MAJOR-GENERAL FREDERICK HARDY
Frederick and Kate Hardy (Residents 1909-1922)
The house was built by Major-General Frederick Hardy. Frederick Hardy was in his late 70’s when he had Ashton House built. He had retired from the Army (York and Lancaster Regiment) in 1885 and he and his wife, Kate, moved in in 1909.
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Frederick Hardy was born in Cork, Ireland in 1831. He married Kate Cotter Kyle, the daughter of the Archdeacon of Cork, in Cork in 1863. The Hardy’s were living at Fairleigh, Shawford, near Winchester when they have Ashton built. They had 10 children. The fourth Kathleen Mary, who was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, was living with them when they moved into Ashton.
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Hardy joined the Army as an ensign in 1849 and retired with the honourary rank of Major-General in 1885. He was a lieutenant in the Light Company 84th Regiment, which formed the escort to Major Arthur Phayre’s mission to the King of Ava in 1855. He was orderly officer to Brigadier-General Russell at the second relief of Lucknow and took part in many minor actions, being twice mentioned in dispatches. He was ADC to Brigadier-General Russell at Aldershot in 1861-62 and in the latter year was also ADC to Major-General Russell in Canada during the Trent affair, a diplomatic incident in the American Civil War.
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Hardy was made a Companion of the Order of Bath (CB) in 1907.
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Frederick Hardy died in 1916 and is buried at All Saints Church, Compton near Winchester. The gravestone includes memorials to his wife, Kate and three of their sons. The inscriptions are as follows:
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IN LOVING MEMORY OF
MAJOR GENERAL
FREDERICK HARDY C.B.
COLONEL THE YORK AND
LANCASTER REGT.
BORN AT CORK 25. DEC. 1830,
DIED AT WINCHESTER 14. FEB. 1916.
HE SERVED IN INDIA DURING THE
MUTINY 1857-59, AND COMMANDED
THE 84TH REGT. 1869-78.
"HERE HAVE WE NO CONTINUING CITY
WE SEEK ONE TO COME."
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ALSO OF KATE COTTER HARDY
HIS BELOVED WIFE AND INSEPARABLE COMRADE
IN MANY CLIMES.
BORN AT CORK ... MAY 1841
DIED AT WINCHESTER ... MARCH 1921
AND OF THEIR 3RD SON
ARTHUR FOSTER
HARDY,
BORN AT CORK OCT. 29. 1866
DIED AT EDINBURGH
NOV. 2. 1886.
AND OF THEIR 4TH SON
FREDERICK HALLAM
HARDY,
CAPTAIN R.A.M.C.
HE LAID DOWN HIS LIFE
IN THE INTERESTS OF SCIENCE
AND DIED OF SLEEPING SICKNESS
AT ADEN, ON HIS WAY HOME
FROM NYASSALAND,
MARCH 8. 1909.
ALSO IN MEMORY OF
LIEUT-COLONEL
FRANCIS KYLE HARDY
D.S.O., O.B.E.
84TH YORK & LANCASTER REGT.
DIED IN LONDON,
DECEMBER 10. 1937. AGED 56.
SIXTH SON OF THE LATE
MAJOR-GENERAL FREDK. HARDY, C.B.
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The inscription for Frederick Hallam Hardy states that 'He laid down his life in the interests of science'. He was a trained medic serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps. In 1908 he was one of three medical officers engaged in the research of sleeping sickness in Nyassaland (now Malawi). However, he became infected with the disease, trypanosomiasis, and was on his way home when he died in Aden.
See Frederick Hallam Hardy's obituary in the BMJ - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/2318517#free-full-text
Kate Hardy continued to live in the house until her death in 1921 and their daughter Kathleen Mary Hardy was shown on the Electoral Register at the address until 1922.
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Hardy’s recollections, particularly of his involvement in the Indian Mutiny, are published in 'Narrative of Major General Frederick Hardy, CB, 84th Regiment', by A. G. Harfield; Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research Vol. 61, No. 248 (WINTER 1983/4), pp. 228-245
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See Who's Who - https://doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U197529
