d 7366(l) letters from alfred hardy to his family in

__________________________________________________________________________________

D7366_HardyAlfred_letters_transcript of 29

D 7366(L) Letters from Alfred Hardy to his family in England 1842–46 and 1850 Transcribed by Barbara Wall, Volunteer at the State Library of South Australia, 2013 [Small cardboard bound book – without lines – comprising 86 pages, of which 85 are copies of letters written by Alfred Hardy, apparently copied by Alfred Hardy himself.]

[on verso of front cover in pencil] interesting pages – 10, 11, 13, 21, 27, 38, 39, 53

[in ink] Copies of letters written by Alfred Hardy Oct. 26, 1842 to Jan. 20, 1846.

[on flyleaf] Alfred Hardy Letters to England &c 1842

[in pencil] 1927 184

[on verso of flyleaf]

Pages No 1 Thos Hardy Esqr Octr 26th 1824

4 Mrs Hardy. Octr 27th 1842 9 John Taylor Esqr Oct 30th 1842 16 Ditto Jany 14th 1843 19 Butler Esqr Jany 16th 1842 20 Thos Hardy Esqr Jany 24th 1843 23 Ed Hardy Esqr – 24 G Newenham Esqr W. H. Newenham Esqr 18th Jany 1844 25 Ditto 20th Jany 1844 not (Thos Hardy Esqr Jany 1844 entered (Mrs Hardy March 11th 1844 26 Thos Hardy Esqr April 6th 1844 33 Lieutnt Mcgill [Magill ?]

34 Mrs Nixon 4th May 1844 – Thos Hardy Esqr 20th July 1844 39 – Ditto –– 10th Septr 1844 42 Mrs Hardy 15th Decr 1844 49 John Taylor Esqr 14th Jany 1845 51 –– Ditto –– 7th Feby 1845 52 Thos Hardy Esqr 8th Feby 1845 58 Edward Hardy Esqr 30th March 1845 61 Thos Hardy Esqr 31st May 1845 65 George Newenham Esqr 13th Septr 1845 68 Thos Hardy Esqr 10th Septr 1845 78 John Taylor Esqr 26th Sept r 1845

81 Thos Hardy 30th Septr 1845 82 John Taylor Esqr 20th Jany 1845 85 Louisa & Arthur 10th Feby 1846 Ditto – 11 – Ditto – Ditto – 18th April 1846 [page 1]

Adelaide Octr 26th 1842 – My Dear Father, I should have answered your letter dated Jany 31st 1842 and received by me about three months ago containing the balance sheet of my account with you had it not been for an

accident I met with. I was thrown from my horse and fell with my right hand underneath which

__________________________________________________________________________________


put my wrist joint out it gave me great pain till it was put in again since which time I have not been able to use it in any way till lately when the letters from home by the “Taglioni” received by Arthur determined me not only to answer my last letter from you but to make some remarks on the contents of Arthur’s letters;–[at the time of receiving your letter to me of the above date I was holding an appointment under the Government in the Emigration Departt but very shortly after not only I but many others lost our situations in consequence of the unemployed Emigrants finding private employment,] the loss of my situation together with a very considerable outlay I have been at in building a house upon a piece of land I have

[page 2]

bought about three miles from I own (the particulars of which I will give you) have added not a little to the difficulties I have to contend with, but with economy and great exertion on my part the time will not be so long as you expect before I shall be able to liquidate my debt with you. My reasons for not living upon my own land on the “Torrens River” were that the distance from Town would prevent my taking advantage of any employment I might get in Town and next that the land is worth Ten Pounds per acre, on the other hand the land I have bought (20, Acres) is fenced in and has a fine well of water upon it for which I give £5- per acre payable at 3, years date from the time of purchase before which time I see no reason to doubt that I shall have squared off my account with you,– The expence of wood & water &c. &c. &c. prevented my living in my house in Town besides which I intend next year growing enough wheat for my own consumption which will be a great saving to me, indeed it requires

great care & economy to make – both ends meet and lay by a little each quarter. Arthur is doing very well indeed, in fact he is fast becoming

[page 3]

rich, as to myself I am always regretting that my health did not permit me to finish my education in the profession you had intended me for, so that I might have had an independant way of earning my living in the world but I suppose all was for the best, at all events it is useless to regret the past and I am quite sure you would tell me it that it is better to look forward and use industry, I shall now proceed to the contents of Arthur’s letter per “Taglioni” having nothing more at present to inform you concerning my own affairs. It was with the greatest pain and indignation that I learnt the course that Edward had adopted it is not only cruel but it is the height of selfishniss, and it will prevent my taking that interest about him that one Brother would wish to do for another. I sincerely trust that the advise given you by Harriet has been followed namely that you will do anything rather than allow your health to

be injured by the course Edward has thought fit to adopt, a course by which he seems utterly to disregard your peace & happiness but the interest of the whole family I cannot help trusting that he will see the impropriety & disreputableness of such a proceeding

[page 4]

between a son & his Father, God grant he may & thus end a business that should never have been begun. I shall now conclude this letter as I intend writing to my Mother in a day or two, to whom I send my love in which Louisa joins, trusting that you and my Mother & all at home are well, Believe me Your very Affectte Son Alfred Hardy

P.S. We are all well here not forgetting the 2 children

Adelaide 27th Octr 1842 My Dear Mother, I am about to send you this letter not because I have much to write about but because I know it gives you pleasure to hear that we are all well, and because it gives me a title to an answer from you, which at all times gives us the greatest pleasure to receive. Louisa & I continue as happy as ever you could wish notwithstanding the many difficulties we have to contend with, indeed it is the comfort I derive from the Society of my Wife and children that enables me

__________________________________________________________________________________


[page 5]

to bid defiance to every trouble, Louisa is always saying what an affectionate daughter she would be to you if she lived near to you for she says your letters are so affectionate that she could not help loving you, as to the children I think you would be very much pleased with them, my little boy is 3 years old and is I think quite as intelligent as Herbert was which in my opinion is saying every thing; as to his appearance, I will not say what I think, but that by all the Strangers who see him he is allowed to be very good looking, and Mr Jackson the Coll Secty who was paying Louisa a visit the other day when he returned into Town was telleing

every body what a beautiful boy Mrs Hardy’s child was, the little girl is only a year and half old so that she is not quite old enough to say much about her, she can walk and talk, but I take most interest in the boy as he is just old enough to ask questions and to reason upon your answers, you will be tired with so much about the brats, we call the boy by both his names but he oftner gets called Cecil than Thomas from Cecil being a favourite name of Louisa’s

[page 6]

a day or two ago when I was in Town Cecil had been bold, he would climb up a ladder though Louisa told him not, she called him to her and said that if he did that he would fall down and hurt himself and that the Doctor would have to cut of his head, and what would he do them, he considered for a minute or two and then answered that boy had got hands, boy dig, boy had got feet, boy walk, so that he readily made up his mind to do without his head, I sometimes tell him of you and explain that you live across the sea, but he stops me short

telling me that it is over the bid (big) hill that you live, and that boy will get Papa’s horse & ride up the big hill, but I am afraid you will be tired of this subject but you asked for it in your last letter to me. As to myself my health is good with the exception of the little accident mentioned in my Fathers letter of this date and as I am well of that I forget that it has happened; for particulars of what I am doing I refer you to my Fathers letter from which you will find that it must be some time before I return to see you all again however whenever

[page 7]

it does take place I shall take real pleasure in introducing my little family to you. I do not think it will be very long before you have Arthur back he talks of it often, and his success here will very soon enable him to do so, it will be a great loss to me for he is a very affectionate relation and his success here will any more enable him to do ha being here makes me not feel my absence from England so much as I otherwise should; we have very little Colonial

news worth sending, 1[the principal news however are that every one is looking anxiously to

our present Governor2 being removed, I never knew a man so universally disliked;] – [I suppose you have heard of the horrid proceedings at Port Lincoln some time ago, a whole family were murdered in cold blood by the Natives and finally the Settlement was obliged to be broken up, the Whites being first driven into the Town at Port Lincoln, and at last being obliged to return to Adelaide, after a good deal of fighting between a detachment of soldiers sent down there and the Natives in which a large number of the

[page 8]

latter were killed, four of the settlers determined to come overland with the sheep and cattle, they were advised not, but would go, they were well armed but what could four men do against many hundreds of Natives, they have never been heard of since, but there is no doubt that both they and the cattle have been destroyed, there have been three different party’s sent out from Adelaide to try and find them, but they are now given up, I am afraid

that no good can be done with these horrid savages.] I will now conclude promising to write

soon again, although I am afraid I can give you little of interest save that we are all well, Louisa will write to you soon she joins me in love to you and all at home, Trusting you are all well and hopeing to hear soon from you Believe me

1 Square brackets added later. 2 Captain George Grey, Governor from May 1841 to October 1845. He was knighted in 1848.

__________________________________________________________________________________


Your very affecte Son Alfred Hardy Memo [by the original transcriber] This letter was crossed by Louisa’s writing to my Mother.–

[page 9]

No 2 –

Adelaide 30th Octr 1842

[Taylor]3 [in pencil]

Dear John, Although I suppose Arthur has given you all the news yet as it is sometime since I wrote to you I have determined to send a line in order to keep up my correspondence, I am again thrown upon the wide world, that is to say there being none or very few Emigrants

unemployed, Govt cannot go on with the difference Public works, so that the Govr sent me a very flattering letter complementing me upon the way I had carried on the Engineering part of my duties & the expedition with which the work had been done but enforming me that he was under the necessity of dispensing with the services of the different Officers in charge of the

unemployed Emigrants in consequence of the want of men, whilst on this subject, [there is a

point I will mention that I think of great Colonial importance, at present in consequence of the very great quantity of land under cultivation (arising principally from the price of labour for some months past having been reduced to what the settlers can pay & at the

[page 10]

same time being fair wages to the labourer) and the really fine crops to be reaped, there are as I have mentioned above, no unemployed Emigrants, this you will say is as it should be, so it is for the present, but look to the future and see how it will be if we have not before very long a good supply of Emigrants, all the Settlers will be so well pleased with the result of this years Harvest that they will cultivate more largely next year besides which there will be many others who will take to farming in consequence of the success of this year, now if this view of

the case be correct, it is not only my opinion but I have had it from some of the larger farmers that there will be great difficulty in Harvesting, and as a consequence the profits will be swallowed up in high wages to the labourer, I have mentioned this fact as I think these

subjects should be mentioned by every one when they write home. [You cannot imagine a

more beautiful sight than from the top of the Mt Lofty range, to view the plains of Adelaide one vast extent of cultivation, look in whatever direction you will

