William John Hardy

“ The duke soon convinced the king of his innocence, and advised the friar's detention in Holland's custody. The night before the date fixed for the inquiry into the matter, Holland and Sir Henry Green caused the friar to be butchered in prison (Hist. Angl. ii. 113–14) .
During 1385 Holland was undoubtedly guilty of a crime which illustrates the violence of his temper. In that year he accompanied Richard on his way to Scotland. While the army was near York an archer of Ralph, eldest son of Hugh, earl Stafford, quarrelled with and slew one of Holland's esquires. ”

“ HUNGERFORD, Sir EDWARD (1596–1648) , parliamentary commander, eldest son, by his first wife, of Sir Anthony Hungerford (1564-1627) [q.v.] , was deputy-lieutenant for Wiltshire in 1624, and in 1632 sheriff of that county. He was made knight of the Bath in 1625. He was returned as M.P. for Chippenham in January 1620, and to both the Short and Long parliaments for the same constituency in 1640. At the outbreak of the civil war he took the side of the parliament, and on 11 July 1642 was sent to execute the militia ordinance in Wiltshire. ”

“ In November 1664 he was appointed by Charles ‘sewer of the chamber in extraordinary, in consideration of his losses.’ Like his father and grandfather, he was an heraldic painter, professional genealogist, and acted as deputy Garter for Cheshire, Shropshire, Lancashire, and North Wales. His conduct in office appears, in Sir William Dugdale's opinion, to have been irregular, and in 1668 Dugdale—who in his diary contemptuously refers to him as ‘Holmes the paynter’—caused him to be indicted for illegally marshalling the funeral of Sir Ralph Assheton. ”

“ HOLME, RANDLE (1571–1655) , genealogist, born, probably in Bridge Street, Chester, in 1571, was youngest son of Thomas Holme, a member of the Stationers' Company of Chester, by Elizabeth, his first wife. Holme was entered in the books of the Stationers' Company of Chester as a ‘painter’—possibly an heraldic painter—on 3 June 1598. He was sheriff of Chester in 1615, and mayor 1633–4. He also held the office of deputy to the College of Arms for Cheshire, Shropshire, and North Wales. ”

“ Exactly a year later he was in command of the fleet which completely defeated the Genoese off Harfleur, and so cleared the way for Henry V's second expedition. He again took part in the siege of Caen, and in the spring of 1418 was given a separate command, and captured the towns of Coutances and Avranches. At the siege of Rouen in the autumn he held the chief command on the left bank of the Seine. He displayed conspicuous bravery at the surprise of Pontoise on 30 July 1419, and was afterwards made captain of Gournay and Gisors. ”

“ His son Edward after his death found among his papers and published `The advice of a son professing the religion established in the present church of England to his dear mother, a Roman catholic,' and `the memorial of a father to his dear children, containing an acknowledgement of God's great mercy in bringing him to the profession of the true religion at this present established in the church of England,' Oxford, 1639, 4to. ”

“ In 1397 he took an active part with the king against Thomas of Woodstock [q. v.] , duke of Gloucester, and Richard Fitzalan [q. v.] , earl of Arundel. Richard seems to have heaped honours upon him in quick succession. On 29 Sept. in that year he was created Duke of Exeter. He obtained a grant of the furniture of the castle of Arundel, which the Earl of Arundel had forfeited; and the office of chamberlain of England, of which he had previously received a grant for life, was in 1398 given to him and his heirs in tail. ”

“ About 1609 he claimed in a petition to the king the constable's lodgings in the Tower as a residence; the petition was forwarded to Sir William Waad, lieutenant of the Tower, who reported adversely. The mint (according to Waad) was the usual residence of the chaplain when he had not 'a wife and family as this man hath.' Waad also states that when he came to the Tower Hubbock was resident at a benefice in Leicestershire, and provided 'lewd substitutes' at the Tower. ”

“ Another Colonel Anthony Hungerford (d. 1657) , a parliamentarian, may possibly have been brother or half-brother of the royalist Anthony, for the Hungerfords often gave the same Christian name to more than one of their children. In September 1646 he pressed for a commission as governor of the parliamentarian garrison at Stoke, and for an appointment as major of the standing companies in Shropshire. Subsequently the parliament seems to have accepted his services, and sent him to Ireland, where he landed on 30 April 1647. He was colonel of a regiment at Drogheda in 1648. ”

