Born: 1819, Chelsea, London, England.
Died: March 6, 1893, Eastbourne, Sussex, England.
Buried: Ocklynge Cemetery, Eastbourne, Sussex, England.
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.
If you can help with either of these items,