Charles Hardy
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Sir Charles Hardy (c.1714 – May 18, 1780) born Portsmouth, England, was a British naval officer and colonial governor.
The son of a Vice Admiral, Charles Hardy became a Captain in the Royal Navy on August 10, 1741, at the age of 27.
He was appointed governor and commander-in-chief of the British colony of Newfoundland in 1744. There is no evidence that he ever visited the colony of Newfoundland. The next year he commanded HMS Torrington, assisting in the protection of the convoy which brought reinforcements from Gibraltar to the newly captured fortress of Louisbourg.
He was knighted in 1755 and served as British Administrative Governor of the Colony of New York from 1755 to 1757 (replaced by James Delancey). During his term he was made Rear-admiral of the Blue.
In 1757, under the command of Vice Admiral Francis Holburne, Hardy escorted Lord Loudoun and his army from New York to Halifax intending to attack the French fortress of Louisbourg, but the attack was cancelled. The next year, he was second in command under Admiral Edward Boscawen at the Second Siege of Louisbourg in 1758. That fall, he and James Wolfe attacked French posts around the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and destroyed all of the French fishing stations along the northern shores of what is now New Brunswick and along the Gaspé peninsula. He also participated in Hawke's victory of Belle Isle in 1759.
Hardy served as governor of Greenwich hospital from 1771 to 1780. In 1778, he was made Admiral of the White.
Sir Charles Hardy died at Spithead, England.
In 1759 he married Catharine Stanyan, daughter of Temple Stanyan. The couple had three sons and two daughters; Hardy left £3000 to each of the sons and £4000 to each daughter, as well as leaving his estate at Rawlins, Oxfordshire, to his eldest son Temple Hardy. By Catharine's death in 1801, only Temple survived of the three sons.
Hardy's brother, Josiah, was a merchant and the Governor of New Jersey from 1761 to 1763.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Biography at Government House The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Thomas Smith |
Commodore Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador 1744 — 1744 |
Succeeded by: Richard Edwards |
| Preceded by: James DeLancey |
Colonial Governor of New York 1755 — 1758 |
Succeeded by: James DeLancey |