[page 11]

you see those plains which we were told at first would grow nothing, covered with wheat, barley, oats &c &c &c and in all directions nice comfortable farm houses springing up; there

is no exageration in the above account;] –– I will now return to my own affairs, I have

become so disgusted with the Govt Service from your being continually from one cause or another liable to be out of employment that I have determined to see what can be done by entering into business on my own account, Arthur has lent me part of his Office & he is enabled one way or another to give me a good deal of business, My Name is up as Surveyor &c but as to the actual measuring of land there is none of that doing, the work I get to do is more properly speaking Agency business, selecting land, valuing land in cases of mortgage, but I am not very particular if any other kind of Agency business comes in my way so long as it pays. I always very much regret the failure of my first transaction with you, had I received the same goods now I should have done well, Arthur proves the truth of this by the

[page 12]

success that attends his mercantile transactions with you, which is oweing to the different state of the Colony from when I came out \first/ and now, As I have now informed you of the line of business I intend to follow I know I need not ask you if you have the opportunity to

3 John Taylor was the husband of Alfred’s sister Harriet, later Harriet Taylor Mill

__________________________________________________________________________________


mention my name as an agent either for selecting land, managing land for party’s at home, or as a general agent. I am almost afraid after the trouble and vexation you have had with my Father about the goods I brought out with me to ask you to send any more but there are many things that cannot be got here, some few of which I shall venture to ask you to send me when you are sending any more goods to Arthur & you may safely rely upon the remittanse being attended to; –– If Harriet was well enough to look at a pattern of the Shoes & Bonnets in particular so that they might be of the last fashion and best quality, it would be a great thing, as much depends upon that, not only for the shoes & Bonnets but for all the

other things, I have only one more thing \more/ to say upon this subject which is that if the

[page 13]

getting of any of the things mentioned in the accompanying list should give much trouble you will leave them out. I was glad to see by Arthurs letters per “Taglioni” that Harriet is much better, & he mentions that she is about to return to Kent Terrace, I should think it will be a great comfort to have your family again with you, it has been a sad illness for poor Harriet, but I trust as her general health is good, she will be degrees be enabled over again to walk, give my love to her and tell her she is in my debt for a letter as indeed all are at home, but

notwithstanding I do not get letters from home – I shall continue to write. [I live out in the

country about 3 miles from Town upon some land I lately bought, slightly up the Hills to the South East of Adelaide, I have just finished a comfortable and very respectable looking house upon it, and have commenced a vineyard which is doing very well, you have nothing to do but to stick the vines into the ground, they are sure to grow; my crops consist of potatoes & indian corn

[page 14]

I was late in getting them in in consequence of not having finally bought the land till late in the season but oweing to our having had an unusual quantity of rain I am in hopes to make a little by them, at all events I shall have my land in good order for wheat next season. We have no political news except the universal dislike of all classes to our present Governor, it is not to be wondered at from his determination not to attend to the wishes of the people, and the very obnoxious Acts he has brought into force, about which you will see enough in the Papers Arthur has sent you. I shall now conclude with my love to Herbert Algernon & Hellen, in which Louisa joins me. The envelope contains a list of the things I am anxious to get out as mentioned above – Believe me Yours very affectionately Alfred Hardy

Recd answer – Novr 17th /43 – dated 12th June 1843 [page 15]

List of Goods wanted to be sent out to the account of Alfred Hardy

Shoes 1 Doz. bronze │ Seizes Nos 3 and 1 Doz. black satin │ ┤the next two seizes 1 Doz. white satin │ 2 Doz. Black kid │ larger Bonnets 2 Readymade white silk bonnets of the last fashion 1 Dozen Bonnet shapes –––– ditto –––– 12 Yds silk for covering the bonnet shapes (coloured) Lilac, white, canary with ribbons to match.

Gloves 2 Doz. prs of long black & white silk gloves (open work) for ladies 2 Doz. prs of white kid gloves. – short. 2 Doz. prs of black & white, open work, silk, short gloves 6 pair of white Doe skin gloves for gentlemen Velvet 3 Yds of Black silk velvet.

__________________________________________________________________________________


Stockings 6 prs pf ladies Black silk stockings 2 Doz. prs of open work cotton stockings 6 prs of open work thread ––– ditto ––– Muslin 6 white sprigged Muslin dresses 20 Yds of White Jaconet Muslin 1 Doz. Dresses of Mousselain de lain of the last fashion Lace 100 Yds of different kinds of lace Thimbles 1 Doz. silver thimbles.

Alfred Hardy [page 16]

[Taylor] [in pencil]

Adelaide

Jany 14th 1843 Dear John I felt most deeply for you, on account of the loss you have sustained, it is one of those very severe trials that we all have to bear in this wretched world, when you recieve this I trust that time will have begun to soften the effect of so great a loss and I will not therefore by writing more on this subject awake those feelings that cannot but be painful to you. –– Arthur shewed me your last letter to him, in which you advise my sending you a Power of Attorney to act for me as regards my Interest in the Birksgate property &c by the same ship by which you receive this you will also receive the Power of Attorney and I cannot help thanking you for the interest you take in whatever concerns me, I do not know of course how far you may require to use it but it is quite right that such should be in your hands in case of anything

happening.–– I send you a duplicate

[page 17]

list of those things I am desirous that you should send out the Original list was sent in a letter date 30th Octr 1842 I am rather late in sending this second list but I did not think of doing so till writing this letter. There is no news worth sending you what little there is you will see in the papers sent you by Arthur, As to my own private affairs they are not at the brightest but a little time and a good deal of patience will I have no doubt work wonders, what I want most, and what I am trying to do is to make a little money by my own industry, as my present income will not do more than support me, without enabling me to liquidate (as the Govt say) the outstanding claims, however slow and sure is my Motto for if I do not [. . .] go very fast on in worldly prosperity I do not retrograde.–– In my next letter I will give you some further account of the Harvest but it is rather too soon to give a fair Statement of the ultimate results. Arthur was proposing to me

[page 18]

to send home to you specimens of this years grain which I hope he will do for though we have our Colonial debts & Colonial drawbacks yet we have our Colonial Products which are honestly worth more than all of them. I trust Harriet is regaining her strength give my kind love to her as also to Herbert Algernon and Hellen and believe me Yours very Affectly Alfred Hardy — Memo Attached to this letter was a \(Duplicate)/ list of the goods sent for from home in my letter to John Taylor Dated 30th Octr 1842

To,

John Taylor Esqr 46 Cross [. . .] Finsbury Square London

P.S. Arthur is so much engaged that I have not been able to get him to draw out the Power of Attorney but as soon as I can get it I will forward it to you. A.H.

__________________________________________________________________________________


[page 19]

Adelaide Jany 16th 1842 Dear Sir, My Brother in law Mr George Newenham the bearer of this letter being about to take up his residence in Hobart Town for the purpose of following his profession of a Surveyor and Engineer Any advice or information you can give him from your Colonial knowledge I shall take as a favour to me; it is now a long time since I have received a letter from you, I shall be

glad to hear how you are getting on; Trusting that you and your family are well Believe me Very Truly yours Alfred Hardy

To, Butler Esqr Old Wharf Hobart Town [page 20]

Adelaide Jany 24th 1843 My Dear Father My last letter to you was dated Octr 26th 1842 in which you will have received answers to most of your questions in your last letter dated August 1842. You seem to think that I received the appointment I lately held from the Governor, but it was from the Surveyor General that I received it however upon my giving up Office I received a Government letter complimenting me upon the way I had performed my Duties by order of the Governor, the letter is too long to quote the whole, but the last passage I will copy from which you will be able to see that I did my duty “ [the next three or four lines within the quotation marks are blank with large crosses] “ You mention about my keeping accounts, I am obliged to do so,

for if I did not with my small income it would not be long before I should be in difficulties, my income from

[page 21]

rents is about £150 a year which at present is all I have with the exception of a pound or so that I make now and then by private Surveying. You refer to an attempt to get up a Unitarian Association here I do not think there are a sufficient number here to make the attempt at present advisable, as the high church party are all powerful and would until we have a larger number certainly crush the attempt. I will now proceed to give you some account of my intended proceedings, in the first place I am about to come into Town to live notwithstanding all the reasons I gave you in my last letter for living in the Country but circumstances sometimes make it advisable to change our opinions,–– my reasons for coming into Town are as follows, in the first place the House I have built in the country though a very good one is not yet finished and in order to finish it, it would run me greatly into debt which I will under

no circumstances agree to, in the present state of the House Louisa & the children are always getting colds and otherwise ailing, on the other hand

[page 22]

Mr Newenham has offered me the use of his house in Town till I can finish mine in the Country, his house is situated in the best part of Town and is a handsome well finished house, I shall have no rent to pay and lastly though not least Henry Newenham who is Clerk of the Supreme Court would then live with us paying £75 a year the advantage of which is very great when you remember that great part of the expences of a family will be the same whether there is an extra person living in the family or not, such are my reasons, and such is my plan till I am clear of every one here and am able to finish my house in the Country. I have mentioned this subject more fully that I would had it not been that I was desirous that you should not think there was any inconsistency in my coming into Town; –– it was my

__________________________________________________________________________________


intention to have inserted the quotation in the space left in the first page but as the Governors letter is out in the Country

[page 23]

and I am writing this in Town and the Mail closes this afternoon I have determined sending it in my next letter to my mother rather than not send this letter off at once, Arthur desires me to say he will write shortly to you but that he has been so much engaged that he could not write by this ship. –– Louisa is in Town to day and desires to join me in love to you and my Mother and with kind love to all my relations and friends believe me My Dear Father

Your very Affecte Son Alfred Hardy

[To] Thomas Hardy Esqr

Birksgate &c Dear Edward, I saw your arrival in an Auckland paper and as Louisa is writing to you I add a few words, but before touching upon any other subject I will just remark that of course I have heard of all

that as taken place at home and as it is a subject upon I cannot say anything that will be agreeable to you, we will mutually banish it from our correspondence. I refer only to our present

[page 24]

and future prospects, I think you must know me too well, to doubt, that whatever your errors may be, or supposed to be, I shall always take an interest in hearing of your proceedings & success –– Louisa has I see given you all my family news, I will only add that as regards my pecuniary affairs they have been ever since you left one long strugle to manage but I need

not tell you about it as you know what it was all the time I when you were here –– Whenever you write you may be sure of an answer, and at the same time tell me if seeds of any kind will be acceptable, for if they will I will send you a box Believe me Your Affecte Brother Alfred Hardy

Memd wrote to George about the Month of Septr 1843 –– Copy of Letter mislaid ––

Jany 18th – 1844 Dear Henry, I am very anxious to see you to day on a matter of importance, I called yesterday at your Office & would have called to day, but cannot get away from the Office, Will you when you leave your Office meet me at

