CAPTAIN HENRY COLT ARTHUR HOARE
DORSET YEOMANRY
20TH DECEMBER 1917 AGE 29
BURIED: ALEXANDRIA (HADRA) WAR MEMORIAL CEMETERY, EGYPT
The Latin translates as 'In memory and in hope'; a poignant inscription for a death that led to the end of the Hoare family's ownership of Stourhead after more than 200 years. Captain Henry Hoare was the only son of Sir Henry and Lady Hoare. He was wounded on 17 November 1917 in the attack on the Mughar Ridge in Palestine. After lying out on the battlefield all night he was eventually evacuated to the hospital in Raseltin, a journey of more than three days, where he died on 20 December from haemorrhage and heart failure. His father later wrote, "Our only & the best of sons. He never grieved us by thought or word or deed. He loved Stourhead, worked for it, and with us all his life. He was deeply respected by all here who mourn his loss".
Following the death of his heir, Sir Henry decided to leave Stourhead to the National Trust as the best way of keeping the estate together.