12 Intriguing Details About Thomas Hardy

Born in 1840 in Dorset, England, author and poet Thomas Hardy is celebrated for his novels portraying rural life, such as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891), and the contentious Jude the Obscure (1895). Set in the fictional Wessex, Hardy’s characters grapple with the societal norms of Victorian England during industrialization. Discover 11 fascinating facts about this reserved literary figure.

1. Thomas Hardy didn’t begin formal education until the age of 8.

As the eldest of four children, Hardy was raised by his father, Thomas Hardy, a stonemason, and his mother, Jemima, a well-read woman who homeschooled him. His formative years were spent in the idyllic countryside that later became the inspiration for his fictional Wessex.

2. Hardy pursued a career in architecture.

During his teenage years, Hardy apprenticed with local architect James Hicks, assisting in the restoration of Woodsford Castle. In his early twenties, he moved to London to work under architect Arthur Blomfield but returned to Dorset due to health issues, rejoining Hicks. He also collaborated with architect G.R. Crickmay in Weymouth.

Despite shifting his focus to writing, Hardy maintained a connection to architecture. The 2018 publication The Wessex Project: Thomas Hardy, Architect delves into his architectural endeavors and their influence on his literary works.

3. Hardy was involved in the exhumation of a London cemetery.

During the mid-1860s, while employed by Blomfield, Hardy was involved in the extensive expansion of the Midland Grand Railway, which required relocating a cemetery at St. Pancras in London.

Tasked with the project, Hardy exhumed and reburied the remains, then creatively arranged the hundreds of headstones in a circular formation around an ash tree. This site, now referred to as “the Hardy Tree,” even features its own Google reviews.

4. The term cliffhanger is believed to have originated from one of Hardy’s novels.

While Charles Dickens is often credited with popularizing the cliffhanger, scholars suggest the term originated from Hardy’s 1873 novel, A Pair of Blue Eyes, serialized in Tinsley’s Magazine. In the story, a character named Henry Knight is left literally clinging to a cliff edge.

5. Hardy applied his architectural expertise to design his own residence.

From 1885 until his passing in 1928, Hardy resided in a Victorian house he designed himself, naming it Max Gate after a nearby toll-gate associated with its keeper, Henry Mack (“Mack’s Gate”). The construction of the house was carried out by Hardy’s brother over a span of two years.

Over his 43-year stay, Hardy expanded the house and planted nearly 2000 trees on the property. He welcomed numerous distinguished guests, including Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, W.B. Yeats, H.G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, and the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VIII.

Now under the care of the UK’s National Trust, the house is open to visitors. The grounds feature a vegetable garden, flower beds, a croquet lawn, and a pet cemetery established by Hardy and his first wife, Emma, for their beloved cats and dogs. Among the buried pets is Wessex, their cherished dog, known for his tendency to nip at guests.

6. Certain retailers distributed Jude the Obscure wrapped in brown paper bags.

Hardy’s novel Jude the Obscure, which explored themes of sexuality and critiqued marriage, class, religion, and education, was deemed too provocative for Victorian audiences. Initially serialized in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine from 1894 to 1895, Hardy was compelled to censor certain explicit sections. However, he restored the original text when the novel was published in 1896.

The novel faced harsh criticism; the Bishop of Wakefield allegedly burned his copy. Disheartened, Hardy abandoned novel writing, making Jude the Obscure his final fictional work. In 1911, he donated the original manuscript to the Fitzwilliam Museum.

7. Thomas and Emma Hardy were advocates for women’s rights.

Hardy wed Emma Gifford in 1874. Despite their troubled marriage, she supported his writing endeavors, and both championed women’s rights, albeit through different methods.

Emma actively joined marches, demonstrations, and penned articles advocating for women’s civil rights. She was a member of the London Society for Women’s Suffrage until 1909, when she withdrew due to its increasing militancy.

Thomas viewed women’s rights through the lens of political efficacy, believing society would benefit from greater female influence. He even suggested that the British monarchy fared better under female rulers. Regarding suffrage, he believed it would challenge societal norms—religion, marriage, and gender roles. Hardy supported this upheaval, but suffrage leaders deemed his views counterproductive, and he agreed to keep them private.

8. Hardy was honored with the Order of Merit.

In July 1910, King Edward VII appointed Hardy to the Order of Merit, recognizing individuals who had delivered “exceptionally meritorious service in Crown services or advanced arts, learning, literature, and science.” Limited to 24 living members, recipients can append “O.M.” to their names.

9. Hardy was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Prize in Literature but never secured the award.

Between 1910 and 1927, Hardy garnered 25 nominations for the Nobel Prize, with nine of those occurring in 1922 alone. Despite his esteemed reputation, some believed he was overlooked because his body of work did not align with the Nobel’s criterion of an “idealistic tendency.”

10. Hardy composed a poem to raise funds for the survivors and families of the Titanic disaster.

Following the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912, Hardy penned a poem for a fund supporting survivors and victims’ families. “The Convergence of the Twain: Lines on the Loss of the Titanic” recounts the tragic collision between the ship and the iceberg. It was published in The Fortnightly Review in June of that year and republished on the centennial anniversary of the ship’s sinking.

11. Hardy destroyed his first wife’s diaries.

Often described as reserved, Hardy sought control over his narratives, both fictional and personal. After Emma’s death in 1912, he burned her manuscript, titled “What I Think of My Husband,” along with most of her diaries. Emma had also reportedly destroyed letters exchanged between her and Hardy.

Hardy married Florence Dugdale, 38 years his junior, in 1914. After his death from pleurisy on January 11, 1928, Florence disposed of additional correspondence and personal documents belonging to Hardy.

12. Hardy’s heart was buried separately from his ashes.

Hardy wished to be buried in Stinsford, Dorset, a place he held dear, near his first wife and family. However, his executors had different intentions, urging Florence to consent to his burial in Westminster Abbey’s renowned poets’ corner. As a compromise, Hardy’s heart was interred in Stinsford, while his cremated remains were placed in the abbey near Charles Dickens’s grave.