John Barr Clarke Hoyte was said to have spent some years in the West Indies. He arrived in Auckland in 1860. He joined the Church of England Grammar School from 1863 as Assistant Master. He was then appointed Drawing Master in 1868 - 1869. Mr Hoyte exhibited watercolours at Upton & Co, booksellers in Auckland in 1869, and from that date was appointed Drawing Master at Auckland College and Grammar School.

 

During the 1860s he also took private pupils in his Parnell studio. In 1869 Mr Hoyte was one of the three who first agreed to a proposed Society of Artists. He was a leading member exhibiting from 1871 to 1877. By 1876 he was exhibiting in Dunedin with O.A.S. He