HOARE, SlIt RICHARD COLT, Baur., the historian of Wiltshire, and an eminent biographer and antiquary, was born on the 9th of December 1758. His father, the first baronet, was married to Anne, second daughter of Henry Hoare, Esq., and of Susanna, daughter and heiress of Stephen Colt, Esq. In a very pleasing autobiography which Sir It. Colt Iloare drew up in his old ago, he says :—" In my youth I was initiated in the business of our family bank (Messrs. Hoare's bank, Fleet Street, London), till my grandfather removed me from it, and gave up to me during his lifetime all his landed property. An early habit of application to business induced me to have recourse to the pen and pencil, for, without some amusement, life ultimately must produce tedium and ennui; and, thanks to Providence, 1 used in my advanced age to feel the benefits of the early habits of application." In 1783 be married the eldest daughter of Lord Lyttleton, who died in 1785, leaving one child, Henry. In 1787 he succeeded to the baronetcy. After the death of his wife be made an extensive tour on the Continent, which occupied him nearly two years; and in 1788 he again left England on a continental tour, and did not return until August 1791. He devoted ample time to the examination of interesting objects, and filled his portfolio with valuable drawings. For the gratification of hie family and friends ha printed an account of his travels in four volumes. They were subsequently condensed, and published in 1818 in 2 vols. 8vo, under the title of 'A Classical Tour through Italy and Sicily ; tending to illustrate come districts which have not been described by Mr. Eustace in his Classical Tour.' When
the greater part of the Continent had become closed in consequence of the war, Sir Richard travelled through his own country, and be began with Wales; "but, as travelling without a pursuit becomes tedious, I resolved," he says, "to take Giraldus as my guide." In 1806 he published a translation of Giraldus, with views, annotations, and a life of Giraldus, in two splendid quarto volumes. He furnished the drawings for the description of Monmouthshire by Archdeacon Coxe. In 1807 he visited Ireland, and published a short account of his excursion. But it is as the historian of Wiltshire, his native county, that Sir It. Colt Hoare's fame as a topographer and antiquarian is best established. The first volume of South Wiltshire is confined to British antiquities, and includes Stonehenge. The second volume commences with North Wiltshire, and Part 1. is devoted to the British Period and contains the account of Avebury. Part IL comprises the Roman Period. These two elaborate volumes were followed in 1821 by the history of Modern Wiltshire. In the description of several of the hundreds he had a coadjutor for each, but tho difficulty of obtaining aid of this kind at length compelled him to confine his attention to South Wiltshire. He died ou the 19th of May 1838. A catalogue of works printed for private circulation by Sir R. Colt Hoare is given in the ' Gentleman. Magazine' for July 1838, which also contains a list of his communications to the Royal Society of Antiquaries.