James Hope was born in Scotland and, following the death of his mother, accompanied his father to Canada. At the age of twelve he was orphaned in a cholera outbreak. Soon apprenticed to a wagon maker in Fairhaven, Vermont, he quickly demonstrated that his native intelligence and artistic talent precluded a tradesman’s career. With money saved he attended the Castleton Vermont Seminary for a year and took up portrait painting. He painted in Rutland, Vermont in 1843, but moved to the more lucrative market of Montreal from 1844 to 1846.
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