Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart.

Sir Richard Colt Hoare, 2nd Baronet (9 December, 1758–19 May, 1838) was an English antiquarian, artist, traveller and archaeologist of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He was descended from Sir Richard Hoare, Lord Mayor of London, the founder of the family banking business.

He inherited the large Stourhead estate from his grandfather Henry which enabled him to pursue his interests including the archaeological studies for which he had already shown an inclination. In 1783 he married Hester, daughter of William Henry, Lord Lyttelton, and after her death in 1785 following the birth of his second child, who also died, he paid a prolonged visit to France, Italy and Switzerland. He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1787, and in 1788 made a second continental tour, the record of his travels appearing in 1815 and 1819 under the titles "Recollections Abroad" and "A Classical Tour through Italy and Sicily". He took numerous views during his travels in the form of sketches from which he later produced mainly sepia wash drawings, along with a smaller number of watercolours. His tutor John 'Warwick' Smith and Francis Nicholson %28painter%29 were also commissioned to produce coloured reductions from some of his sketches. Bound in volumes, many of these were dispersed in the Stourhead Heirloom sales of the 1880s. A journey through Wales was followed by a translation of the "Itinerarium Cambriae" and of the "Descriptio Cambriae" of Giraldus Cambrensis, Hoare adding notes and a life of Giraldus to the translation. This was first published in 1804, and was subsequently revised by T. Wright in 1863. His "Tour in Ireland" was published in 1807.

Colt Hoare was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1792 and was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. He died at Stourhead, Wiltshire, in 1838. His mausoleum is at St Peter's Church, Stourton, Wiltshire.

Contributions to archaeology

Colt Hoare excavated 379 barrows on Salisbury Plain as well as identifying many other sites in the area, publishing and classifying his findings. However as the three-age system had not yet been introduced he was unable to date his finds and therefore at a disadvantage when trying to interpret them. His two-volume book "The Ancient History of Wiltshire" outlined his findings. [cite book
last = Colt Hoare
first = Richard
authorlink = Richard Colt Hoare
coauthors =
title = The Ancient History of Wiltshire, Vol. 1
publisher = William Miller
date = 1812
location = London
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = ] [cite book
last = Colt Hoare
first = Richard
authorlink = Richard Colt Hoare
coauthors =
title = The Ancient History of Wiltshire, Vol. 2
publisher = Hughes, Harding, Maver and Lepard
date = 1821
location = London
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
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Hoare's most important work was his "Ancient History of North and South Wiltshire" (1812 - 1819); he also sponsored and contributed significantly to the 11 volumes of the "History of Modern Wiltshire" (1822 - 1844).

References