St John Hare d.ca.1684

St John HARE d.ca.1684

Biographical Note

Son of John Hare of Abbotsley, Cambridgeshire. Admitted at the Middle Temple 1647 (barrister 1658), and entered Christ Church, Oxford shortly thereafter, though there is no record of his matriculation or graduation. He inherited the estate at Abbotsley from his father and also acquired property in Chobham, Kent. His career and movements are obscure but he had mathematical interests and knew Isaac Newton, whose unpublished papers include a completed version of a work by Hare on trigonometry.

Books

Newton owned three manuscripts compiled by Hare, two commonplace books and a catalogue of that part of his library which was held at Chobham (now Cambridge University Library MSS Add.3997-8, 3102). This library list was edited and published by Mordechai Feingold (see reference below). The contents, running to over 150 titles, cover a range of subjects with a significant proportion of mathematical, astronomical and geographical books (ca.35% of the whole) alongside legal books (10%) and literary and historical ones (35%). Theological and devotional material is noticeably absent, but was probably held with his other books at Chobham; the size of this part of his library is unknown.

Sources

• Feingold, M., A provincial mathematician and friend of Isaac Newton: St John Hare and his books, The Library 7th ser 25 (2024), 368-82.