cellence in this department of literature. These three portions form the first volume, under the title of the "Vale of Wily." 4. Hundreds of Everley, Ambresbury, and Underditch, 1826; 5. Hundred of Dunworth and Vale of Noddre, by James Edward Baron Arundell and Sir R. C. Hoare, 1829; 6. Hundred of Westbury, by Mr. Richard Harris and Sir R. C. Hoare, 1830; and Hundred of Warminster, by Henry Wansey, esq. and Sir R. C. Hoare. 1831; 7. Hundred of Chalk, by Charles Bowles, esq. and Sir R. C. Hoare, 1833; 8. Hundred of South Damerham, by Wm. Henry Black, esq.; Hundred of Downton, by George Matcham, esq. LL.D.; Hundred of Cawden, by Sir R. C. Hoare, 1835. This great work, which must entitle Sir Richard to a distinguished place in the first rank of Topographical Historians, was not completed to the extent he at first contemplated. Notwithstanding his own exertions and example, he was at length, for want of coadjutors, obliged to confine his views to the History of South Wilts. His latest wish, to see that work completed, was nearly gratified. Of the parts still unpublished, the Hundred of Alderbury has passed through the press; that of Frustfield (by Mr. Matcham) is also nearly printed; and the account of Old and New Sarum is, we understand, so far advanced by the joint labours of Robert Benson, esq. the present Recorder, and Mr. Hatcher, as to be nearly ready for the press. Sir Richard had suffered much from rheumatic gout, and for some years had been afflicted with deafness. His memory and sight were, however, little im. paired by the advance of age. He was always cheerful and resigned, and he conversed with vivacity and pleasure on his antiquarian pursuits, and on the improvements he had made in his beautiful and picturesque demesne. In regard to his health, nothing occurred to create apprehension till Wednesday the 16th May, and on the following Saturday he closed his long, hononrable, and useful career, in his 80th year. His life latterly had been quite retired, from the severe attacks of his complaint, which so enfeebled his frame, that he sank into the arms of death with the Christian resignation and calm placidity of one who felt that he was summoned to another and a better world. He is deeply regretted by an extensive circle of the great and good; but by none more than his tenantry, and the inhabitants of his various and extensive manors. The merits and virtues of Sir R. C. Hoare, as an individual, will long live in the memory of those who knew him best. As a writer, and patron of liberal pursuits, he took the most lively interest in the history and antiquities of the country generally, and of his own district in particular; and his purse, his advice, his assistance, were always ready to promote any attempt, however humble, for their elucidation. In this, as in other respects, no man better exemplified his own remark, "We ought to consider ourselves as existing not solely for ourselves, and to bear in mind the non sibi sed posteris; we should leave as a legacy for posterity, whatever useful information we have been able to collect, during the existing period of our lives." In consequence of the recent death of his son, Henry Hoare, esq. the baronetcy and landed property devolve on his eldest half-brother, the head of the eminent Banking-house in Fleet-street; and his personal property on his grand-daughter Anne, who is married to Captain Mathew, the Member for Shaftesbury. Sir Richard Hoare, who was always exceedingly liberal in presentation copies of his published works, printed several for private distribution only. Of these. we have extracted the following list from "Martin's Catalogue of Privately Printed Books." On the Architecture of Wales. 4to. 1806. A portion of his edition of Giraldus Cambrensis: twenty copies. A Catalogue of Books relating to the History and Topography of Italy, collected during the years 1786, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1790. 1812, 8vo. pp. 102; twelve copies. The whole collection described in this catalogue was most liberally presented by Sir Richard to the British Museum, in 1825. Journal of the Shrievalty of Richard Hoare, esq. [Sheriff of London and Middlesex] in the years 1740-41. Printed from a MS. in his own hand writing, 1815, royal 4to. pp. 108. A Catalogue of Books relating to the History and Topography of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, 1815, 8vo. pp. 361. Twenty-five copies. Recollections Abroad, in the years 1785, 6, 7, 8, 9, 90, 91. 4 vols. 8vo. 1815 -1818. Of the two former only twentyfive copies were printed; of the two latter, fifty. Pedigrees of the families of Hore, of Rishford, com. Devon; Hoare, of Welton, 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. pp. 64; nine portraits. Monasticon Wiltunense: containing a List of the Religious Houses in North and South Wiltshire: compiled chiefly from Bishop Tanner's Notitia Monastica. 