Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy June 2nd 1840 - January 11th 1928
English novelist, was born near Dorchester in the hamlet of Higher Bockhampton. In 1856 he was articled to an architect in that town, but in 1862 moved to London and worked under Sir A. Blomfield. In 1865 he began to try his hand at fiction. On the publication of his first masterpiece, Far from the Madding Crowd, in 1874, he finally abandoned architecture, and settled in Dorsetshire.
A long series of novels, full of local colour and local character, has made Wessex as familiar a literary country as Arcadia. Many of his stories have been put into dramatic form as theatre or cinema, and in 1904 he published a long dramatized history of the Anglo - French struggle of the Napoleonic era, entitled The Dynasts. He published no poetry until the age of 58, several years after the death of William Barnes.
The Dorset County Museum based in Dorchester holds the worlds largest Hardy collection including a reconstruction of Hardy's study at Max Gate, with all his books and furniture, including his desk and pens, all of which was donated by his second wife second wife Florence Hardy.
Novels
Under The Greenwood Tree (1872)
A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873)
Far from the Madding Crowd (1874)
The Return of the Native (1878)
The Trumpet Major (1880)
The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)
The Woodlanders (1887)
Wessex Tales (1888)
A Group of Noble Dames (1891)
Tess of the D'Urbervi11es (1891)
Life's Little Ironies (1894)
Jude the Obscure (1896)
The WellBeloved (l897)
Poems
Wessex Poems (1898)
Poems of the Past and the Present (1901)
Hardy's Funeral
Hardys Funeral was split into three services
Westminster Abbey London 16th January 1928 2pm
Chief Mourners were Florence Hardy his wife and his sister Kate Hardy.
Paull-bearers were: The Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald Leader of the Opposition, Sir James Barrie, John Galsworthy, Sir Edmund Gosse all Government representatives, Friends of Literature Prof. A.E. Housman a Poet, Joseph Rudyard Kipling who was an author and poet. and George Bernard Shaw a playwriter and from the colleges where Hardy had an honorary fellowship AS Ramsay, Dr E.M. Walker.
Soil from his beloved Dorset was sprinkled on his casket of ashes at Poets Corner Westminster London
St Michael's Church at Stinsford 16th January 1928 2pm
Henry Hardy his brother was the chief mourner. The service was attended by local people Stinsford where the casket containing his heart was placed in the grave of his first wife Emma.
St Peter's Church, Dorchester 16th January 1928 2pm
A memorial service was held for the people of Dorchester, all premises were closed for one hour all blinds and curtains closed, the streets were deserted except for those that were unable to fit into the church on high west street.
Westminster Abbey London 16th January 1928 2pm
Chief Mourners were Florence Hardy his wife and his sister Kate Hardy.
Paull-bearers were: The Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald Leader of the Opposition, Sir James Barrie, John Galsworthy, Sir Edmund Gosse all Government representatives, Friends of Literature Prof. A.E. Housman a Poet, Joseph Rudyard Kipling who was an author and poet. and George Bernard Shaw a playwriter and from the colleges where Hardy had an honorary fellowship AS Ramsay, Dr E.M. Walker.
Soil from his beloved Dorset was sprinkled on his casket of ashes at Poets Corner Westminster London
St Michael's Church at Stinsford 16th January 1928 2pm
Henry Hardy his brother was the chief mourner. The service was attended by local people Stinsford where the casket containing his heart was placed in the grave of his first wife Emma.
St Peter's Church, Dorchester 16th January 1928 2pm
A memorial service was held for the people of Dorchester, all premises were closed for one hour all blinds and curtains closed, the streets were deserted except for those that were unable to fit into the church on high west street.
Hardy Society Thomas Hardy Society, PO Box 1438, Dorchester, Dorset England DT1 1YH Tel: 01305 251501 Website: http://www.hardysociety.org/
Max Gate is open from 2-5pm end March-September on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays. Max Gate, Alington Avenue, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 2AB. Tel: 01305 262538. Fax: 01305 250978
Hardys Cottage is open from 11am-5pm end March-October on Mondays-Thursdays and Sundays. Hardy's Cottage, Higher Bockhampton, nr Dorchester, Dorset DT2 8QJ. Telephone: 01305 262366
Hardys Cottage is open from 11am-5pm end March-October on Mondays-Thursdays and Sundays. Hardy's Cottage, Higher Bockhampton, nr Dorchester, Dorset DT2 8QJ. Telephone: 01305 262366
You may also be interested in:
Stair HoleLulworth Cove
Corfe Castle
Enid Blyton
Hardys Monument
Filming in Dorset
Portland Castle
Sandsfoot Castle
Abbotsbury Village
Carnivals and Regattas in Dorset
Firework Displays in Dorset
Clavell Folly Tower
William Barnes Poet who wrote and spoke Old Dorset Dialect
Portlands Lighthouses at Portland Bill
