From the Dictionary of National Biography:
SIR RICHARD COLT HOARE, (1758-1838); historian of Wiltshire, born on 9 Dec. 1758, was only son of Richard Hoare, esq., of Barn Elms, Surrey (created a baronet in 1786), by Anne (d. 1759), second daughter of Henry Hoare II, esq., of Stourhead, Wiltshire. His aunt was Susannah, granddaughter and heiress of Stephen Colt, esq. His paternal grandfather was Sir Richard Hoare (d.1754). He was educated at private schools, first at Mr. Devis's school on Wandsworth Common, and afterwards at that of Dr. Samuel Glasse, at Greenford, near Harrow. He was at an early age introduced into the family banking-house, 37 Fleet Street, but continued his classical studies under the tuition of the Rev. Joseph Eyre. The liberal allowance of his maternal grandfather, Henry Hoare II, soon placed him in a position of independence. He established himself in Lincoln's Inn Fields, where his father had long resided. On 18 Aug. 1783 he married Hester, only daughter of William Henry Lyttelton, Lord Westcote (afterwards created Lord Lyttelton). Hoare lost his wife on 22 Aug. 1785 . To alleviate his grief he resolved to travel.
In September 1785 he left England, passed through France and Italy to Naples, and, after exploring the classic ground in the vicinity of that city and Rome, returned by Genoa to the south of France. He then visited Switzerland, afterwards made an excursion to Barcelona, went a second time to Rome, and returned to England in July 1787. In that year he succeeded his father in the baronetcy.In 1788 Hoare left England a second time. After passing through Holland, the Austrian Netherlands, Hanover, Prussia, Saxony, and Bohemia, he arrived at Vienna the same autumn. Thence he proceeded to Trieste, examining the most interesting objects on the coast of the Adriatic. He devoted a considerable time to the exploration of Rome and Naples and their vicinity, visited Sicily, Malta and Gozo, Capri, Ischia and Elba, and returning through the Tyrol reached England in August 1791. In the course of these tours he filled a portfolio with drawings of the most interesting objects seen, and described them in print 'for the gratification of his family and friends.'
When the French
revolutionary wars put a stop to continental travel, he made a
tour, for artistic and archaeological purposes, through Wales,
taking Giraldus Cambrensis as a guide, and following him through
his 'Iter laboriosum'. Soon afterwards he made the tour of
Monmouthshire with Archdeacon Coxe, and contributed sixty-three
drawings to his friend's description of that county published in
1801. In 1807 he visited Ireland.
Hoare next devoted
himself, with extraordinary zeal, to the illustration of the
history and antiquities of his own county, and produced the 'Ancient History of North and
South Wiltshire,'
2 vols. London, 1812-21, with 97 plates. Small-paper copies were
published at £21. and large-paper copies at £31. 10s. The first
volume of this splendid work is confined to South Wiltshire and
to British antiquities, and includes several plans and elevations
of Stonehenge. Of the second volume, which commences with North
Wiltshire, part i. is confined to the British era, and a full
account is given of the wonderful circle of Abury. Part ii. of
the second volume is allotted, to the Roman period, and an
accurate survey is taken of all the Roman roads and tesselated
pavements in the county. He chronicled the position and contents
of hundreds of barrows among the Wiltshire hills, which he had
explored with the assistance of William Cunnington. Hoare, who was a fellow
of the Royal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries, suffered
greatly from rheumatic gout in the latter part of his life, and
was deaf for some years. He continued, however, his antiquarian
pursuits and the improvement of his picturesque demesne at Stourhead, where he died on 19 May 1838.
His remains were deposited in a mausoleum in Stourton churchyard.
A cenotaph from the chisel of K. C. Lucas has been erected to his
memory in the north transept of Salisbury Cathedral. In
consequence of the death of his son, Henry Richard, on 19 Sept.