[page 25]

at my house, if you cannot, send me word & I will then endeavour to come up to you, when I

see you I will explain what the business is that I wish so particularly to speak to you about Believe me Yours Affectly Alfred Hardy Saturday Morng 20th Jany 1844 Dear Henry, I received notice this morning that my Bill was dishonored;– I have seen Gray he says that supposing you could pay £10– the Bill would stand in the same state as regards me for that it would only be taken as an instalment so that your Bill remaining with my name on it would prevent my getting any fresh Bill discounted so that of course I said no more to him.– I then went to Ed Stephens who consents to take £12 – & then renew the remainder, and that monday will be time enough to pay it in, I have asked Arthur for the £2 – I explained my

reason for wanting it, he says he will let me have it, so that with the £10 you say you can let me have, I shall be able to hold on again – Kelly has been here, I told him to wait, he

__________________________________________________________________________________


remained till 12 Oclock & then asked me to tell you he has been here, and waited for you – Believe me yours Affectly Alfred Hardy [page 26]

received Answer Octr 22nd 1844

Adelaide April 6th 1844 My Dear Father, In accordce with a wish expressd by you that I should write to you at least once in 3 mths I have determd to do so my last tre being in Jany last the only excuse for not havg done so before is that my prospects have been anything but a pleast subject to write upon it was my intenton to have written at this time to inform you if there was any chance of my sending home

any more money as I had in my former tres expresd a hope that such would be the case added to this your tre to Arthur as far as regards me & my affairs as causd me some astonishment, that is to say, as regards my power to sell or lett such land as I have already let or sold, but as to this subject I will answer you as clearly as I can and endeavr to explain to you the course I have adopted (which you will see is strictly in accordce with the Power of Attorney you sent out to me in answer to a strong & urgent tre from me, & I may remind you that on the strength of that power of Atty you receivd from me the sum of £190: – being the purchase money of part of the Country Secon No° 334 for which you gave me a power of Atty \to act for you & in your name/ this alone supposg you had forgot the Power of Atty must have convinced you that I had full power of to sell or dispose off certain portions of my land mentioned in the powr of Atty sent out to me. I shall now proceed to give you an outline of my proceedgs both as regards my land as also my prospects; the latter of which are not such as

you would wish me, I shall however commence with my land which will not take me long to dismiss, – my choice of Town land although in accordance

[page 27]

with Morphetts & the Companys Sections have not turned out well at the first going off I spent all the money I could spare from my Salary in building a House altogether about this house & the piece of Town land it stood on I spent upwards of £400:– within the first 4 years I was out here – which sum at the present time would build a really good house instead of a patched together One – I get at this time for this house 3s/- per week I am glad to get a good tenant at that rate (the second year after it was built I was offered 80 – per Annum but

refused it unfortunately thinking I should always get the same & determining after being in tents so long to use it myself a short time; – I have let 2 portions of my back acre for which I get £27; – but I am fearful that the one who pays £15: – is about to leave the Colony which will be a great loss to my already very small income – I will only add as regards the remainder of my Town land I could not lett it if I wished even though I gave it rent free, so that all I can do is to look forward to its being a property of some value for my children, of course I mean if I am enabled to clear my debt to you. I shall now refer to my Country land in which in which I was very successful both as regards myself and Arthur, the Power of Atty I received from you was for the Section nearest Adelaide being No “334” – The original letter

of Agreement between you & myself which I brought out with me from England enables me to let the other Section No “333” on the strength of which I let it to Arthur for a term of 10 years to which I have added 3 years more making it about ten years from this time, he pays me £60: – a year, – this`

[page 28]

Section as soon as I can pay any debt to you I never wish to part with as I think come what will it will make a sure property for my children if any thing happens to me – The Section “334” I have cut up into small pieces & sold it after the following manner; Namely so many acres in each lot at £10: – per acre per acre payable in 3 years, paying in the mean time interest, this interest is principally asked to insure their doing something to the land; the interest I donot get paid except in one or two instances but I am well content that each of

__________________________________________________________________________________


them fence in their portions of land & build a Cottage which they have done so that I do not press them as I know I cannot be a loaser in the long run even supposing at the end of 3 years they donot buy the land – I must now go a little more into the minutiae of these sales in order that you may as fully as possible understand my transactions, the first sale was to a Mr

Nias being 28 acres for which he gave me £190: – which sum I forwarded to you, so that ended that affair, my next transaction was to lett 33½ acres for 7 years with a right of purchase this tenant built a good Cottage & laid out a garden of about 5 years \acres/ when he got into difficulties & as I had (as I thought an offer from a better tenant) I agreed to give

the original tenant what he had laid out if he would give up his lease to which he consented, upon which having a Govt Appointt at that time I gave him £40: – Cash down & a bill at 3 months for £40:– more, which bill was regularly paid, besides this the piece of ground being next the Section

[page 29]

of land let to Arthur, I paid Arthur £27:10:– for my half of the dividing fence so that altogether in this transactions I am out of pocket £107:10:– The man who took it was to do the remainder of the fencing & at the end of three years to give me £300:– paying interest in the mean time; the 3 years were up on the 1st April 1844 when he refused to fulfil his agreement stating that the times had changed & that he could not afford to pay more than £150:–that at some future date upon my taking this into consideration as also that he had besides my £107:10– laid out upwards of £350:– upon the land I refused most positively to sell it under

£300:– Arthur being present & approving of my determination we then came to the following arrangement that he should rent it by the 6 months paying £30: – per annum without a right of purchase thus enabling me to look out for a purchaser, so that thus stands this Sale – in my former letters I mentioned a hope of sending a considerable sum of money home about this time which was founded upon the above transaction which if it had taken place would have enabled me to have sent you home £200: – reserving £100 for my first outlay & on this subject I was as anxious as you could have been if you had been personally present, as having had little or no employment for nearly 2 years the amount I should have retained would have put me clear & once clear with my present experience I should never be in debt again for nothing is more difficult than

[page 30]

to get out of debt when once you get into it however my concience will a acquit me of wantingly getting into debt for I needt not tell you that it is a hard task for a man without

employment to support a wife and family 3 children pay servants &c &c – however more of this by & by – the remainder of the Section (334) is sold on the same terms as the 33½ acres in small lots some 3 acres, some 4, acres and so on the largest piece being 10 acres;– there is about 12 acres of this section still to let but I have offers for it, I have received but very little rent from any of these but they have all fenced in their land & each built what we call a slab hut & also cultivated each their portion of land so that supposing they did no more I could not be a loser by the transaction, however it is most likely I shall have to lengthen their time of payment when as they are all men of good character I make no doubt I shall be paid, I think I have now fully informed you of my present position – would it not be better in future to write to me for any information that concerns me & my affairs rather than to Arthur, as of course I can better answer you than he can – This letter has been purely business so that I will only add a few words more – I have in a former letter said I have no employment, I receive plenty

of promises & we are asked constantly to Govt House but there it

[page 31]

ends, from private sources I find that he thinks that because I have two country sections both of which are let I must be well off & as I never have an opportunity of explaining how little present benefit I derive from them, he is not so desirous of serving me except with promises of which I get plenty, I shall now conclude this long but I hope not tedious letter I shall soon write again without waiting for the 3 months as I shall be glad to let you know how I get through my present difficulties, as to my health, constant anxiety keeps me very low, but I

__________________________________________________________________________________


trust in God the times will mend for I have been much tried Louisa & the children are well, as to my youngest son Arthur Marmaduke, Louisa has given a full discription of him in a letter to my Mother written in Jany last. – I must just add that the Sermon you sent out in the last parcel gave both Louisa & myself great pleasure I read it aloud we both admired it very much & I have strongly recommended it to Arthur and now trusting the account of my landed transactions may prove satisfactory to you & that you & all at home are well believe me my Dear Father your very Affecte Son Alfred Hardy

P.S. In a conversation I had with Arthur he agreed with me that if it had not been for his profession he would have been much worse off that I am (his selling his

[page 32]

county land to Borrow &Gouger was in consequence of his profession) for the sheep he bought with Harts money with all their increase up to this time are not worth more owing to the fall in the value in property here than the original amount spent in purchasing them, if so much, I mention this to shew you that circumstances & no fault of mine are the cause of my long continued embarassments however the hope for better times has not deserted me – I find I have forgotten one thing more which I will write upon a piece of paper enclosed as I know you do not like your letters crossed – I write the following in the shape of a Quere; would it not be possible to make me indebted to you & your estate in the amount I now owe you & whenever I make a payment to you to credit me int the with so much thus as you

expressed a wish in one of your letters to me you will have no occasion to mention anything about my land in your will, the only advantage I should derive from such an arrangement would be in case of my death I could will my land to my children, subject of course to whatever I might owe you at that time as it now stands if I were to die I could not appoint an Attorney to act in my stead nor would my

[page 33]

family be enabled to derive any benefit from the land until they heard from you, so that all my exertions about the land in order that it may ultimately enable me to pay you would be lost to my family at least for a time they would be left without the means I now have of supporting them. I mention all this as a possible contingency which having three children I though I ought not to forget to state to you, but whatever you may think of this believe me my first and most earnest wish is to pay you all I owe you as soon as I can & my motto has been is & shall be never despair A.H.

