HISTORY OF THE HOOPER SURNAME

ENGLAND/SCOTLAND/WALES        

The Hooper surname was recorded in Devonshire where they were seated from ancient times (some references say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A. D.). One who made hoops of iron or one who lived on the Hop (an enclosed marshland with houses built above ground on stilts.). The original Hoopes of Pennsylvania were Quakers from England. It is possible that Hoopes was a change in spelling from another name to avoid religious persecution in England from King Charles II and Queen Mary. Queen Mary became known as the "Bloody Queen" as she had more than three hundred persons put to death. One of those was Bishop John Hooper. John Hooper was born about 1495 in Somersetshire, England. He was educated at Oxford and later converted to the Protestant faith. John Hooper left England for several years to avoid religious persecution by King Henry VIII and lived in Zurich. When King Henry died, John Hooper returned to London and was later made Bishop of Gloucester. Soon after Mary became Queen and he was condemned as a heretic. He refused to recant and in 1533 was burned at the stake. It is believed that soon after this many of his relatives changed their last name to other variations of Hooper to avoid the Queen's wrath.