His first wife was Ann Wilis who was born in 1810 in England. They had three children:
Ann Hope — born 1833
John Parkes Hope — born 1834
Eliza Hope — born 1837
Ann died in Warwickshire, England on 13 June 1840
His second wife was Hannah Sims, daughter of William Broadbent and Mary Avins, who was born on 22 March 1813 in Manchester, England. She had previously been married to Nicholas Sims and had two children, Nicholas Sims (born 1833) and Ann Sims (born 1836) before she married John. They had three children:
Hannah Maria Hope — born 1844
Amelia Hope — born 1845
Thomas Edward Hope — born 1850
Hannah died on 7 February 1850 in Surrey, England
His third wife, whom he married in Melbourne on 22 December 1855, was Elizabeth Savage, called Eliza by the family. She was the daughter of Thomas Savage and Sarah née Clinton, born in Ireland on 4 March 1833. He lived with his family on a forty acre farm on the corner of Williams and Mount Duneed Roads. A number of professions have been attributed to him, namely surveyor, architect, builder, carpenter, stonemason, glazier and plumber. They had nine children:
William George Hope — born 2 May 1856, married Florence Nicholson, died 6 June 1902 in North Melbourne
Sarah Hope — born 28 September 1957, died 11 May 1865 at Mount Duneed
Henry Clinton Hope — born 18 November 1860, died 27 April 1863 at Mount Duneed
Frances Elizabeth — born about 1860, died 1863 Ashby
Emily Ellen Hope — born 1862, married William Gunn on 23 July 1885, died 7 July 1938
Thomas Savage Hope — born 1864, died 24 August 1884 at Hotham West
Roberta Jane Hope — born 1866, married Johnathon Goode Tanner on 6 October 1888, died 23 June 1941 at Gomandale
Elizabeth Hope — born 16 November 1867, married James Freeman 24 November 1885, died 1888 at South Melbourne
Lucy Hope — born 3 Jun 1869, married Alexander Clinton Hitchcock, died 29 July 1938 at Melbourne
Joseph Hope — born 16 May 1872, died 2 September 1941 at South Melbourne
John was appointed one of four trustees for land set apart of 8 April 1856 for Wesleyan Church purposes at Mount Duneed.
He built the chapel and was a lay preacher at the time of its opening in 1857. He composed the following for the opening service. As it was the same year that "Claremont", the Baum family farmhouse, was built it appeared on the back of the invitation to the 130th celebrations held on 3 and 4 October, 1987 at Ghazeepore Road, Waurn Ponds. The chapel was directly behind the property where Gottfried Baum was born.
A voice from the mountain is crying, come up to the house of the Lord
The heralds of mercy are flying with light of salvation abroad
The banners of Christ are unfurling, arise now for Jesus our King
The powers of evil o’er-turning Good news to the captives we bring
The wilderness budding and blooming, the arm of the Lord is made bare,
His message of mercy is coming and melody rings through the air
The fields of the trees clap their hands and the valleys are shouting for joy
Then come ‘tis the Saviour’s command, of hell to destroy
Come up, ‘tis the moment of need, a temple we’ve built for our King
Near the summit of lovely Duneed, that the servants of Jesus may bring
The words that so gladden the heart on the morning of each Sabbath day
To be blessed as we meet and we part … to worship, to praise, and to pray.
He also built a Wesleyan Church in 1863 at Drysdale.
He died on 25 October 1878 at Mount Duneed and was buried in an unmarked grave in the Methodist section of the Mount Duneed Cemetery. He left £120 real estate and £5 personal property for the benefit of his wife and after her death to be divided among his children. Elizabeth died at the home of her daughter Roberta at Blackwarry on 9 August 1918.