Sophia Hoare

Sophia Hoare (also known as Mrs S. Hoare, Madame S. Hoare, Suzanne Hoare, Susan Hoare), born Johnson, was a 19th-century British photographer operating in Tahiti.

She married Charles Burton Hoare, June 1853 in Manchester. They lived in Hulme outside Manchester and got three daughters, Elizabeth, Louisa, and Octavia. In March 1863 they traveled with the Telegraph ship from London to Auckland, New Zealand. Some time in the next few years, Charles, together with a certain Wooster, established a photo firm under the name of Hoare & Wooster. In June 1868, he traveled around the islands and visited îles Sous-le-Vent (Leeward Islands), probably taking some of the first pictures of the Makatea atoll in the Tuamotos. Sophia died sometime between 1910 and 1920.

Sophia or Susan? In the literature and in various databases it is possible to find both Sophia or Susan (or Suzanne). Keith Giles uses Sophia in his article from 2011 while Jean-Yves Tréhin uses Susan in his 2003 article.

Photos by Hoare