Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare, 6th Baronet (19 November 1865 – 25 March 1947) was an English landowner, best known for his restoration of the country house at Stourhead in Wiltshire, following a fire in April 1902. Prior to his death he donated the house and gardens to the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

Life

Hoare's parents were Henry Arthur Hoare and his wife Julia Lucy (née Lane); he was thus the grandson of Sir Henry Hugh Hoare, 3rd Baronet. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

, and later served in the 3rd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment. In 1887, Henry Hoare married Alda Weston, whom he had known since childhood. Their only child, Henry Colt Arthur Hoare, known as Harry, was born in 1888. Harry joined the Dorset Yeomanry at the start of the First World War and died of wounds received while fighting in Egypt, in December 1917, leaving his father without an heir. In 1910, Lady Alda made the acquaintance of the writer

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

, who lived in Dorchester, in the neighbouring county of Dorset. She began a correspondence with both Hardy and his wife Emma, and the friendship continued after Emma died and he married Florence Dugdale; many of their letters are preserved in the archive at Stourhead. In 1915, Sir Henry served as

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) high sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...

. Sir Henry and his wife died on the same day, 25 March 1947, within six hours of one another. He was aged 81. Peter William Hoare, grandson of Peter Merrick Hoare, inherited the baronetcy.

Stourhead

Sir Henry inherited the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

and the Stourhead estate from a cousin in 1894, by which time the house had lain empty for several years as his predecessor could not afford its upkeep. The family moved into the house in February 1895. The

quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. It serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of every nat ...

for an heir to the baronetcy was worrying, particularly for Lady Alda Hoare who, being over 50, could not hope to have another child. There was also growing concern about the future of Stourhead. In 1920, a cousin, Henry Hoare (1866–1956) and his wife Lady Geraldine Mariana Hoare (died 1955) offered an invitation to Sir Henry and his wife to stay at their home, Ellisfield Manor, near

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

. Later, their son, Henry Peregrine Rennie Hoare (1901–1981) reportedly "made a favourable impression at Stourhead" and wrote a book about the family's success in banking. Arrangements were made with the

for Henry Peregrine Rennie Hoare and his family to live rent-free at Stourhead following the deaths of Sir Henry and Lady Hoare in 1947.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoare, Henry 1865 births 1947 deaths People educated at Harrow School

206 Year 206 ( CCVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Umbrius and Gavius (or, less frequently, year 959 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 206 for this y ...

English landowners Henry Hugh Arthur High sheriffs of Wiltshire