From Maria Nugent's Journal

The first Duchess, Anna Eliza, inherited the Hope Estate from her mother, Anne Eliza widow of Roger Hope Elletson, who was Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica from 1766–68. Presumably the estate is named after Roger Hope.

It was sold after the collapse of the families fortunes and in 1881, two hundred acres of the Hope Estate was purchased by the Government to establish an experimental garden. This more recently was a pleasure garden but is now under threat from housing. 

Lady Maria Nugent on Hope

October 1^st 1801

About 10 we drove to the Hope estate.[1] We took a cross road, through a sugar plantation, or rather cane-piece, as it is called; a negro man running before the carriage, to open the gates. The Hope estate is very interesting for me, as belonging to dearest Lady Temple,[2] and I examined every thing very particularly. It is situated at the bottom of a mountain, and as the Hope river runs through it, the produce is more certain than on estates in general, which often suffer from the great droughts in this part of the world. A severe hurricane alone can affect it. It is said to be an old estate, and not further improveable than yielding, as it does now, 320 hogsheads of sugar.—They say that, though it is incapable of yielding more, it is better, as being a sure produce, than most estates in the island, which are liable to great vicissitudes.—As you enter the gates, there is along range of negro houses, like thatched cottages, and a row of cocoa-nut trees and clumps of cotton trees. The sugarhouse, and all the buildings, are thought to be more than usually good, and well taken care of. The overseer, a civil, vulgar, Scotch officer, on half-pay, did the honours to us ; but, when we got to the door of the distillery, the smell of the rum was so intolerable, that, after a little peep at the process, I left the gentlemen, and went to the overseer's house, about a hundred yards off. I talked to the black, women, who told me all their histories. The overseer's chere amie, and no man here is without one, is a tall black woman, well made, with a very flat nose, thick lips, and a skin of ebony, highly polished and shining. She shewed me her three yellow children, and said, with some ostentation, she should soon have another. The marked attention of the other women, plainly proved her to be the favourite Sultana of this vulgar, ugly, Scotch Sultan, who is about fifty, clumsy, ill made, and dirty. He had a dingy, sallow-brown complexion, and only two yellow discoloured tusks, by way of teeth. However, they say he is a good overseer; so at least his brother Scotchman told me, and there is no one here to contradict him, as almost all the agents, attornies, merchants and shop-keepers, are of that country, and really do deserve to thrive in this, they are so industrious. I should mention that there is an excellent hospital on this estate, which is called a hot-house,