My Dear Magill If quite convenient to you I shall be obliged by your letting me have the amount agreed upon between you & myself for the several &cs do not inconvenience yourself as your time will suit me. Believe me Yours Very Truly Alfred Hardy

[To] Magill Esq

[page 34]

My Dear Mrs Nixon, I would have answered your last note but that I did not see Miss Newenham till yesterday when I gave her your Messuage [sp], she told me she would send you the Music; I gave her your former Messuage [sp] a day or two after receiving your first note when she told me she

would send it to you the first opportunity, so that I paid no further attention to the matter thinking you must long ere this have received the music Believe me Yours sincerely Alfred Hardy 4th May 1844

Received answer Feby 1st 1845

__________________________________________________________________________________


Adelaide July 20th 1844 My Dear Father I received your most welcome letter (dated Jany 24th 1844) on the 5th July 1844, my last letter to you was dated April 6th 1844 in which you will find I have already answered all your Queries most fully and as I was particularly anxious you should know exactly the position of my affairs I sent a duplicate of this letter thinking you would not grudge the extra postage if however I find that I have forgotten to mention any information in my former letters I shall do

so now – but I shall now proceed to answer those parts of your present letter which are new subjects; In the first place the statement of my account with you was what I

[page 35]

most wanted to receive I perceive that my ballance of account on the 1st Jany 1844 was £222:19:9 and I trust you will perceive by my different letters that I have no want of will to forward if I could any more money but though it may be long since the I did send any the time will come whenever I have an opportunity at all events I shall from time to time inform you of the exact state of my affairs. You complain of my not writing oftener than I do, some time ago there might have been some cause to blame me for not writing oftener but during the last nine months I have not only been a good correspondent but I have adopted the plan of keeping copies of all letters that I write which I find affords me much satisfaction at the same time it enable me to prove how often I do write I gave your message to Arthur on this subject

but he states that he has been regular in writing to you but I suppose he will answer you himself.– What you tell me of the letter you received from Col Torrens I am very much pleased with and if he should appoint me his agent I need not say I shall to the very letter do my best for his interest and it will certainly do me much good in the Colony Public opinion here but in this as in every thing else your opinion and

[page 36]

exertions have always been for the good of your children would that we always showed ourselves grateful, I feel that I have not and I very much regret that I am feel obliged to say so, but till men have children of their own they do not know how much they owe their Parents; you mention the death of your cousin Dr Hardy of Bath I do not remember to have heard you speak of him, but his money could not be better employed than in relieving the wants of the Widow, that is if \she/ required it. You inquire after my health, than God I think I may say it is good I have not had any return of bleeding for a long time but I suffer from a

complaint that is very prevalent here biliousness, which appears to have removed my old complaint at times – particularly in damp weather I suffer severely from it with pains in my side and shoulder joints loss of appetite, I also suffer in this way whenever my difficulties are greater than usual, but as I find it a very general complaint here I do not think so much of it. I am glad Harriets health is better, she like most of your children have been doomed to suffer much in their health Caroline seems to have kept her health pretty well, I suppose

[page 37]

in another month or six weeks we shall hear of her having another child – there is much anxiety attached to these same children. I think you are right not to visit London again in the winter but as you say yourself it is very strange that you should suffer in your health for I have seen you in rain & snow with your coat buttoned up go out at all hours of the night and never appear to be a bit the worse for it however you have worked and it is but right you

should rest and as far as possible enjoy yourself I fear that this arrangement must prove very dull to my Mother but I suppose she can vary her life by visiting Caroline &c &c. With regard to my children they are three as fine children as can well be Arthur Marmaduke the youngest is really beautiful and when I tell you that he is a handsome resemblance of my poor brother Thomas I need not say more than that I pray God he may resemble him in every thing else in which wish I am sure you will join me. My children are blest with excellent health so also is Louisa Thomas Cecil is getting a great boy Children grow much faster here than at home he is a very Clever boy he will have to go to school soon which

__________________________________________________________________________________


[page 38]

but I will be a great expence but I find Children do not learn well from their Parents. I enclose in this letter a sketch of myself for my Mother it is drawn by a gentleman of the name of Henderson who is engaged to one of Louisa’s Sisters a very pretty and nice girl he is of a good family his Father is a Col Henderson & is the present member of parliament for Southampton his son is an exceedingly Steady gentlemanlike person & is doing well as a Merchant here Col Henderson has given his permission to the marriage but the son is waiting till his affairs are more settled I have often talked to Henderson about you & he to me

about his Father & we both agree that there is a great resemblance in yours & Col Hendersons character it is possible you might see him in London & the near relationship that will soon exist between his son & myself may make you take an interest in knowing him I shall now conclude this letter sincerely promising that you shall never again have cause to complain of my not writing oftener Louisa joins me in wishing that your health may have improved & with kindest love to my Mother & yourself Believe me &c &c Alfred Hardy

P.S. Arthur is quite well & told me he was going to write to you

[page 39]

[in pencil] receivd Answer 25th July 1845

Adelaide Septr 10th 1844 My Dear Father, my last letter to you was dated July 20th/44 in answer to your last letter to me dated Jany 24th/44 and received on the 5th July/44 I should not have written to you so soon again as I think with you once in 3 months is often enough unless in answer to a letter received from you or that I have something particular to say. As to my doings & affairs they are much the same as when I last wrote, no change either for the better having taken place Nor do I see any chance as long as this Governor4 remains as he has taken a most inveterate dislike to Mr Newenham & to anyone who is connected with him my principal reasons for writing was that in case my proposed plan as regards my land in my last letter

should not meet with your approbation another plan that I have been thinking of since might, which I can see no reason for not being addopted & thus putting my mind at ease on this to me all important subject – but before I say more I will just repeat what I have said before, that I have not the most remote intention, if you should addopt my plan; of selling or otherwise disposing of the land at least until I have paid the last shilling I owe you, – My new plan is then, that as one half of my Section No “334” (which is nearly all sold in the manner mentioned in my last letter) would

[page 40]

fully pay you so that the whole of Section “334” would be ample security for my debt to you, and in case of my death to you my family would not be left in want but would be provided against any of those casualties that so often happen between persons 16000 miles away from one another, – my reason for writing so often & so particularly about this matter is that my family is increasing having 2 boys & a Girl & expecting another in about 8 months. – I

use great economy in all my doings but about six months ago what with one expence & another during the 12 months before that I had been obliged to run in debt to about £90- of which I have paid the Bk back £40 at this date, leaving me in debt a little more that £50- which with Gods blessing & great care I hope before the birth of my next child to be out of debt, when as I told the Manager of the Bk I should turn my back if not upon him at least upon his bills.– I think I have said all I wished both concerning my land & my affairs so that I will turn to other subjects – I must again thank you for the “Examiners” I cannot tell you how much they interest me, When Arthur & I have read them I forward them to Edward in New Zealand of whom Arthur heard lately, for further particulars I refer to you to Louisa’s letter to

4 Captain George Grey was the third Governor of South Australia – 1841-1845.

__________________________________________________________________________________


my Mother enclosed in this letter.– There are two little commissions I should be glad to have done for me, I

Pages 41-46 missing at time of receipt by the Archivist GHP 8.1.1929

[The date of this letter to his mother was December 15th 1844. See page 61]

[Written in pencil across the top of the next page, page 47]

[page 47]

answer was to tell him he was a bad angel & was made to live under the Earth to which he answered Oh! Then all the rain & dirty water runs down over him another time he wanted to

know where I should go when I died I told him to heaven & if he was good he would go to heaven to & that he would be an Angel & have wings to fly up to heaven with, he was contented but wanted to know where the vulgar boys would go when they died, I told him to heaven he answered Oh! I wont go to the same place as the vulgar boys but when I explained that they would be angels he rather unwillingly consented to go to the same place, The Governor though no friend of mine has taken a great liking to him & asked him to a children’s party at Govt House at which he was greatly delighted; Laura is an affected little puss & sits working as she calls it by her Mother & when Thomas Cecil5 is at home like a Magpie always says & does whatever he does & when he gets tired of her he tells her she is not a gentleman to which she answers No but I am a Lady am I not Mama? Arthur Marmaduke or as we call him Chuke is the Dearest little gentlest thing you can conceive & a general pet with the Children & ourselves he talks a little & can nearly walk alone, Louisa

[page 48]

Is very fond of him & calls him her little fondling pet & Cecil carries him about “Holeus boleus”6 whenever he can get an opportunity having given you my full description of the children & of things as they are with me I must conclude Louisa is employed writing a letter to Edward in New Zealand from whom we heard lately he is well & has just been appointed Clerk of the Insolvent Court at Auckland with a Salary of £120 pr Ann £100 to be paid to him & £20 to remain as a debt due to him by the Colonial Govt. I send him the Adelaide papers as also the Examiners I receive from home when I have read them. We have just recd an invitation to Govt House which we accept but do not intend to go as we neither of us take pleasure in going out to parties just now Louisa wrote to you in July last & I wrote to my Father the 10th of Septr last so that it is about time to write again which I shall do by the next wool ship which will be in about a fortnight I will now conclude praying that the time may come when I & my family may return home again to you but I confess I see but little chance

in my circumstances & increasing family; it is my opinion that parents are never so dearly

[page 49]

loved as when we ourselves become Parents & feel how imposible it is to repay the unwearied kindness we have received from them; – Louisa joins me in kind love to you & my Father & all at home & believe me my Dear Mother Your very Affecte Son Alfd Hardy pr “Bleng”

[to John Taylor]

Adelaide 14th Jany 1845 My Dear John

I was asking Arthur today the next time he sent you an order for more “Ale” or “Wine” to get some for me, he tells me he has already sent for what he requires but that if I write to you for what I want I can tell you to charge it to him so that I shall be obliged if you would send me a

5 Alfreds’ children at this time were Thomas Cecil, born 21 st November 1839, Laura Mary Louisa, born 25th April 1841 and Arthur Marmaduke, born 4th April 1843. He died on 5th February 1845. 6 ‘Holus Bolus’?

__________________________________________________________________________________


hogshead of pale Ale in half hogsheads if possible also one quarter cask of port wine and one quarter cask of Sherry, I cannot get any of the above good here & have to pay a much larger price than Arthur tells me it costs him having them from home, you may think it not very good Economy to require such things but I find that although I can go through the winter without them that I am not strong enough to stand the heat of the Summer without them, that you may judge of the heat we sometime have the

[page 50]

[Thermometer last Saturday Sunday & Monday ranged from 100° to 105° in the Shade & all Sunday night it stood at 92° but such excessive heat is only occasional] [brackets added later] & on Monday night it blew a most tremendous gale which cleared the air & gave us fine

weather again, the crops are nearly all reaped so that it has done no injury in that way. As to myself I am getting on a little better than I was although I have still no employment it seems to me that I am doing very well when I am able to support my family without asking or wanting any assistance from my Father more than what he gave me on leaving England, but he seems to think by his last letter to me that a man ought to make a fortune whether he has the opportunity or not, however I am contented to wait a little while when I daresay I shall have an opportunity of doing something better for myself at present it seems to me that all that as yet been done about the Mines is nothing to what will be done & Arthur thinks with me it will be strange if I do not manage to get something out of them, as there will be a good deal of Surveying attached to the Selecting of land in Special Surveys that Govt

[page 51]

will not do for them. I should write more to you about my prospects \as also what I think of the state of the Colony/ but that I am altogether taken up by the illness of my youngest child who is dangerously ill having had an attack of Water on the brain about a month ago, the remedies for which have reduced the poor little fellow so much that the Doctor who is attending him holds out but very little hopes of his recovery it is a very severe blow to myself but more particularly to its Mother – the child is Seventeen months old and had just begun to walk & talk a little. I was very much pleased to learn that Harriet was better & had been able to move about a little, I hope she still goes on improving & that Herbert & the others are well with love to Harriet & all yours Believe me Dear John Yours Affectl Alfd Hardy

Adelaide Feby 7th 1845 My Dear John My Friend Mr James Hamilton a Merchant of this place is proceeding to England on a Mercantile trip and as he will be in London I have given him this Introduction to you, you will be able to learn the true state of this place from him & any information you may be able to give him will very much oblige me, I wrote to you lately by the “Bleng” Believe me Yours Very Affecty Alfd Hardy [page 52]

recd answer 17th Jany 1846 Per “Yare”