1821, fol. pp. 54. Monastic Remains of the Religious Houses at Witham, Bruton, and Stavordale, Somersetshire. 1824, 4to. A Letter stating the true Site of the ancient Colony of Camulodunum, [viz. at Colchester in Essex]. 8vo. 1827. Registrum Wiltunense, Saxonicum et Latinum, in Museo Britannico asservatum, ab anno Regis Alfredi 892, ad annum regis Eadwardi 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, 1827, folio. Chronicon Vilodunense: sive de Vitâ et Miraculis Sanctæ Edithæ Regis Edgari filiæ carmen vetus Anglicum. E codice unico Cottoniano in Museo Britannico adservato, nunc demum in lucem editum ; curâ G. H. Black. Sumptibus R. C. Hoare. Typis Nicholsianis, 100 exemplaria impressa, 1830, fol. pp. 141. The Pitney Pavements, discovered by Samuel Hasell, esq. of Littleton, A.D. 1828; and illustrated, with his Notes, by Sir R. C. Hoare, Bart. 1831, 8vo. pp. 20, sixteen plates. Since re-printed, for sale. In 1823, appeared" Hungerfordiana; or, Memoirs of the Family of Hungerford: collected by Sir R. C. Hoare. Of this elegant little volume only 100 copies were printed; 50 as presents, and 50 for sale. And in 1829, "Tumuli Wiltunenses; a Guide to the Barrows on the Plains of Stonehenge; by Sir R. C. Hoare"-a small tract of 50 pages, printed for sale. Sir Richard Hoare made the following communications to the Society of Antiquaries in 1817, "An account of a Stone Barrow in the parish of Wellow, at Stoney Littleton in the county of Somerset, which was opened and investigated in the month of May 1816," printed in the Archæologia, vol. XIX. pp. 43-48, with three plates; in 1823 an "Account of Antiquities found at Hamden Hill, with fragments of British Chariots," printed ibid. vol. XXI. pp. 39-42, with three plates; and in 1827, Observations upon four Mosaic Pavements discovered in the county of Hants," printed in vol. XXII. pp. 49–54. 66 Among his communications to the Gentleman's Magazine were, in 1823, an Account of a Roman Bath found at Farley, Wilts, printed in vol. XCIII. with a plate; in 1827, an account of a Roman villa at Littleton, Somerset, printed in vol. XCVII. with a plan; and in 1830, an account of the Roman villa at Pitney, Somerset, also accompanied by a plan, in vol. C. T. A. KNIGHT, Esq. F. R.S. May 11. In London, at the house of Mrs. Walpole, one of his daughters, in his 80th year, Thomas Andrew Knight, esq. F.R.S. of Downton Castle, in Herefordshire, the President of the Horticultural Society of London. The following biographical notice of this lamented gentleman we extract from the Athenæum : "Mr. Knight was born at Wormsley Grange, near Hereford, on the 10th of October 1758. He was the youngest son of the Rev. Thomas Knight, a clergyman of the church of England, whose father had amassed a large fortune as an ironmaster, at the time when iron-works were first established at Colebrook Dale. When Mr. Knight was three years old, he lost his father, and his education was in consequence so much neglected, that at the age of nine years he was unable to write, and scarcely able to read. He was then sent to school at Ludlow, whence he was removed to Chiswick, and afterwards entered at Balliol College, Oxford. It was in the idle days of his childhood, when he could derive no assistance from books, that his active mind was first directed to the contemplation of the phenomena of vegetable life; and he then acquired that fixed habit of thinking and judging for himself, which laid the foundation of his reputation as an original observer and experimentalist. He used to relate an anecdote of his childhood, which marks the strong original tendency of his mind to observation and reflection. Seeing the gardener one day planting beans in the ground, he asked him why he buried those bits of wood; being told that they would grow into bean plants and bear other beans, he watched the event, and finding that it happened as the gardener had foretold, he determined to plant his pocket-knife, in the expectation of its also growing and bearing other knives. When he saw that this did not take place, he set himself to consider the cause of the difference in the two cases, and thus was led to occupy his earliest thoughts with those attempts at tracing the vital phenomena of plants to their causes, upon which he eventually constructed so bril liant a reputation. "It was about the year 1795 that Mr. Knight began to be publicly known as a vegetable physiologist. In that year he laid before the Royal Society his cele. brated paper upon the inheritance of disease among fruit trees, and