William Hoare was a member of the Goyder Northern Territory Survey Expedition of 1868-1869.

The initial Northern Territory Survey Expedition to survey country sections and a capital for the Northern Territory commenced under BT Finniss. Settlers were keen for the survey to be completed, so when progress of this survey was delayed, George Woodroffe Goyder, Surveyor-General of South Australia, was sent to complete it and select a site for a capital. Goyder set out from Port Adelaide in late 1868 on the Moonta with 150 men, reaching Port Darwin early in 1869.

In February 1869 Goyder founded the settlement of Palmerston, later known as Darwin. Six months later, more than 650,000 acres were surveyed for town and country lands.

William Hoare's sketchbook included twenty three artworks of marine and plant life observed during the expedition.

Finniss, Boyle Travers, 1807-1893

Goyder, G. W. (George Woodroffe), 1826-1898

Donovan, PF. A Land Full of Possibilities: A History of South Australia's Northern Territory , St. Lucia, Qld.: University of Queensland Press, 1981

Powell, Alan. Far country: a short history of the Northern Territory , Darwin, N.T. : Charles Darwin University Press, 2009 (5th ed)

Australian Dictionary of Biography Online See: Goyder, George Woodroffe

State Library of SA: Pictorial Collection Search: Northern Territory Survey Expedition (1868-1870)