Adelaide 8th Feby 1845 My Dear Father, My last letter to you was dated, Septr 10th 1844 & my last received from you was dated 20th Augt 1844 little did I think when writing to you last in so much spirits about the health of my children that my youngest child of whom I wrote so much and of whom Louisa & myself thought so much should be taken from us but it has pleased Heaven to remove him from this world, he died on the 5th of this month after an illness of 8 weeks, I thought what we should never have got over so great a loss but He who is merciful has given us strength to bear this great affliction, I feared greatly for my poor Louisa whose present state of health made her

__________________________________________________________________________________


still worse able to bear up, if it had been a short illness I know not how either of us would have got over it but we were so gradually brought to feel that we must lose our darling child, that thank Heaven we have been able to say His will, not ours be done & to be thankful that the other two children are left us & are well; the illness of my poor little boy began by simptoms of water on the Brain, for nearly a fortnight he neither knew Louisa or any one else & suffered greatly, All that Mr Woodforde could do for him did no good until Blisters were put on at each side of his head which relieved him greatly, he became sensible & the dangerous simptoms \of his illness/ were removed but his constitution had received

[page 53]

too great a shock & from this time till his death he gradually waisted away being principally supported by a tea spoon full of port wine being given to him every now & then during the day & night & having it mixed with Isinglass &c; during the whole 8 weeks of his illness we never left his side one or other of Louisa’s Sisters being always with us to assist, we felt greatly the simpathy that was shown us from the Govr downwards throughout the illness Carriages and people were calling all day long to enquire, about the middle of his illness Capt & Mrs Grey came over from Govt House & whilst Mrs Grey was talking to Louisa Capt Grey spoke to me in the kindest way pointing out how much more wretched we might have been had we been placed as he was when he came first having an only child which they lost & saying that I ought to point out to Louisa out to point out to Louisa that we ought to be thankful that the other two are left, Mrs Grey sent us and every day was anxious to

know what she could send that the child would like; indeed the attentions & feeling of every one for us has been very great & whatever I may have thought of Capt Grey before I can never forget his consideration during this painful time I must now speak of myself for I have been ill although I am better now, my illness was caused Mr Woodforde says by excessive exhaustion & fatigue added to my great anxiety of mind for the 1st six weeks

[page 54]

of my poor childs illness I seldom or never undressed & scarcely ever got more than an hour or two’s disturbed sleep so that I at last became completely exhausted & worn out, during this time we had had occasionally dreadfully hot weather at one time for 3 days the Themometer stood during the day in the shade at 105° & at 90° during the night all this tended to weaken me but I myself was not aware of my weakness although I did occasionally feel exhausted this went on till about 3 weeks ago when in the morning I went to my dressing room after a sleepless & anxious night to dress, the weather had been very oppressive I felt

a suffocating sensation & then bleeding came on from my chest it was different from any time before there was no coughing but it came easily & more freely than usual & in a few minutes after the bleeding I fainted a thing I scarcely remember to have happened to me before Woodforde ordered me to be kept perfectly quiet & above all things to endeavour to obtain rest for that it had been entirely brought on by want of rest I had Digitalis every two or three hours the first day & night & then every four hours till the bleeding stopped which was in about 8 days & I am now quite free from any bleeding & have given up taking Medecine this illness & my anxieties as you may suppose have made me very thin & I require to take great care. I had another source of anxiety for Woodforde thought

[page 55]

that as Louisa had not been well of late that without great care she might be prematurely confined when my poor child died but God was merciful & gave her strength as regards

myself Woodforde exhamined my Chest & says that though my lungs are weak they are perfectly free from disease & that the bleeding comes from some small artery in the Bronchaoe however I trust with care to recover my strength again Louisa is gone out to her Fathers house in the Country & has taken one of the children out with her she expects to be confined in about two months Woodforde thought that a weeks being out in the Country would do her good, these afflictions besides my anxiety will cause me great expence but it is the will of Heaven & it would be sinful to complain, indeed these afflictions have done me good they have made me more religious & made me feel how utterly in our troubles every

__________________________________________________________________________________


thing else fails but prayer; He who reads the Heart knows how completely I have turned to him for consolation; – and I have found it may I never forget his mercies You will of course shew this letter to my Dear Mother & tell her that I would have written to her but that I knew how much she would feel for us & I thought that such painful information would be less felt by coming through you. – I am not at all prepared to write about business but I shall endeavour to answer

[page 56]

some parts of your letter of Augt last the statement of my account with is exactly want I

wanted I most carefully preserve all your letters but I was desirous of having an exact statement of my liabilities to you As to my giving up Arthurs Office there were times when I was obliged to write all night as well as during the day & it was not till Woodforde had told me that so much writing would certainly bring on my old complaint that I determined to give it up for without I am in health what can my family do; I am not a little puzzled what you mean by throwing my family upon anyone I have never done so nor have I any intention of doing so I have received nothing from Arthur but his advice & I never talked of asking any more assistance from you than what you have already done for me, I cannot tell what has made you write that “a man has no right to throw the support of his family upon other people” I have never done so, I have & shall continue to struggle for myself & family & ask for no assistance, I certainly feel it a relief sometimes in writing to you to tell my troubles & this is all that I am aware of having done & I do not know that I have leant upon anyone for assistance

since I have been married, as to employment I shall never lose an opportunity of trying to obtain it & I have no doubt I shall soon obtain something; – it is very strange how you could make so strange great a mistake about Louisa

[page 57]

looking down upon a Gig she certainly has the greatest dislike to a Gig but you must remember she has been thrown out of one & nearly killed by it, the gig being broken to pieces you must allow that this must prevent her liking them very much as to her pride she is only too glad to go in & out to the country upon a Bullock dray; but enough; be sure neither she nor I have any other pride but that of wishing to be independant You ask me what income I derive receive from my land I will tell you this in my next letter to you but I am not sure that I have not done so in one of my last letters to you, at this time you must excuse my fully entering upon business. – I have never heard anything more than what you wrote about Col Torrens’s power of Attorney to me nor have I heard anything more of Mr Turner of

Hallifax – of Edward we hear now & then he has got an appointment under the Govt at Auckland in New Zealand & I am told he is doing pretty well he never writes to me however but occasionally to Louisa Thomas Cecil goes to School & is beginning to read I speak to him often about you & my Mother & the poor little fellow asks many questions about you I will now conclude with my best love to my Mother in which Louisa joins me & believe me my Dear Father Your Very Affecte Son Alfd Hardy

P.S. When you write to Harriet & Caroline I wish

[page 58]

you would mention about my poor child as it only adds to my distress to write more on the subject I send them papers but they may not get them – Alfd Hardy Adelaide 30th March 1845 My Dear Edward, I have long promised to write to you and I am about to do so now although my subjects are any thing but pleasant to write upon you will ere this have learnt the Death of our youngest Child as I sent you an Adelaide Newspaper in which there was a notice of it, it was a most sever loss to both Louisa & myself & I should have written to you sooner on this subject but that I found it too painful & was glad to postpone it, however as I am sure you will both feel for us, and be interested in hearing about the poor little fellows illness, I will give you some

__________________________________________________________________________________


account of it; of him I need not say much, for Louisa has described him to you, I will only add that he was as Louisa truly called him our beautiful & Gentle Boy, he was taken ill on the 8th of Decr 1844 with alarming symptoms of water on the Brain, the remedies for which were obliged to be of the most violent kind, these symptoms were removed at the end of a week but his constitution was destroyed; from that time till the 5th of Feby 1845 he gradually waisted away & on the 5th of Feby the poor little

[page 59]

fellow died without a struggle he suffered no pain with the he was perfectly sensible till the

evening before he died up to which time he knew both & myself perfectly he suffered no pain with the exception of the first week, the last four weeks of his illness he lived upon port wine alone, taking it every two hours, and required constant watching both day & night, we were assisted in this by one or other of Louisa’s Sisters, I was obliged to prevent Louisa’s watching so much as she wished as she was getting near her confinement and required every care & attention herself, thus I was obliged to be constantly at the side of the poor little fellow so that during the whole time of his illness I never undressed & never got more than two hours sleep at a time all this without my being aware of it had so completely exhausted me that at last when I went to dress I fainted away & when I recovered from that bleeding at my chest came on to a greater extent than I have had since I have been out here but I have at this time recovered although I am very thin & anything but strong, thus you see how very greatly we have been tried, Louisa would have written to you but she still feels her loss too

much, although the near approach of her confinement I am glad to say takes up much of her thoughts; I think if you could see me you would find a great change in me, this last severe trouble added to the incessant difficulties I have had to contend with for so long a time now

[page 60]

have made me feel that no change for the better in my wordly affairs as far as I am individually concerned would add to my happiness, of course for Louisa’s sake & the childrens, I should be glad; – Louisa thinks that it is a morbid state of feeling that I have got into & that time will make me feel otherwise;– I think not. – I was much interested in your account in your last letter to Louisa of your new residence that is your change from from the Town to the Country, I fancy New Zealand must be a beautiful place but I am afraid the Settlers have much to go through before it becomes a successful place Colony, however if you are successful that is all I care about it; I send you all the newspapers I get from home as well as any Adelaide ones I can get hold of; – You must not judge of my Affection and

interest in you by my not writing for you know of old how bad a correspondent I am, however I have mended in this respect at least my Father says so at all events if you write to me you shall be sure of an answer, even if I have not much to tell you, I heard from my Father about a fortnight ago, they were all well at home, Harriet was gradually getting the use of her legs again & beginning to walk about again all the rest were going on much as usual. It is now two years & a half since I had any employment with the exception of Arthurs Office for a short time & I do not think as long as this Governor remains I shall get any

[page 61]

thing as he hates Mr Newenham & visits his dislike upon all who are connected with him however one must only hope for the best. Arthur is going on as usual with the exception of a visit to Port Lincoln from which he has just returned, he says he is going to write to you & shewed me your last letter to him accompanying some business documents about which he

is busy And now having nothing more to tell you I shall conclude, Louisa desires me to give her love to you and believe me My Dear Edward Your Very Affecte Brother Alfd Hardy

P. S. I send you 2 Newspapers by this opportunity –

__________________________________________________________________________________


pr “Isabella Watson”

Adelaide 31st May 1845

My Dear Father

My last letter received from you was dated Octr 22nd 1844 & my last letter to you was dated Feby 8th 1845 – I wrote to my Mother on Decr 15th 1844 & by referring to my letter book I find I have been a very regular correspondent, which I intend to continue to be; -– My last letter to you was of a most painful nature but I am glad to say that by prayer and resignation both Louisa & myself are beginning to get over this severe affliction, it has been the more necessary that we should do so, as [Louisa was confined on 6th April 1845, she had a little boy & we have called his name Charles Burton after Louisa’s Father7, it is a strong fine child but not

