist Western Army 1643-1646
Battles/wars	Bohemian Revolt 1620-1621 Palatinate 1622-1623 Siege of Breda Wars of the Three Kingdoms Braddock Down; Stratton; Lansdowne; Roundway Down; Cheriton; Torrington

Ralph Hopton, 1st Baron Hopton KB, JP, DL, MP (1596 – 28 September 1652) was an English politician, military officer and peer. During the First English Civil War, he served as Royalist commander in the West Country, and was made Baron Hopton of Stratton in 1643.

Along with his close friend Sir Edward Hyde (later the Earl of Clarendon), he was made advisor to the future Charles II, when he was appointed to rule the West in early 1644. He commanded the last significant Royalist field army, and followed Charles into exile after surrendering in March 1646. A devout supporter of the Church of England, his personal opposition to Catholicism and Presbyterianism meant he took no further part in the 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. He died in Bruges in 1652.

In his stated account of the war, Clarendon described him as 'a man of great honour, integrity, and piety, of great courage and industry, and an excellent officer for any command but the supreme, to which he was not equal'.^[1]