Life

He was son of Anthony Hardy of London, born in the Old Bailey

Old Bailey

The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...

, 14 September 1618, and was baptised in the church of St. Martin's, Ludgate. After being educated in London, he became a commoner of Magdalen Hall, Oxford (1632); graduated B.A. 20 October 1635, and soon after migrated to Hart Hall, where he graduated M. A. 27 June 1638. Returning to London after being ordained at an exceptionally early age, he became a popular preacher with presbyterian leanings.

In 1643 he was appointed preacher to the church of St. Dionis, Backchurch, in Fenchurch Street

Fenchurch Street

Fenchurch Street is a street in the City of London home to a number of shops, pubs and offices. It links Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street to the west. To the south of Fenchurch Street and towards its eastern end is Fenchurch Street railway station...

, where he drew together a congregation chiefly of presbyterians. In 1645 he was present for the treaty of Uxbridge

Treaty of Uxbridge

The Treaty of Uxbridge of early 1645 was a significant but abortive negotiation to try to end the First English Civil War.-Background:Parliament drew up 27 articles in November 1644 and presented them to Charles I of England at Oxford. Much input into these Propositions of Uxbridge was from...

  (negotiations between royal and parliamentary commissioners). He was led by the arguments of Henry Hammond

Henry Hammond

Henry Hammond was an English churchman.-Early life:He was born at Chertsey in Surrey on 18 August 1605, the youngest son of John Hammond, physician. He was educated at Eton College, and from age 13 at Magdalen College, Oxford, becoming demy or scholar in 1619. On 11 December 1622 he graduated B.A....

 on the chief champion on the episcopalian side to alter his views. On his return to London he preached a sermon of recantation; from that point he was convinced about bishops, though he attended meetings of a presbyterian as late as 1651. He continued to officiate at St. Dionis; under the Commonwealth he maintained, without interference from the authorities, a 'Loyal Lecture,' at which monthly collections were made for the suffering clergy, and he usually preached a funeral sermon on the 'Royal Martyrdom.' In 1660, being one of the ministers deputed to attend the commissioners for the City of London, he went over to the Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

 to meet Charles II, and preached a sermon which before him. On the king's return to England, he was made one of the royal chaplains in ordinary, and frequently preached in the Chapel Royal

Chapel Royal

A Chapel Royal is a body of priests and singers who serve the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they are called upon to do so.-Austria:...

.

On 2 August 1660 he was created D.D. of Hart Hall, Oxford; on 10 August was made rector of St. Dionis, Backchurch, where he had long been preacher; and on 10 December 1660 became dean of Rochester. In March 1661 he petitioned for the next vacant prebend at Westminster, but does not seem to have obtained it. On 6 April 1661 the king presented him to the vicarage of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. He was appointed to the living of Henley-on-Thames, 14 November 1661, but resigned it after two months. In December 1661 he was among the clergy of the diocese of Canterbury who testified their conformity in convocation with the new Book of Common Prayer

Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...

. He was installed archdeacon of Lewes, 6 April 1667. He also held the rectory of Leybourne

Leybourne

Leybourne is a small village in Kent, England situated off Junction 4 of the M20 Motorway. Leybourne is adjacent to Larkfield and West Malling....

 in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 for a short time. Hardy died at his house at Croydon, Surrey, after a brief illness, on 1 June 1670, and was buried on the 9th in the chancel of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. Richard Meggot, dean of Winchester

Dean of Winchester

The Dean of Winchester is the head of the Chapter of Winchester Cathedral in the city of Winchester, England in the Diocese of Winchester. The first incumbent was the last Prior William Kingsmill and the post is currently held by the Very Revd James Edgar Atwell,MA.-Deans:*1541–1549 William...

, preached his funeral sermon, and commented on his activity in restoring churches. . Hardy's widow erected a marble tablet to his memory, now in the crypt of St. Martin's. She afterwards married (license dated 6 Dec. 1670) Sir Francis Clarke, knight, of Ulcombe, Kent.

Works

His published sermons and lectures are:

• 'Arraignement of Licentious Libertie,' 1646, 1647, 1657.
• 'Justice Triumphing, 1646, 1647, 1648, 1656.
• 'Faith's Victory' over Nature,' 1648, 1658.
• 'A Divine Prospective,' 1649, 1654, 1660.
• 'The Safest Convoy,' 1649, 1653.
• 'Two Mites, or a Grateful Acknowledgement of God's singular Goodness (on recovery from sickness): a, "Mercy in her Beauty," 1653; b, "Thankfulness in Grain," ' 1653, 1654.
• 'Divinity in Mortality,' 1653, 1659.
• 'Love and Fear,' 1653, 1658. 9. 'Death's Alarm,' 1654.
• 'Epitaph of a Godly Man,' 1655.
• 'Safety in the Midst of Danger,' 1656.
• 'Wisdom's Character,' 1656.
• 'Wisdom's Counterfeit,' 1656.
• 'The first General Epistle of St. John the Apostle, unfolded and applied' , pt. i. twenty-two lectures, 1656; pt. ii. thirty-seven lectures, 1659; republished in Nichol's 'Series of Commentaries,' Edinburgh, 1865.
• 'The Olive Branch,' 1658.
• 'The Pious Votary,' 1658, 1659.
• 'A Sad Prognostic of Approaching Judgment,' 1658, 1660.
• 'Man's Last Journey to his Long Home,' 1659.
• 'The Pilgrim's Wish,' 1659, 1666.
• 'Carduus Benedictus,' 1659.
• 'A Looking Glasse of Human Frailtie,' 1659.
• 'The Hierarchy Exalted,' 1660, 1661.
• 'The Choicest Fruit of Peace,' 1660.
• 'The Apostolical Liturgie Revised,' 1661.
• 'A Loud Call to Great Mourning,' 1662.
• 'Lamentation, Mourning, and Woe' (on the Great Fire of London
  Great Fire of London
  The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
  
  ), 1666.
• 'The Royal CommonWealth's Man,' 1668.

'Several Sermons, preached upon solemn Occasions,' were collected together, 1658. Another series appeared in 1666. A funeral sermon preached at Cranford on Thomas Fuller

Thomas Fuller

Thomas Fuller was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England, published after his death...

was not apparently printed. Hardy frequently complained of the publication of pirated and unauthorised versions of his sermons and prayers.