“ He had a reversionary right to the property under the will of his mother's uncle, Sir Edward Hungerford (d. 1607) , but the testator's widow had a life-interest, and she lived there till 1653 [see Hungerford, Walter, 1503-1540, ad fin.'] Hungerford in 1625 lived at Corsham, Wiltshire, but after 1645 he seems to have settled at Farleigh. He died in 1648, and was buried in the chapel of Farleigh Castle. ”

“ The king afterwards directed that the three chaplains should be established at Langley, the place of Ralph's burial. Holland soon obtained the restitution of his property, and married Elizabeth, second daughter of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, sister of the future Henry IV, receiving at the time a considerable grant of lands from the king. ”

“ Mary, Swansea, he fought under John, emperor of Constantinople, against the Turks between 1436 and 1441, and was knighted at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on 14 Aug. of the latter year. Subsequently, from 1441 to 1446, the same authority states that he was knight-marshal of France under John, duke of Somerset, and became at a later date knight-marshal of England under John, duke of Norfolk. ”

“ He was in 1653 a prisoner for debt in the 'upper bench' in London, and petitioned parliament for payment of his commission as a delator. According to a certificate from Sir John Danvers, he was 'of most honest and religious conversation, very free from the common vices of swearing, drunkenness, &c.,and most valiant and faithful' in the service of the parliament. He obtained leave to return to Ireland, but on 28 March 1654 his regiment was disbanded, and he himself was left in urgent need. A weekly pension of 20s. ”

“ His proficiency in palæographic knowledge induced Lord Langdale, who was master of the rolls in 1838 (the date of the Public Record Office Act) , to offer him the deputy-keepership at the new Record Office; force of ministerial pressure, however, compelled Lord Langdale ultimately to appoint Sir Francis Palgrave to the post. Hardy succeeded Palgrave as deputy-keeper on 15 July 1861, and held the appointment to the day of his death. ”

“ But when the king sent a message to Hussey (4 Oct.) , directing him to raise men to repress the rebellion, he took no steps to carry out the royal order. He was consequently summoned to Windsor to answer for his conduct. In a letter to Darcy, written from Windsor on 7 Nov., he says he was 'like to have suffered' for confederacy with his correspondent had not the Duke of Norfolk interceded for him. He concludes by urging Darcy to use all his energies to secure the 'traitor' Aske. ”

“ After much wavering in his belief he embraced the reformed religion in 1588, at the time of the Spanish Armada. He was knighted on 15 Feb. 1607-8 (Metcalfe, p. 159) , and was deputy lieutenant of Wiltshire until 1624, when he resigned the office in favour of his son Edward. He settled at Black Bourton, Oxfordshire; died at the end of June 1627, and was buried in Black Bourton church. ”

“ HARDY, Sir WILLIAM (1807–1887) , archivist, younger brother of Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy [q. v.] , was born in the island of Jamaica on 6 July 1807, and came to England at the same time as his brother. He was educated at Fotheringhay and afterwards at Boulogne. ”

“ In July 1435 he was one of the English representatives at the conference of Arras to treat for peace with the French; after this he seems to have returned to England, and was a commissioner for guarding the east and west marches towards Scotland. Later on in the same year he was appointed admiral of England, Ireland, and Aquitaine for life. ”

“ He was born at his father's residence at Dartington in Devonshire on 18 March 1395, and baptised the same day in the parish church there. He was made knight of the Bath in 1413. In 1415 he took part in the trial of Richard, earl of Cambridge, and accompanied Henry V on his expedition into France. ”

“ Most of the chroniclers of the time state that his mother implored the king's pardon, and died from grief at its refusal. The exact date of the murder is unknown, but Joan died 8 July 1385, two months before the king issued the extant writ to seize Holland's lands. It is possible that the extant writ is not the earliest issued. In February 1386, it was arranged that Holland should find three chaplains to celebrate divine service for ever for the repose of Ralph Stafford's soul ”

