Richard Colt Hoare was the only son of Sir Richard Hoare, 1st Baronet, of Barn Elms in Surrey, and Stourhead in Wiltshire, and his first wife, his cousin Anne, younger daughter and co heir of Henry Hoare, of Stourhead. Mr Hoare worked for a time in the family bank, but left it, when entrusted by his maternal grandfather, Henry Hoare, with the management of the Stourhead property. In 1787 he succeeded his father in the Baronetcy. Sir Richard travelled widely on the Continent, and wrote a number of books on antiquities and travel, including a History of ancient and modern Wiltshire. He left a collection of books on the history of Italy to the British Museum. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society, of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Linnean Society. He married, 18 August 1783, Hester, eldest daughter of William Henry, 1st Baron Lyttelton. They had an only son, Henry (1784 1836), who predeceased his father, leaving an only daughter, Ann. Sir Richard was succeeded in the baronetcy and in the Stourhead estates by his half brother Sir Henry Hugh Hoare, 3rd Baronet. The library (Stourhead heirlooms) of Sir Richard Colt Hoare was sold in London by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge 30 July 1883, a remaining portion being sold 9 December 1887. A Catalogue of the Hoare Library at Stourhead Co Wilts, compiled by J.B. Nichols, was privately printed in London in 1840.