[page 62]

so good looking as either of the others, by this I do not mean that it is a plain child; it had long black hair slightly curling when it was born & though it is now slightly lighter it has still very dark hair, this description I have given for my Mother;] the birth of this child has naturally prevented Louisa from thinking so much as she would have otherwise have done about our poor little much loved Arthur Marmaduke, so that we have much to thank the almighty for, & may He grant that we may be thankful for the many blessings he has left us. –– I shall now proceed to answer your last letter to me, but I will just mention that my last letter to you was sent by a ship called the “Yare” I mentioned to Arthur what you said about not writing oftner, & he has written a long letter by the ship that takes this; – It gave me the greatest pleasure to find that you were satisfied with the account I had given you of my circumstances & affairs & I shall continue to inform you of any change that may take place in my affairs either for the better or worse. With respect to my land as regards your will it is

perfectly clear, but I think I had better not write anything further upon that subject until I have received answers to former letters in which I have written very fully upon the state of my land & my account with you but I will enclose you a statement of my account

[pages 63 and 64 are missing]

[page 65]

pretty certain that he will visit England next wool season, when you will be gratified by seeing one Son who has done well in the world; – I suppose my prosperity is to come, time will shew. As to my health, I am gradually recovering strength & my late employment tends more than anything else to improve my health, it is now six weeks since I had any return of bleeding, and I am in hopes that as things are mending a little with me & my spirits consequently improving, my health will keep pace with it – Louisa & the children are quite well Thomas Cecil is improving very much at School, he can now read Stories with short words, he is growing a fine boy, you would be much pleased with him, I shall now conclude

with Louisa’s & my love to you and my Mother and all friends & believe me my Dr Father Your Very Affecte Son Alfd Hardy 13th Septr 1845 My Dear George8 I am not very fond of writing letters so that I hope you do not judge of my interest in you, in that way for I can only say you have not one who is more sincerely attached to \interested in/ you than I am, yet from what I can learn of your present views, I fear that anything that I may

7 Louisa’s father, Charles Burton Newenham, was the third Sheriff of South Australia, from 1839 to 1856. His high judicial position perhaps explains Governor Captain Grey’s dislike of the family. 8 George Cobb Newenham was the son of Charles Burton Newenham, third Sheriff of South Australia, 1839-1856. He became a Deacon in Tasmania in 1846 and later was part of the Anglican Church in Port Adelaide.

__________________________________________________________________________________


[page 66]

write will give you but little pleasure, even if any of my topics were of a pleasing nature; I suppose all the news of Springfield will be given by the others so that I can only become an egotist & speak of myself When you left use, I was much embarrassed but latterly I have been able to pay all my debts & so at this time though I am not rich I owe nothing except a bill lately received from Woodforde for between £20 & £30 caused by our having had a great deal of sickness indeed I have only just recovered from a very severe illness which neither the Springfield people nor I thought I should get over, but thank God I am now getting strong

again and what is very unusual we are all well at this time, I should be quite contented I think had I employment, but there is little chance of that I think so long as Capt Grey remains, still as we have enough to live on we ought to be and are very thankful; I often wish that you were again living with us for I think I need not say I have a sincere affection for you, but I fear that the cheerfulness of my Disposition would not suit your changed notions and feelings –– it has caused me a great deal of pain to observe by your journals that you instead of being made happier by your religion are become quite the contrary now although I am sure I am not so deeply read on these subjects as you are yet the simple truth that our Saviours religion

[page 67]

was intended to make us not only happy in Heaven but that one of its great attributes was to make those who accept it not only happier but more cheerful here, however these are

subjects that are better left to each mans own breast, for most assuredly we shall have to answer each for ourselves in Heaven; – I have sent you a present of a latin Bible as I think you said you were learning latin in one of your letters, at all events it will serve to remind you of me, I also send you the Newspapers of this place whenever I get hold of any with the exception of those sent to Henry but I suppose you exchange your Newspapers – I send with the Bible 2 Newspapers they are a new Newspaper with very little in them but as they are of a religious turn I send them to you; I have nothing more to tell you but that I have lately received very satisfactory letters from my Father among other things he has made me a present of £30- worth of Plate and in his will he has left all my property to my Wife & children; this has given great satisfaction to your Father and Mother, I will now conclude this dull letter hoping to hear that you are quite well and that ere long your coming down here will be determined upon and believe me Yours Very Affectly

Alfred Hardy

P.S. Did I lend you my book of Logarithms before

[page 68]

you left this place, I sometimes think I did, if not I have lost them, which is provoking as they are difficult to obtain here – I suppose you do not often think of your Surveying days; – as to me I have nothing else to do but to think of them as I can get nothing to do; again adieu Yours affectly A.H.

No 29.

“Per “Guiana” Via ”Mauritias”

Adelaide [16th?] September 1845

My Dear Father,

My last letter to you was dated 31st May 1845 since which time I have received two letters from you one of Feby 17th/45 arrived on July 25th/45 (No 30) and the other was dated Feby 1st/45 & received on the 25th Augt 1845 (No 29) I cannot tell you how very acceptable both were, or how much satisfaction they gave me indeed they have altogether relieved my mind from the anxieties that I have mentioned in my former letters; you ask if I have received your letters Nos 24 & 25 I have received every letter up to \No/ 30 so that I can at any time refer to them and I have kept copies of all my letters since Octr 26th 1842 in a book I keep for that purpose which affords me much satisfaction when I receive your answers. I received your

__________________________________________________________________________________


letter No 29 in bed where I had been for a month I had not recovered from my former illness that is to say I continued very weak and about the end of July last I began to complain of a pain in my left side which I at first thought was Rheaumatism but after a day or two I found great difficulty and pain in breathing & therefore sent for Mr Woodforde who said it was inflamation of the plura, he sent me to bed & Bled me and sent me

[page 69]

some Medecine two days after the pain not being gone I had a large Blister on which together with low living removed the pain in about a week I then thought I was all right but in

a few days bleeding from my chest came on and the usual remedies were adopted but it was no sooner stopped than in a day or two it came on again and this was the case three times so that at last I really though that it was the Almighty’s Will that I should not recover and such I afterwards found was the opinion of Woodforde Louisa Arthur & Louisa’s family, I am happy to say that though I prayed that I might be spared to my young family, I was perfectly resigned to the Will of Him who wills everything for the best & now that I am regaining my health & strength again I look back with thankfulness for the great mercy that has been shewn to me;– I need not say how exceedingly acceptable at such a time your letter No 30 was or how completely it removed the doubts that would at time oppress me as to my family in case of I had not recovered but any such feeling I cannot have again, there is only one point which I would wish, which would be, in case of my death that you would make a proviso that in case Louisa Married again that the property should be wholly vested in the children. I

have mentioned this to Louisa and she knows that I wish this not because I think she would marry again but because I think from what I have seen here it generally proves a very great disadvantage to the interest of the children when such is the case – my views on this subject are that if I were rich enough I ought in case I died first to leave a certain portion wholly to her to do what she liked with but I am not well enough off for that whatever \may be/ the case hereafter; you must not judge of my affection for Louisa by the above remarks for of all the devoted & affectionate

[page 70]

wives she is certainly the most so it is true she has only been tried in Sickness & adversity so that I cannot say how my poor Louisa would stand the trial of prosperity but I can give a very good gues. – The balance according to my account forwarded to you on 31st May 1845 of course differs from yours on account of the different calculations of interest between us, I trust however you may approve of it – I have now the very great pleasure of informing you that I am about forwarding to you £100- : [(brackets added later) it will be sent home in the

shape of copper ore to John Taylor whom I shall desire as soon as he disposes of the copper to hand you the money, this is the plan that Arthur & others are sending money home by and is considered here the best way] – I make an advance of about half of what the copper is considered worth to the proprietors & they hand me the Bills of lading which I forward to John Taylor; – I hope I you may soon be enabled to send you more but I will now explain for what I have received this money together with all particulars you may remember that I sold 33 acres of Country section “334” to a man of the names of “Ind” he was to give me £300 – for it but when the time came for paying the money the value of property generally was so much lower than when the purchase was made that he refused to fulfil his engagement and it would have been an \most/ expensive thing to have made him do so, supposing he had money enough however after many letters passing between us he at last made an offer of £200:- which on

talking the matter over with Arthur I determined to accept, as we both thought it a fair price for the land, I must now refer you again to my former letters in which I told you I paid £30: – in cash to the former tenant for his improvements in order to get him out the receipts for which amount I have in my possession & I paid £20: – towards

[page 71]

fencing in the land, these two amounts making £100: – I have therefore retained £100 of the £200 in order to pay all my debts, but I should never have thought of repaying myself till I had paid you all had not my present circumstances been so very straitened & my anxiety to be out of debt so great, thus you are now well informed of this transaction & I trust you will be

__________________________________________________________________________________


satisfied with it – I am now out of debt to the Banks & every one else in this place with the exception of Mr Woodfordes Bill which I received a day or two ago, it is for the last 18 months & amounts to rather more than £30 – this I cannot at present pay as in order to pay different shopkeepers accounts & the Banks I was obliged to expend the whole £100.– but Mr Woodforde has been a true friend in all my afflictions & knowing my circumstances begged me to pay him in small amounts & not to inconvenience myself. – I forgot to mention that by selling that portion of Land to “Ind” I lose his rent which was £30 pr Annum this of course is a great loss to me, but I can truly say that it is in some measure made up to me by being

enabled to pay something off my debt to you for I am certain I am more anxious to have paid my debt to you than you can be to have it settled – My whole income amounts now to to about £100:– pr Annum for I have no employment but if it were only half that sum I would live on bread & water rather than be debt again; but please God I keep my health, I must & will do something by which I may earn something and cease from being that worst of evils an Idle Man. I received the power of Attorney to let Country Section No 335 which I am glad to receive as it has become desirable to give Arthur a lease before he returns home to England. – I was not aware of your having given any plate to Harriet & Caroline, so that your kind intentions to myself & Louisa took us both by surprise. I shall value your gift exceedingly & shall take good care

[page 72]

that it remains in my family as long as I live & at my death I will leave it to my children so that

I shall be glad to have our crest & the single letter “H” upon each article, at the end of this letter I will put a list of what we would like, but I am afraid it will amount to more than the amount mentioned by you as I do not know the value of plate but of course you can reduce the list to within bounds beginning by striking out the Tea pot & cream ewer & so on there is one thing however that Arthur told me to tell you of, which is that as your wish is to give me £30: – worth of plate there will be a large drawback9 at the Custom House that may enable you to send me the things mentioned in my list even though they should exceed the amount intended by you without your being actually out of pocket more than £30: – John Taylor would inform you what the drawback would amount to, which being paid back to you would cover whatever the plate cost more than £30 – I am sure you will not think me grasping for you know I am not of that disposition my only object is to remind you of the drawback which is a thing you would not know of, & which would make a difference in the value of the plate I received, from what you intended, this is my only object for mentioning the drawback, you

may be surprised at my sending for plated candlesticks with Branches & Glass Shades to fit but in Summer we are obliged to have every door & window open to catch the least wind so that unless the candles are shaded you cannot use them, it is rather curious that Louisa & myself were debating only a short time before as to how we were to manage to obtain candlesticks as we were in great want of them but found we could not afford to buy them, of course we shall now wait for them from England, you may think it extravagant to have branch candlesticks, of course I would not have thought of buying them but I have always had a great desire to possess such a piece of furniture & have

[page 73]

taken advantage of your making me this present to include them in the list; but glass shades whether they are branch candlesticks or not are indispensable in so warm a climate & are used by every one here, I will now conclude this subject by again thanking you for Louisa &

myself for your very handsome present which will be the more acceptable from its being so little expected. I was very sorry to hear of my Aunt Alders10 loss I have always been sorry that I never knew her she seems to me to be a very kind relation & I much wish that I had seen her before leaving England for it is impossible to say if I shall ever see England again

9 A refund or remittance, such as a discount on duties or taxes for goods destined for reexport. 10 Aunt Alder was the former Mary Hardy, sister of Alfred’s father, Thomas Hardy. Uncle William was Thomas Hardy’s brother.