the propagation of debility by grafting. This was succeeded by accounts of experimental researches into vegetable fecundation, the ascent and descent of sap in trees, the phenomena of germination, the influence of light upon leaves, and a great variety of similar subjects. In all these researches, the originality of the experiments was very remarkable, and the care with which the results were given was so great, that the most captious of subsequent writers have admitted the accuracy of the facts produced by Mr. Knight, however much they may have differed from him in the conclusions which they draw from them. "The great object which Mr. Knight set before himself, and which he pursued through his long life with undeviating steadiness of purpose, was utility. Mere curious speculations seem to have engaged his attention but little; it was only when facts had some great practical bearing that he applied himself seriously to inves tigate the phenomena connected with them. For this reason, to improve the races of domesticated plants, to establish important points of cultivation upon sound physiological reasoning, to increase the amount of food which may be procured from a given space of land, all of them subjects closely connected with the welfare of his country, are more especially the topics of the numerous papers communicated by him to various societies, especially the Horticultural, in the chair of which he succeeded his friend Sir Joseph Banks. Whoever calls to mind what gardens were only twenty years ago, and what they are now, must be sensible of the extraordinary improvement which has taken place in the art of horticulture during that period. This change is unquestionably traceable in a more evident manner to the practice and writings of Mr. Knight than to all other causes combined. Alterations first suggested by himself, or by the principles which he explained in a popular manner, small at first, increasing by degrees, have insensibly led, in the art of gardening, to the most extensive improvements, the real origin of which has already, as always happens in such cases, been forgotten, except by those who are familiar with the career of Mr. Knight, and who know that it is to him that they are ow. ing. Of domesticated fruits or culinary vegetables there is not a race that has not been ameliorated under his direction, or immediate and personal superintendence; and if henceforward the English yeoman can command the garden luxuries that were once confined to the great and wealthy, it is to Mr. Knight, far more than to any other person, that the gratitude of the country is due. "The feelings thus evinced in the tendeney of his scientific pursuits, was extended to the offices of private life. Never was there a man possessed of greater kindness and benevolence, and whose loss has been more severely felt, not only by his immediate family, but by his numerous tenantry and dependents. And yet, notwithstanding the tenderness of his affection for those around him, when it pleased Heaven to visit him, some years since, with the heaviest calamity that could befal a father, in the sudden death of an only and much beloved son, Mr. Knight's philosophy was fully equal to sustain him in his trial. "Mr. Knight's political opinions were as free from prejudices as his scientific views; his whole heart was with the liberal party, of which he was all his life a strenuous supporter. "It is no exaggeration to add, that, great as is the loss sustained by his country and his friends, it will be equally difficult to fill his vacancy in science. No living man now before the world can be said to rank with him in that particular branch of science to which his life was devoted. "J. L." REAR-ADMIRAL TOBIN, C.B. April 10. At Teignmouth, Devonshire, aged 69, Rear-Admiral George Tobin, C.B. He This excellent officer was the second son of James Tobin, esq. of Nevis, a gentleman of high literary attainments. was born at Salisbury on the 13th Dec. 1768; and entered the naval service in June 1780, under the patronage of the late Adm. Herbert Sawyer, as a midshipman on board the Namur, a second rate, forming part of the Channel fleet. Early in 1782 that ship, then commanded by Capt. Fanshawe, accompanied Sir G. B. Rodney to the West Indies, where she was distinguished in the memorable action of the 9th and 12th of April, young Tobin then acting on the quarter-deck as aid-de-camp to the Captain. The Namur returned to England in 1783, and was paid off in consequence of the general he completed his time as a midshipman on board the Leander of 50 guns. He also served some time in the Assistance 50; but, on that ship being put out of commission, he was, like other young officers, without employment