Colonial Despatches

Hare wrote a letter of recommendation for Thomas Bennett, which was used posthumously in Bennett's request to be appointed Colonial Surgeon of British Columbia.1 Bennett's request, sent to Lytton on 4 November 1858, explains his qualifications and includes the letter from Hare assuring his social standing. Hare's letter is enclosed in this document.

Hare was born in Italy, but his family relocated to England when he was four years old.2 His mother tutored him for five years then he attended Charterhouse School in London.3 His brother had taught him German and Greek, which earned him a pensioner at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1812.4 In 1819, he started studying law at Hare Court, Middle Temple, but abandoned this when he won a classical lectureship with Trinity College.5 Hare was also an author and a translator.6 His most notable work was Popular Guesses at Truth, a compilation of observations about philosophy and religion, he produced with his brother Augustus in 1827.7

Hare was ordained as a priest in 1826.8 In 1832 he accepted the position of Rector of Herstmonceux Parish, and in 1840 he was named Archdeacon of Lewes.9 As rector, he strove for a national, inclusive church.10 Hare remained at Herstmonceux until his death in 1855, and was remembered for his open-minded views on theology.11

• 1. Bennett to Lytton, 4 November 1858, 12894, CO 60/2, 571.
• 2. N. Merrill Distad Hare, Julius Charles (1795–1855), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• 3. Ibid.
• 4. Ibid.
• 5. Ibid.
• 6. Dinah Burch Julius Charles (1795-1855) Author and Anglican Clergyman, The Oxford Companion to Enlgish Literature (7th edition).
• 7. Burch Julius Charles, The Oxford Companion to Enlgish Literature (7th edition); Distad Hare, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• 8. Distad Hare, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• 9. Burch Julius Charles, The Oxford Companion to Enlgish Literature (7th edition); Distad Hare, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• 10. Distad Hare, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• 11. Ibid.