__________________________________________________________________________________


and consequently any of those I love & care for in it; my Uncle Williams loss is one that I can feel for it is a great truth that afflictions teach us to feel for others, at least I find it so. I was greatly pleased to learn that you & John Taylor were friends again it was my intention to have written to both Harriet & my Mother to bring about that good understanding that ought to exist between you & one standing in the relationship that John does to you, thank goodness there is no occasion for that now, I trust there will never be any misunderstanding again between you & him; – I think you ought not again to venture to London during the winter Months, as your health & comfort, as well as my Mothers, ought to be attended to

above anything else after such a life of toil as yours has been indeed I would not mention my difficulties & thus add to your anxieties did I not think you would be best pleased by knowing exactly how I am getting on. I am very glad you received the letter containing my likeness & that you think it has some resemblance to me, if my Brother in law James Henderson can find time he intends to make a likeness of Louisa & the children which I will send home, I shall be greatly delighted to receive your likeness We are daily expecting the ship “Augustus” Captn Hart

[page 74]

Master by whom I suppose I shall receive it as well as the tracts & childrens books you say you will send me, Thomas Cecil & Laura are most impatient for them to come, they say “its so long coming” they both talk of you as much as they do of their Grandpapa Newenham & Thomas Cecil makes a great point of introducing any one who speaks of his grandpapa

Newenham to your picture which we have hanging in the sitting room saying “& there is my Grandpapa Hardy & I have a Grandmama Hardy too in England a long way over the sea.” & then he makes a rule to turn to me to “explain all about England & how far it is & if he had a pony could he ride there” indeed I have long conversations with both him & Laura about all at home, & then Laura turns round & says “don’t talk any more my poor sick Father I know you are delicate & must not talk too much” she is a most very funny child but most endearing & affectionate, she talks just like a little old woman but she makes the above remark from having heard Mr Woodforde caution me about talking when I was ill. I find I made a mistake about Coll Henderson’s being in parliament – I find he never was in parliament when I wrote he was Mayor of Southampton, he is a very wealthy man & James Henderson has just received a very satisfactory letter from him approving of his marriage with Miss Annie Newenham & behaving in a most liberal way to his Son on the occasion indeed in every point of view it is a most excellent match for her & James Henderson is a credit to the family &

thought very highly of by every one here in this place, his Father started him as a Merchant here, he is doing exceedingly well & it is thought will become a rich man ere long they were married about 3 months ago. You say you are sorry I left Arthurs

[page 75]

office I have already told you my reason for doing so in a former letter but I will mention that incessant writing would not suit my health & Woodforde requested if I wished to keep my health that I would give it up – but I will not dispair of finding some way of getting on, if there was nothing else your approving of my proceedings & conduct could be sufficient to urge me on to exertion – I must find some way of getting on this is the tenor of my thoughts incessantly, God grant that I may find some way. – You ask if it would not have been better to have borrowed from Arthur & thus have saved the paying interest, I do not think it a good plan to borrow from relations even though it be a brother it is too apt to cause

unpleasantness’s & I would sooner do any thing rather than run the risk of such a thing being the case between us I feel that we are so far away from you all, & so isolated that I will have no business transactions together especially in money matters. I now come to the very kind & very important offer of taking Thomas Cecil & educating him in England. Louisa & myself would willingly sacrifice our feelings much as it would pain us to part with him but for such a purpose we would part with him – but if this offer is made in consequence of what you say in a former letter dated 20th August 1844 that “people have no right to lean upon others for support &c &c” my beggars pride is up & would make me exert myself to the uttermost rather than you should say or think I wish either my children or myself becoming a burden to you or

__________________________________________________________________________________


any one else, I have written in a former letter on this subject under date 8th Feby 1845 so that it cannot be long before I receive an answer to it which will determine whether we send him or not if he does go it will be the greatest blessing you could have

[page 76]

conferred upon him & on our parts it will shew what we think of your kindness to him by our being willing to part with him, God knows it would be like parting with him for ever – if it is determined that we send him it would have to be some months perhaps the latter end of next year, as perhaps he might be the better for being a little older as he will be only be six years

old on the 21st Novr Next & I shall be better prepared to pay the expence of his going then, than I could now – it will be a struggle but I believe we shall send him sometime next year, if the answer to my letter of 8th Feby/45 proves as I hope it will, that you do not think I wish my children to become a burden to you or any one else. – from \your/ remarks about my sending Edward Newspapers require notice, I send them in the first place because I wish to know by receiving papers in return from him that he still continues in New Zealand in fact in order that I may know where he is & that he is alive, for the same purpose I encourage Louisa to correspond with him but it is some months since she has heard from him, I wrote to him once when first he came out to New Zealand in which letter I told him what I thought of his conduct to you he never answered me but told Louisa in a letter to her that it was absurd for a person to offer opinions upon a subject I could know nothing about & thus ended my correspondence with the exception of exchanging papers – I am sometimes afraid that he

may come here again, it would be a great affliction to me but of two things you may be certain one is that I never would let him live in my house for reasons connected with him when here before & the other is that although I would divide all that I had with a Brother who had proper feelings, but Edward proved in a transaction with me when he was leaving here that he would not hesitate to sacrifice not only myself but my family so long as he could obtain

[page 77]

money from me which he did after leaving here notwithstanding all the money he took away with him from here but that transaction will always guard me against any attempts of that kind in future. I signed an address to the Revd James Farrell Colonial chaplain here as I considered him slandered & as he is one I think highly of; he is a very well informed & tolerant considering that he is a church of England Clergyman I mention my signing this address as you may possibly see it in some of our Adelaide papers & as in that address it

says “We the undersigned protestants attending your church &c &c” or something to that purpose now Mr Farrell is perfectly aware of my opinions & has spent many evenings at my house & in conversations together he has given my his opinions & views upon Religion & has patiently heard mine & I have no reason to change my opinion of the unity of the Deity; I will now conclude this very long letter, of which, I shall as it regards money send a copy by the next opportunity; – Louisa is writing by the same ship that takes this to my Mother & I shall before very long write to her – at the back of this you will find the list of plate mentioned in an early part of my letter, I shall now conclude trusting that you and my dear Mother are \quite/ well and believe me my Dear Father Your very Affecte Son Alfred Hardy

P.S. I find so much use in the “Numbers” of your letters that I shall in future Number mine, I

will therefore Number this “29” as I cannot tell how many letters I have sent you since I have been out here A.H.

List of plate — Turn over —

__________________________________________________________________________________


[page 78]

List of Plate

12, Dinner Forks

12, Dessert – Do –

12, Tea spoons 4, Table – Do – 4, Egg – Do – 1, Butter Knife 1, Pair of plated candlesticks,\with silver rims having/ with branches and Glass shades there should be extra Glasses in case of breakage coming out – 1, Tea pot 1, Cream ewer

Alfred Hardy Per Guiana Via Mauritius –

Adelaide 26th Septr 1845

My Dear John11

I wrote to you on the 14th Jany 1845 in which letter I requested you would send me a hogshead of pale Ale in half hogsheads if possible, one quarter cask of port wine and one quarter cask of Sherry, and charge the same to Arthurs account, I having arranged to settle with him when they came out here, this letter was sent per the “Bleng” – I should not have written on this subject again had I not had occasion to write to you upon another matter. I have just closed a long letter to my father in which I have told him I am sending £100:– to him through you, I have also told him that I have adopted the plan of making an advance upon Copper ore, the

[page 79]

Bills of lading of which will be consigned to you, I have mentioned this to him in order that he may be aware that he will have to wait until the Copper ore is sold before he can receive the Cash –– [brackets added later] [The advance is made to the Directors of the Montacute

Mine] and when the Copper ore is shipped I shall write to you more particularly as to what I wish done with the proceeds that may remain after having paid my Father £100: –

\* See the end of this letter./

My Father in his last letter to me has made me a present of £30: – worth of plate and I have

sent him a list of what I would like to have sent out but as I am afraid the things I have mentioned will come to more than £30: – I have reminded him that there will be a drawback upon the plate leaving England which would perhaps enable him to send me the things mentioned in my list without his being out of pocket, even though they should come to more than £30: – I tell you this as I wrote to my Father that you would be able to let him know what the drawback would amount to. My Father has also undertaken to educate my eldest Son if I will send him home, I shall in all probability accept this offer if I can find a suitable opportunity of sending him home, that is a comfortable and safe opportunity If this should be the case my Wife and myself shall have to ask Harriet to receive him until my Father could be informed of his arrival, I am afraid this will be very troublesome to Harriet but I am sure she will not think of the trouble when she remembers the anxiety we shall feel

out here until we hear of our Dear little fellows safe arrival at Head Quarters, but on this subject if it is determined upon Louisa would of course write to Harriet at present we are only thinking about it

[page 80]

There is much change and excitement going on here we have had a Special Survey taken under the New Land Regulations £20,000 – having been paid into the Coll Tres.y for the

11 John Taylor

__________________________________________________________________________________


same, this Survey goes by the name of the Monster Mine, it would seem from all accounts that the Mineral Treasures of this Colony are inexhaustible, it is rather amusing that the Mineral districts are those that were considered too barren ever to be of any use. – [brackets added later] [The appointment of Capt Grey to New Zealand is the present topic of

conversation and I think that though he is not much beloved or respected the Colonists will be sorry to lose him as a Governor, for he has certainly proved himself a Man of great ability and cleverness and his Government has been of great Service to So. Aus. However the affairs of the Colony are in such a flourishing state that a new Governor will not have any

great difficulty in becoming popular and in carrying on the Govt satisfactorily.] – I gave a letter of introduction to you to my friend Mr Hamilton last Feby he is a partner of my new Brother in law Mr Henderson of this place, they are Merchants and are said to be doing the best business of any house in Adelaide, he is a gentlemanly person and I think would be able to give you much information about South Australia. – As to myself I have been very ill indeed, about a month ago it was thought I should not recover, my illness originated in an attack of Inflamation of the plura after which bleeding at my chest, this last was stopped and came on again 3, times but I am now recovering, and I hope with care I shall become as strong as ever, but I have never yet recovered.