in the time of peace, and in consequence accepted the situation of mate in an East Indiaman, and made the China voyage between 1788 and 1790. On the Spanish armament he joined the Tremendous at Chatham, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, Nov. 22, 1791. In the following spring he was selected to accompany Capt. Bligh as Third Lieutenant of the Providence, commissioned on a voyage of discovery, and to convey the bread-fruit from Otaheite to the West Indies. Being an excellent draughtsman, he employed himself in making surveys, and sketching the most remarkable scenes of that interesting voyage. All these were, on his return, given up to the Admiralty, and he could never obtain their return, though frequent applications were made. Previous to his return to England, Lieut. Tobin received letters informing him that Capt. Horatio Nelson, who had a few years before married a relation of his mother, Mrs. Nesbitt of Nevis, had kept the Third Lieutenancy of the Agamemnon 64 open for some time, in the hope of his joining that ship. But being out of the way, he could not avail himself of the opportunity of being under the command of our great naval hero; who, in a letter written in July 1797, remarked, “Had he been with me, he would long since have been a Captain, and I should have much liked it, as being exceedingly pleased with him." Lieut. Tobin next served in the Thetis, a fine frigate cruizing off Halifax, from which he was removed into the flag-ship, the Resolution 74; and thence promoted in Aug. 1798 to the rank of Commander, and appointed to the Dasher sloop of war. Having commanded that vessel for twelve months on the American coast, he convoyed the homeward bound trade, and was then placed under the orders of Sir Thomas Pasley at Plymouth, and was chiefly employed on the coast of France in the irksome and perilous service of intercepting the coasting trade of the enemy. The Dasher was paid off at Plymouth, Oct. 10, 1811. While on shore, Capt. Tobin chiefly directed his attention to the fine arts, and was very useful to the celebrated marine painter, Pocock, in directing him to give effect to the more minute nautical shades, as he has since done for the late Mr. Laing, the eminent marine painter at Teignmouth. In the general promotion, April 29, 1802, Capt. Tobin obtained the rank of Post Captain; and in Sept. 1804 he was appointed to the Northumberland 74, bearing the flag of his friend the Hon. Rear-Adm. Cochrane, off Ferrol. He was actively employed on the coast of Spain until the Northumberland went in pursuit of the French fleet which had escaped from l'Orient to the West Indies. In Sept. 1805 Capt. Tobin assumed the command of the Princess Charlotte frigate, of 38 guns. In the night of the 4th Oct. following, while cruising off Tobago, he brought to close action the Cyane French corvette of 20 guns, and the Naiade brig of 16 guns; after a conflict of above an hour, the former was taken, and the latter escaped, from its superior sailing, but was afterwards captured by the Jason. In the summer of 1806 the Princess Charlotte convoyed the trade fleet home; and after refitting at Plymouth, joined a squadron of frigates sent in pursuit of an enemy's squadron which had done great mischief in the Greenland seas. This expedition was defeated by very tempestuous weather, in which the ships were crippled, and some even dismasted. In 1809 the Princess Charlotte escorted a fleet of merchantmen to Barbadoes and Jamaica; and, on her return, was sent to St. Helena to bring home the East India fleet. The vigilance and attention of Capt. Tobin in keeping the ships together and bringing them safe to England, was so highly appreciated by the East India Company, that they presented him with 200 guineas for the purchase of a piece of plate, and the Commercial Insurance Company of Dublin also presented him with a piece of plate of 100 guineas value, accompanied by a flattering letter in acknowledgment of his services in saving the ship Maria, one of the West India convoy. During the remainder of the war, Capt. Tobin was actively employed on the coasts of Spain and France, where he captured several of the enemy's armed vessels, as well as many merchant ships, and did great injury to the coasting trade by constantly harassing them with his boats. In Jan. 1812, the frigate's name was changed to Andromache, the present Princess Charlotte, of 110 guns, being then laid on the stocks at Portsmouth. On the 23rd Oct. 1812, the Andromache fell in with a large Dutch frigate, La Trave, mounting 44 guns, which surrendered after a short action. He afterwards proceeded to Passages, and joined the squadron under the late Adm. C. Penrose. On the 27th March 1814, Captain