“ Throughout the campaign in Spain—where he held the post of constable of the English army—he performed numerous acts of valour in battle and deeds of skill in tilting, which won the highest praise from Froissart. ”

“ In 1436 he was engaged on the defence of Calais against Burgundy (Fœdera, x. 646) , and in March 1438 was in command of the expedition despatched to the relief of Guisnes. The possession of his various offices, more honourable than remunerative, led him to sue the king for a grant of an annual allowance; five hundred marks a year was accordingly given him until he should receive a grant of lands to that value. On 26 March 1439 he was the king's lieutenant in Aquitaine, 1,000l. being paid to him before taking up the office. ”

“ After the surrender of the city to the parliamentarians, an order, dated at Westminster 1 Oct. 1646, directed his removal from the office of alderman. In 1655 (soon after his father's death) he petitioned Cromwell to remit the unpaid fine of 160l. levied on his father through the intermeddling of his cousin Thomas Alcock (see above) . ”

“ After his appointment as deputy-keeper in 1861 he edited for the Rolls Series of chronicles and memorials 'A Descriptive Catalogue of MSS. relating to the History of Great Britain and Ireland' (1862-71) , the 'Registrum Palatinum Dunelmense' (1873-1878) , and a 'Syllabus in English of Rymer's Fœdera' (1869) ; he also commenced for the same series 'Lestorie des Engles solum Geffrei Gaimar.' Besides these works he made reports on the documents preserved at Venice relating to the English history, and on the arte collection of papers at the Bodleian. ”

“ He was born on 22 May 1804 at Port Royal in Jamaica, where his father was stationed. He came to England at the age of seven, and entered the government service on 1 Jan. 1819, obtaining on that date, through the influence of his uncle, Samuel Lysons, a junior clerkship in the branch Record Office at the Tower of London ”

“ He succeeded to Farleigh Castle in 1653 as heir of his half-brother Edward. There he died on 18 Aug. 1657 (Le Neve, Monumenta, ii. 52) , and he was buried in Black Bourton Church on 15 Sept. following (Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1654, p.53) . He married Rachel (d. January 1679-80) , daughter of Rice Jones of Astall, Oxfordshire, by whom he had twelve children. ”

“ On 18 Feb. 1398 he obtained royal license to found a Carthusian monastery at Mountgrace, within his manor of Bardelby in Cleveland, and on 26 July following he was appointed the king's lieutenant in Ireland in succession to the Earl of March, who had been slain by the Irish. ”

“ Seven years later he was offered and accepted the post of keeper of the records of the duchy of Lancaster. In 1839 he was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. His salary at the duchy was small, but he was permitted to accept private work connected with antiquarian, legal, and genealogical inquiries, and it was in performing such work that he chiefly made his name. ”

“ He refers to his dwelling-houses in the Temple, in Fleet Street, at Stepney, and at Shawlingford, Berkshire. He constitutes Sir Thomas Bromley, knt., the lord chancellor, one of his executors, and leaves him one of his best horses or geldings. He died at Exton, Rutland, on 21 Feb. 1581, and was buried there. An only child, Anne, was then the wife of ‘John Harrington, esq.’ His property lay chiefly in Warwickshire (Inquisitiones Post Mortem, 23 Eliz. pt. i. No. 50) . ”

“ Sir Hugh married Maud, heiress of Rees Cradock. Both Sir Hugh and his wife were living in 1463, when they were granted a tenement in Fisher Street, Swansea; they had five children. Hugh Jones [q. v.] , bishop of Llandaff, was connected with the family. ”

“ He married Anne, daughter of George Grey, earl of Kent. According to Dugdale he had a second wife, Margaret Blount; but in the documents written by him shortly before his death he speaks of his wife as 'Anne.' Possibly Margaret Blount may have been a first wife. ”

“ He entered parliament on 28 April 1692 as member for Scarborough, and soon after was appointed chairman of the committee of the house to whom the Orphans Bill was committed. On 23 March 1694 he received from the promoters of the bill a bribe of twenty guineas 'for his pains and services' in that capacity, and was consequently expelled the house on 26 March 1695. On a vacancy occurring in the representation of Scarborough in November 1707 he was again elected for that borough, and continued to represent it till his death. ”