Introduction

Biography

Henry was the son of Will­iam Wells Har­dy and So­phia Har­dy, and hus­band of Har­ri­ot Eli­za­beth Van Ros­sum.

In his ear­ly ca­reer, Hen­ry held va­ri­ous or­gan ap­point­ments in Eng­land, in­clud­ing or­gan­ist of the par­ish church of Ot­te­ry St. Ma­ry, De­von, and in Ber­bice, Brit­ish Gui­ana (now Guy­ana). The 1851 Brit­ish cen­sus lists him as a Pro­fess­or of Mu­sick, liv­ing in Ot­te­ry St. Ma­ry with his wife (a gov­er­ness) and their two-year­old daugh­ter Ed­ith (who had been born in Ber­bice).

In the mid-1850s the fa­mi­ly moved to East­bourne, where they would make their home at Ber­bice Vil­la, Hard­wick Road. By 1859, Hardy was ad­ver­tis­ing his ser­vic­es in the East­bourne Ga­zette as a teach­er of pi­ano, or­gan and sing­ing, and as a sell­er or hir­er of pi­anos.

He be­came or­gan­ist of East­bourne Par­ish Church (St. Ma­ry’s) in 1854, and of St. Sav­iour’s Church in the same town in 1869, hold­ing both posts un­til 1870.

By 1869, he had be­come first mu­sic mas­ter of East­bourne Col­lege (found­ed 1867), where he would stay un­til 1873. From 1870–72 he played the or­gan at All Saints’ Church, Pad­ding­ton, Lon­don.

By 1876, he was a pro­fess­or of mu­sic in Lon­don and East­bourne, and choir­mas­ter at St. Paul’s Church, East­bourne. He al­so con­duct­ed the East­bourne Cho­ral So­ci­ety for at least two de­cades.

After his death, the East­bourne Her­ald Chro­ni­cle ob­served, Mr. Har­dy was wide­ly known and his death will be de­plored by a large cir­cle of friends.