[page 81]

the very same illness I had after the loss of my poor little Infant. – It gave me real pleasure to learn from my Father that Harriet is able to walk about again, give my love to her and tell her

I rejoice that she is so much better for I can indeed feel for those who are sick, I will now conclude with love to Herbert Algernon and Helen and beleive me Dear John yours very affectionately Alfred Hardy

I forgot to mention that we have had public meetings and every exertion is being made to prevent Conditionally pardoned Convicts being sent here from Van Diemans Land, but unless there is a change in the Instructions from Head Quarters in England I am afraid we shall have to put up with this serious evil

(The following should have been written at this place in the letter but was omitted – in the original letter sent home it was written in the proper place.) In case my letter of the 14th Jany 1845 should by any chance have not reached you I shall be glad I shall be glad if you would then send me the Wine and Ale mentioned at the beginning of this letter but in this case as Arthur will have most likely returned to England it would be better to charge them to my account and I would on the receipt of the Invoice at once remit to you the amount due for the same. – Per [?]

No 30 Adelaide 30th Septr 1845. Duplicate of letter to my Father in page “68” –

P.S. I do not think that any of the Wool ships will sail before a month \so that as the Copper

ore cannot be shipped till they go/ from this there so that will delay your receiving the £100: so soon as I could wish. – Octr all well – We have no fresh news except the great influx of Emigrants from the other Colonies – [page 82]

Per H.M.S. “Fly” Adelaide 20th Jany 1845 1846 Dear John

I write to inform you that soon after the receipt of this you may expect to see me in England as I shall sail in about a fortnight from the date of this letter; you will be surprised at this sudden move of mine but the reasons that have induced me to adopt this step are as follows, my Father has lately offered if I will send my eldest boy home to educate him & I have been

__________________________________________________________________________________


trying to send him by one of the wool ships but could find no satisfactory way of sending him at least no way that would satisfy his Mother, I found also that the expence of his passage together with the passage of a woman to take charge of him would be as much as it would cost for myself & him to go home so having no employment & my health having been very indifferent of late & my Medical man being of opinion that the voyage would be very likely to be of Service to my health I came to the determination of returning home taking with me my little boy; – My present plan is to remain in England during the Summer months & at the commencement of winter to

[page 83]

return to South Australia – as they say in Van Diemans Land I have served my time as it is now Ten years since I left England, but in truth I am very anxious to see my Father & Mother & all at home \once/ again & this feeling has had a great deal to do with my taking charge of my child home instead of sending him in charge of some one else. – [brackets added later]

[Arthur is at present gone to the North that is to say up the Country to meet Captain Sturt, he has taken a carriage up to bring him in, as after his perilous expedition he has returned atward dreadfully broken down with fatigue & scurvey there will be a great procession go out of Town to welcome him back and a Public breakfast; his discoveries however will not tend to benefit the Colony much, as it is now certain that the centre of New Holland is one vast desert in which neither Bird Beast or Man can live there being according to Capt Sturts account not a blade of grass nor a drop of water – in fact it is nothing but Sand Sand Sand

for hundreds of miles;] I shall leave all other news till I reach England. – I told you in a former

[page 84]

letter that I had advanced £100: – on Copper “Ore” to be shipped to you together with a large quantity that Arthur is shipping however I am glad that it has not been shipped before as I have changed my plan & I shall not now wish any paid to my Father for reasons I will explain to you when I see you, my principal reason for writing to you at this time is to advise you of my being about to draw a bill upon you for £65: (the amount of my passage money) against the “Ore” to be shipped to you of on my account, the Bill I have offered them is payable at 60 days after sight; if there is any difficulty in getting them to take my bill Arthur has offered to indorse it, when having two good names they will of course accept the Bill as payment, but I shall I think be home before the Bill will have become due & explain every thing to you, I send this by H.M.S. “Fly” which is going direct home from here and sails from this place to day. – I thought of sending a line to my Father when I arrive in London to let him know that I

[page 85]

had returned home & have therefore not written to him at this time, we are all well here – trusting that Harriet & you’rs are well also Believe me yours very affecty Alfred Hardy

[To] John Taylor Esqr

Port Adelaide 10th Feby 1846

Recd an answer from Louisa by the 11th

Wrote to both Louisa & Arthur but had not time to keep copies of these letters, having only just time to write the originals ––

North Arm Port Adelaide 11th Feby 1846

Wrote to Louisa & Arthur, kept no copies from the same cause as yesterday

Cape of Good Hope 18th April 1846

Wrote to Louisa & Arthur both – short notes having left it to the last moment from my constant engagements on land as my Journal will shew. [End of letter copy book.]

__________________________________________________________________________________


[Letter from Alfred Hardy to his sister Harriet Taylor (later Harriet Taylor Mill). 1850

Photocopy from the British Library of Political and Economic Science, bound in folder.]

Hartley Bank12 12th Jany 1850 (44 My Dear Harriet,

I can scarcely tell you how greatly shocked I was at receiving a Times Newspaper from the Palmers in which poor Johns death appeared,13 I was the more so from not having heard that he had been ill, I have since received a letter from Arthur giving some account of this most sad loss both to you and the family generally, for he of all men that I have known was kind, generous, and honorable, the latter admirable quality you know I thought sometimes he carried to an extreme point; most sincerely do I sympathize with you and your children, those can best feel for others who themselves have suffered losses in this way. My poor Fathers death I was in some measure prepared for from his advanced age and from the accounts of his health that I received from time to time, but when I did hear of it, my health suffered a good deal from nervousness, which I assure you is a very sad kind of illness and one that latterly I have been very liable to on hearing any painful news, such as the loss of one so highly to be esteemed as poor John was, to your Sons I fear the loss will be irreparable even

though from you they will always be able to receive good and sound advice upon all occasions; -– I saw a letter from Algernon to his friend Mr Sinnett in which he most feelingly deplores the loss of his Father, in such cases as this my dear Sister one can do no more than offer our sincere sympathy one to another which I do most truly offer to you and your children. An old servant of yours of the name of Ann Beckwith 78

[page 2]

arrived sometime ago in the Colony, and called upon me asking my advice and assistance, she said that you intended writing to me about her, she was in great distress, she and her husband being very much disappointed in the prospect of employment suitable to her husband, added to this very shortly after they arrived, they lost their child and got into difficulties, in this state of affairs I got Mr Newenham to receive her for a short time till

something might turn up by which she and her husband might find employment together, she appeared to recover her spirits and before very long left saying that she and her husband had got employment at £40: – per Annum and their board, since then I have not seen them, but I shall always be glad to serve her as being one that you are interested about. Will you tell Algernon that his friend Mr Sinnett14 was owing to the Railway here not being gone on with at present, thrown out of employment, he spoke to me about it, and it so happened that just at that time I had been applied to, by a friend of mine a gentleman of the name of Burr15 who is doing a large business as an Engineer &c in Adelaide, to know if I knew of an assistant, I proposed to him to take Mr Sinnett into partnership which after making them acquainted was arranged, so that he is now in a fair way of becoming independant – Mr Parker the head of the Railway Company called upon me, and thanked me for having found employment for Mr Sinnett, saying that he had been very anxious about him owing to the delays that the Council were throwing in his

[page 3]

way, as to getting the Railway Bill passed – I am glad that I have thus had an opportunity of serving a friend of Algernons. 12 Hartley Bank, Hardy’s house at Glen Osmond, begun in 1842 but not completed till much later, certainly by 1848, was renamed Claremont in 1862 by Daniel Cudmore. It is now part of the Waite Campus. 13 Harriet’s husband, John Taylor, had died in July 1849. Their children were Herbert, Algernon and Helen (sometimes known as Lilly). 14 Frederick Sinnett (1830-1866) later a journalist and literary critic, trained in England in engineering and surveying and newspaper reporting. 15 Thomas Burr, land agent and surveyor. In 1850 Burr and Sinnett laid out the town of Truro. Sinnett later married Burr’s daughter.

__________________________________________________________________________________


As to my own prospects I am quite in the dark for although Arthur wrote me a letter a week after he was married, there was not the slightest information as to what I may receive by my poor Father’s Will, but perhaps one could scarcely expect him just married to think of anything of the kind. Louisa desires me to give her love to you; my three children are quite well Cecil is growing a fine boy, his Schooling I am sorry to say will cost me £50:– per Annum but I am determined to give him a good education, Laura is becoming quite a companion to her Mother, she is being educated by her Mother at home, she plays the Piano very nicely and has an

extraordinary memory of whatever she reads, of which she is so fond that a book is scarcely ever out of her hands, she has a good knowledge of the English and Roman History and is now reading the Grecian History; as to my other boy he is too little to say anything about at present; I would very much like that Lilly could see Laura, she is a very pretty well formed delicate girl with a sweet disposition. – I have little more to tell you except that I am building a house in the Country with which however I get on but slowly my means being very limited, the house is placed in in a very romantic and beautiful spot being high up the Mountains that border the plains of Adelaide in a deeply wooded glen, that by the Natives is called the Wild dogs Glen; these wild dogs or Jackals are very 79

[page 4 – envelope page]

numerous and at Night their cry is Wild and Startling.

We may expect to see Arthur and our new Sister some time next month I suppose, and as he proposes building near to where we are living we look forward with great Interest to their arrival, give my love to Lilly and my two nephews and Believe me always My dear Sister Your very Affecte Brother Alfred Hardy [Addressed at right angles to text]

Per “Martha” to Singapore Overland,

Via Marseilles

Mrs Taylor Care of Messrs D Taylor & Sons 46 Cross Street Finsbury Place London England

[two postmarks]

G.P.O South Australia JA 26 1850 [Crown] 20May20 1850

[Presented by Miss M. P. Hardy]

d 7366(l) letters from alfred hardy to his family in

Documents