Tobin was selected to lead the fleet in forcing the passage of the Gironde, which was executed in the most skilful and gallant manner under a heavy fire from the batteries. The officers and men of the Andromache were employed with those of the Egmont 74, and other ships, in reducing the forts and capturing the ships on the river, until the 1st of April, when the information of Napoleon's abdication, and the restoration of the Bourbons, arrived. Nothing could exceed the joy of the French on the banks of the Gironde on this event; they received the officers and men of the English ships with every demonstration of friendship and delight. In Jan. 1814 the Andromache was one of the fleet assembled at Spithead during the visit of the Allied Sovereigns. After the service she proceeded to Deptford, and was put out of commission. After this long-continued course of service afloat, Capt. Tobin retired with his family to Teignmouth. On the 8th Dec. following, upon the extension of the Order of the Bath, he was nominated a Companion of that most honourable Order: and some time after, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, without solicitation, appointed him Captain of the Prince Regent yacht, which command he retained until his late Majesty presented that vessel to the Imaum of Muscat, when he was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral of the White. Admiral Tobin was an officer of high accomplishments and attainments. He was one of the best amateur marine painters in the kingdom; a wit, and a scholar; exemplary in all the relations of life-an excellent husband, father, and friend. He had the most chivalric sense of honour, and could never condescend to meanness in the acquisition of money. At sea he was a most anxious and vigilant officer, and managed his frigate with a skill which more than once saved the ship from being lost with all hands--when the most able seaman on board had given up all hope in their Commander and a merciful Providence. Generous, kind, and benevolent, he was beloved by his officers and men. He married in 1804 Dorothy, daughter of Capt. Gordon Skelly, R.N. (who was drowned at sea about 1774-5) and wife of Major William Duff, of the 26th regiment. She survives him, with one son, George Webbe Tobin, esq. late of the 2nd dragoon guards. [Abridged from a longer memoir in the United Service Journal for June.] COLONEL A. HAMILTON. June 4. Colonel Alexander Hamilton, late of the 30th regiment. The grandfather of the deceased, Alexander Hamilton of Ballencrief, esq. M.P. for the co. of Linlithgow, and Postmastergeneral of Scotland, was the representative of the family of Innerwick, descended from the family of the Earls of Haddington, and died 17th Nov. 1768. He married Lady Mary Ker, daughter of William Marquis of Lothian, sister of the Marquis of Lothian, Anne Countess of Home, Jane Lady Cranston, and Elizabeth Lady Ross. By this lady he had a daughter Jane Douglas, married to Alex. Hay, of Mordington, mother of Sir Thomas Hay, Bart. and four sons: 1st, William Henry, who died young; 2nd, James, keeper of the stores at Chatham, afterwards at Woolwich, and died 1798, leaving issue by his wife Agnes, dau. of Daes, a son Alexander and a daughter;* 3rd, Alexander; 4th, Colonel Archibald Hamilton, who died 1795, leaving issue one son, Alexander Mark Ker Hamilton, now a Lieut.-General, and a daughter, Mary Elizabeth Jane Douglas Hamilton, married to Francis, eldest son of the Hon. Mark Napier. The third son, Alexander Hamilton, was Fort Major at Sheerness, and dying 1786, left issue two daughters and one son, Alexander, the subject of this memoir. Entering the army young, he received a Lieutenancy 22nd March 1791. He was at the landing of the British troops at Toulon in Aug. 1793, at the storming of Farron heights on the 1st of Oct. and severely wounded the 14th of the same month at Cape Brune. In Jan. 1794 he was employed in the expedition to the Island of Corsica, and led the attack on a fortified martello tower on first landing, which was carried. He was also employed at the storming of Convention redoubts, taking of St. Florings, and at the siege of Bastia in the same island. was present in two naval actions with the enemy (then serving on board His Majesty's ship Terrible, in command of a detachment of the 30th. then acting as marines) on the 14th March and 2nd July 1795, under the command of Capt. now Admiral Campbell, and was fortunate enough to be of great assistance in He * From the churchyard of Charlton, Kent. Agnes Hamilton, Jacobi H. Armigeri uxor, obiit 15th Aug. 1766. Maria Hamilton, mater ejus, obiit Nov. 17th 1768, ætatis 77. Also Mrs. Charlotte Mary Hamilton, who died Oct. 11th 1822, aged 66 years. |