The Life and Times of Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

The Life and Times of Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

Thomas Hardy, an English poet and novelist, was most famous for his

portrayal of the imaginary county "Wessex". Hardy's work reflected his

negative view and sense of tragedy in human life.

Hardy was born June 2, 1840 in Dorset near Dorchester. His father was

a stonemason. Hardy's mother provided for his education. Her tastes

included Latin poets and French romances. A year later his sister,

Mary was born. At the age of 8 in 1948, Hardy attended a village

school and in 1849 he went to a school in Dorchester, he studied there

until the age of 16.

The first 10 years of Hardy's life saw the great Irish famine,

chartist riots, the Repeal of Corn Laws and the introduction of Penny

Post. 1847 was particularly important because it was then that the

Brontë sisters released their best-selling novels, Jane Eyre and

WutheringHeights. Also the railway was established in Dorchester

during 1847.

The news and images of the famine, the riots and railway introduction

to Dorchester without a doubt reached Hardy and as a juvenile he

understood little but took it all in and this may be what set off his

negative view and sense of human life.

After schooling in Dorchester, Hardy was apprenticed to an architect.

He was 16 at the time. He worked in an office, which specialised in

restoration of churches.

Between 1853-6 the Crimean War took place, this may have made Hardy

reminisce the famines and riots he heard about whilst growing up.

At the age of 18, in 1858, Hardy wrote his first surviving poem,

'Domicilium' and a year later Darwin's Origin of Species was

published.

At the age of 22 Hardy moved to London and started to write poems

whilst working as an architect, but the poems failed to get published.

His first publication was a short fictional piece called 'How I Built

Myself a House' which he wrote for the entertainment of his friends at

the age of 25.