Born on the 14th March 1811 Andrew Searle Hart was the youngest son of Rev. George Vaughan Hart of Glenalla, Co Donegal and his wife Maria. His initial education was received at Foyle College and from thence he went to Trinity College Dublin in 1828. At Trinity he was a classmate of Isaac Butt, the son of another Donegal Rector.
Hart graduated in 1833 and obtained the Science Gold Medal. He was a elected a Fellow in 1835, became Master of Arts in 1839, LLD in 1840 and was co-opted as Senior Fellow in 1854. The apogee of his collegiate career came in 1876 when he became the forty second Vice-Provost of Trinity. As was then the custom he retained this position until his death on 13th April 1890. He was the author of an Elementary Treatise on Mechanics (Dublin 1844) and an Elementary Treatise on Hydrostatics and Optics (Dublin 1846). He was a member of the Royal Dublin Society and the Royal Irish Academy.
On Monday, 25th January 1886, prior to the levee, The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, His Excellency the Earl of Carnarvon, conferred a knighthood upon this Old Boy of Foyle College. Writing to the then Headmaster of Foyle, Dr Maurice Hine, shortly afterwards Sir Andrew said as follows, - " Many thanks for your congratulations on a honour which is liable to be misunderstood. It was intended by His Excellency as a parting compliment to Trinity College, and my claim to a share in the honour rests solely on the fact that no other living man has been so long connected with the College as I. This is a claim which I can safely undertake to maintain against all the world, which gives me an advantage over many men who have been similarly honoured."
Sources: Our School Times March 1886.
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