Sir Thomas Hardy

At the west end of the nave of Westminster Abbey is a monument to Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy. The Admiral is shown in Roman armour reclining on a sarcophagus and at his feet are putto weeping beside an urn. The cartouche of arms was lowered when the present traceried niche was created above the monument. It was designed by Sir Henry Cheere in 1737 as a match for that to John Conduitt which is on the other side of the west door.

Sir Thomas was buried with his wife in the middle aisle of the nave near the Quire door but there was no room near it for the monument. Nicholas Hawksmoor, the Abbey's Surveyor, had objected to its position and recommended it be placed in the south transept instead. The Dean and Chapter had objected to a paragraph in the original inscription so it is assumed that was not put on the monument. The inscription reads:

Near the west door of the Choir lieth interr'd the body of Sr THOMAS HARDY Knt. who died the 16 of August 1732 in the 67 year of his life and according to the directions of his will was buried in the same grave with his wife, who died the 28 of April 1720. He was born in Jersey and descended from Clement Le Hardy who removed from France and settled in that island, and was made a Justice (commonly call'd there a Jurat) in 1381, and was succeeded in the same office by his son and grandson: his great grandson Clement was made a Leiutenant Governor, and had the office of Bailiff (or cheif magistrate) of the island, with the Seigneurie de Meleche confer'd upon him for life by Henry the 7, as a reward for the most important service he had rendered him when Earl of Richmond, after the disappointment he had met with in his first attempt upon England, where being separated from the rest of his fleet by a storm he landed privately in Jersey, intending to stay there till he could obtain leave from the French king to come into his dominions, and was shelter'd at the house of the said Clement, who protected him and convey'd him safely to Normandy at the hazard of his own life, notwithstanding a proclamation from Richard the 3 for apprehending the said Earl, had been publish'd in the island; his descendants have on all occasions distinguish'd themselves to the utmost of their power by thier loyalty & fidelity to the Crown.

Sr THOMAS HARDY, to whose memory this monument is erected, was bred in the Royal Navy from his youth, and was made a Captain in 1693. In the expedition to Cadiz under Sr.George Rook he commanded the Pembrook, and when the fleet left the coast of Spain to return to England, he was order'd to Lagos bay, where he got intelligence of the Spanish galeons being arriv'd in the harbour of Vigo under convoy of 17 French men of war, commanded by Mons.Chateau Renaud, upon which he sail'd immediately in quest of the English fleet and notwithstanding he had been several days separated from it, by his great diligence and judgment he joyn'd it and gave the Admiral that intelligence which engag'd him to make the best of his way to Vigo, where all the forementioned galeons and men of war were either taken or destroy'd. After the success of that action, the Admiral sent him with an account of it to the Queen who order'd him a considerable present and knighted him; some years afterwards he was made a Rear Admiral and receeiv'd several other marks of favour and esteem from Her Majesty, and from Her Royal Consort Prince George of Denmark, Lord High Admiral of England.

He married Constance, daughter of Colonel Hook, Leiutenant Governor of Plymouth, a lady of great virtue and merit, by whom he had several children, three of which surviv'd him, a son and two daughters; the eldest married to George Chamberlayne of Wardington in the county of Oxford, Esqr., the sone and youngest daughter unmarried.

Thomas was born on the Island of Jersey in the Channel Islands on 13th September 1666, son of John Le Hardy, solicitor general of the island. As well as his naval service he was also Member of Parliament for Weymouth and Master of Trinity House. His son was Thomas and his unmarried daughter was Charlotte.

Further reading

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography