Andrew Searle Hart

Life

He was the youngest son of the Rev. George Vaughan Hart of Glenalla, County Donegal, by Maria Murray, daughter of the Very Rev. John Hume, dean of Derry, and was born at Limerick on (1811-03-14)March 14, 1811. Entering Trinity College, Dublin, in 1828, he became the class-fellow and intimate friend of Isaac Butt, with whom he always preserved a warm friendship although they differed in politics. Hart graduated BA 1833, proceeded M.A. 1839, and LL.B. and LL.D. 1840. He was elected a fellow on June 15, 1835, was co-opted senior fellow 10 July 1858, and was elected vice-provost in 1876.

He took an active interest in the affairs of the Irish Church, and was for many years a member of the general synod and representative church body. He obtained much reputation as a mathematician, and published useful treatises on hydrostatics and mechanics. Between 1849 and 1861 he contributed valuable papers to the Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal, to the ‘Proceedings of the Irish Academy,’ and to the Quarterly Journal of Mathematics, chiefly on the subject of geodesic lines and on curves. On January 25, 1886 he was knighted at Dublin Castle by the lord-lieutenant, Lord Carnarvon, »in recognition of his academic rank and attainments.«

He died suddenly at the house of his brother-in-law, George Vaughan Hart, of Kilderry, County Donegal, on (1890-04-13)April 13, 1890.

Family

He married in 1840 Frances, daughter of Sir Henry McDougall, Q.C., of Dublin; she died in 1876. Two sons, George Vaughan, a barrister, and Henry Chichester, of Carrablagh, Donegal, survived him.

Henry Chichester Hart (1847-1908) was educated as a botanist at Trinity College in Dublin. He served as a naturalist on the British Polar Expedition under G.S. Nares in 1875-76, and in 1883, took part in the Palestine Expedition organized by the Palestine Exploration fund. Henry Chichester wrote numerous publications on the flora of Ireland and material collected on the Nares and Palestine expeditions. He also edited several works of Ben Johnson and some 30 Arden editions of Shakespeare's plays.

In 1886, H. C. Hart wagered fifty guineas with the naturalist R. M. Barrington that he could walk the 111 km between the tram terminus in Terenure in Dublin, Ireland to the summit of Lugnaquilla in Wicklow and back in under 24 hours. Hart, accompanied by Sir Frederick Cullinan, left Terenure at 10.58pm on 20 June 1886 and arrived back at 10.48pm the next evening. The successful completion of this challenge has inspired the commemorative Hart Walk, which currently takes place on the August Bank Holiday weekend.

Ancestry

He is the third great-grandson of Henry Hart, who came to Ireland with the army of Elizabeth I. His fourth great-uncle, Sir Eustace Hart, married Lady Mary de Vere, a daughter of John de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford and a sister of the 17th Earl of Oxford, who is a proposed alternative to the authorship of the works by William Shakespeare. He is also a third cousin once removed to George Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford through his descent from Sir Tristram Beresford, 1st Baronet.

His great-great-uncle William Barnard served as Bishop of Derry from 1747-1768. He is buried in Westminster Abbey. His first cousin twice removed, Thomas Barnard was a prominent Church of Ireland bishop. His second cousin once removed, Sir Andrew Barnard was a General in the British Army, as was his third cousin Sir Henry Barnard.

His mother, Maria Murray Hume, was the from the same family as the philosopher David Hume. Additionally, Sir Andrew's first cousin once removed was James Deacon Hume, the 18th century economist and civil servant. On the Murray side, Hart is a direct descendant of the Murrays of Cockpool and of Sir William Murray, who married Isabel Randolph, a sister of Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray and a niece of Robert the Bruce.

Publications

1. ‘An Elementary Treatise on Mechanics,’ 1844; 2nd edit. 1847.
2. ‘An Elementary Treatise on Hydrostatics and Hydrodynamics,’ 1846; another edit. 1850.