1836, the baronetcy devolved on his eldest half-brother, Henry
Hugh Hoare, of Wavendon, Buckinghamshire, the head of the banking-house
in Fleet Street. In 1825 Hoare presented
to the British Museum a collection of books on the history and
topography of Italy, of which he printed a catalogue in 1812. The
'History of Modern Wiltshire,' which was left unfinished at
the time of Hoare's death, now consists of fourteen parts,
usually bound in six vols., 1822-44, folio, published at the
price of £42. It deals only with the southern portion of the
county. In this branch of the work Hoare was associated with the
Rev. John Offer and other coadjutors, including Lord Arundell,
Richard Harris, Henry Wansey, Charles Bowles, William Henry Black,
George Matcham, LL.D., and Henry Hatcher. He wrote many works,
most of which were printed for private circulation only. In
addition to those already mentioned, the principal are: 1. ' Description of the
House and Gardens at Stourhead, Wiltshire, with a Catalogue of
the Pictures,' Salisbury, 1800, 12mo. 2. 'Itinerarium
Cambriae, seu laboriosae Baldwin Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi per
Walliam Legationis accurata Descriptio, auctore Silv. Giraldo
Cambrense. Cum Annotationibus Davidis Poweli, S. T. P.,' London,
1804. 3. 'The Itinerary of
Archbishop Baldwin through Wales, a.d. 1188, by Giraldus de Barri,
translated into English, and illustrated with Views, Annotations,
and a Life of Giraldus,' 2 vols., London, 1806, 4to. A few separate copies of a
portion of the second volume were reprinted under the title of '
The Progress of Architecture from the time of William the
Conqueror to the sixteenth century; illustrated by designs
selected from examples in South Wales' [by John Carter, F.S.A.] A
new edition of this tract was printed for sale in 1830. 4. ' Journal of a Tour in Ireland, a.d. 1806,' London, 1807, 8vo.
A tour of interest to the general reader, as well as to the
antiquary. 5. 'A Tour through the Isle of Elba. Illustrated by Views of the
most interesting Scenery, drawn from Nature, by Sir R. C. Hoare
and John Smith.', London, 1814, 4to. 6. 'Hints to Travellers
in Italy,' London, 1816, 12mo. 7. 'A Catalogue of
Books relating to the History and Topography of England, Wales,
Scotland, and Ireland ... at Stourhead in Wiltshire,' London,
1815, 8vo. 8. 'Journal of the
Shrievalty of Richard Hoare, esq. (Sheriff of London and
Middlesex), in 1740-1, printed from a manuscript in his own
handwriting,' Bath, 1815, 4to. 9. 'Recollections
Abroad; Journals of Tours on the Continent between 1785 and 1791'
4 vols., Bath, 1817, 8vo. Includes account of tour through Switzerland. 10. 'A Classical Tour
through Italy and Sicily, tending to illustrate some Districts
which have not been described by Mr. Eustace in his Classical
Tour,' London, 1819, 4to; 2 vols., London, 1819, 8vo. 11. Pedigrees and
Memoirs of the Families of Hore, of Rishford, com. Devon; Hoare,
of Walton, com. Bucks . Hoare, of London, com. Middlesex; Hoare,
of Mitcham, com. Surrey; Hoare, of Stourton, com. Wilts ; Hoare,
of Barn-Elms, com. Surrey; Hoare, of Boreham, com. Essex,' 1819,
4to , with nine portraits. 12. 'Monasticon
Wiltunense containing a List of the Religious Houses in North and
South Wiltshire; compiled chiefly from Bishop Tanner's Notitia
Monastica,' Shaftesbury, 1821, fol. 13. 'Hungerfordiana: or,
Memoirs of the Family of Hungerford' 1823,8vo. 14. 'Monastic Remains
of the Religious Houses at Witham, Bruton, and Stavordale, com.
Somerset,' Frome, 1824, 4to. 15. 'Registrum
Wiltunense Saxonicum et Latinum, in Museo Britannico asservatum,
ab anno Regis Alfredi 892, ad annum regis Edwardi 1045. Nunc
demum notis illustraverunt J. Ingram, S.A.S., Sharon Turner, S.A.S.,
T.D. Fosbroke, S.A.S., Thomas Phillipps, Bart., S.A.S., Richard
Colt Hoare, Bart., S.A.S., Sumptibus R. C. Hoare. Typis
Nicholsianis, 100 exemplaria impressa.' London, 1827, fol. 16. 'Treatise on the
antient Roman Town of Camulodunum, now Colchester, in Essex,'
Shaftesbury, 1827 8vo. In answer to the Rev. John Skinner who fixed
that Roman station at Camerton, Somersetshire. 17. 'Tumuli Wiltunenses;
a Guide to the Barrows on the Plains of Stonehenge,' Shaftesbury,
1829, 8vo. 18. 'The Pitney
Pavements, discovered by Samuel Hasell, esq., of Littleton, a.d.
1828, and illustrated, with his Notes by Sir R. C. Hoare,' Frome,
1831, 8vo, reprinted for sale in 1832. 19. 'Catalogue of the
Hoare Library at Stourhead co. Wilts. To which are added an
Account of the Museum of British Antiquities, a Catalogue of the
Paintings and Drawings, and a Description of the Mansion,' London,
1840, 8vo, pp. 780. Privately printed. Edited by J. B. Nichols. At pp. 543, 544 is an account of
the numerous large drawings made by Hoare on the continent. They
number in all about nine hundred drawings either by his own hands
or by superior artists from his sketches, and they are wonderful
proof of his taste and perseverance.