Arthur Sturgis Hardy
Encyclopedia
- For the U.S. diplomat and academic, see Arthur Sherburne HardyArthur Sherburne HardyArthur Sherburne Hardy was an American engineer, educator, editor, diplomat, novelist, and poet.-Early life and education:...
.
Arthur Sturgis Hardy, QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(December 14, 1837 – June 13, 1901) was a lawyer and Liberal
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
politician who served as the fourth Premier of Ontario
Premier of Ontario
The Premier of Ontario is the first Minister of the Crown for the Canadian province of Ontario. The Premier is appointed as the province's head of government by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and presides over the Executive council, or Cabinet. The Executive Council Act The Premier of Ontario...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, from 1896 to 1899. On January 19, 1870 he married Mary Morrison, daughter of Judge Joseph Curran Morrison
Joseph Curran Morrison
Joseph Curran Morrison was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Canada West.He was born in Ireland in 1816 and came to Upper Canada with his family in 1830. He studied at Upper Canada College, studied law, articled with Simon Ebenezer Washburn and was called to the bar in 1839...
.
Hardy attended school at the Rockwood Academy
Rockwood Academy
Rockwood Academy was a private school in Rockwood, Ontario. It was founded in 1850 by William Wetherald, a Quaker. Wetherald had previously taught pupils privately in the evenings, and the number of these had grown to an extent that he decided to open a school for older boys and young men...
in Rockwood, Ontario. He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
in 1873 and was promoted to the Cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
of Sir Oliver Mowat
Oliver Mowat
Sir Oliver Mowat, was a Canadian politician, and the third Premier of Ontario from 1872 to 1896, making him the longest serving premier of that province and the 3rd longest in all of Canadian history...
in 1877 as Provincial Secretary
Provincial Secretary
The Provincial Secretary was a senior position in the executive councils of British North America's colonial governments, and was retained by the Canadian provincial governments for at least a century after Canadian Confederation was proclaimed in 1867...
. In 1889 as Commissioner of Crown Lands, Hardy established Algonquin Park. Entering his sixties and having been in government for over twenty years, Hardy lacked the energy and strength to take the government forward or excite the populace when he succeeded Mowat as both Premier and Attorney-General
Attorney General of Ontario
The Attorney General of Ontario is a senior member of the Executive Council of Ontario and governs the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario - the department responsible for the oversight of the justice system within the province. The Attorney General is an elected Member of Provincial...
in 1896. In the 1898 election
Ontario general election, 1898
The Ontario general election, 1898 was the ninth general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on March 1, 1898, to elect the 94 Members of the 9th Legislative Assembly of Ontario .The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Arthur S...
Hardy's government was returned with a narrow six seat majority due to the collapse of the agrarian Patrons of Industry
Patrons of Industry
The Grand Association of the Patrons of Industry in Ontario was a Canadian farmers' organization formed in 1890 that cooperated with the urban labour movement to address the political frustrations of both groups with big business....
party which had served as the Liberal's allies in the legislature. Exhausted and needing money, Hardy retired from politics in 1899 and died two years later from appendicitis. An Ontario Historical Plaque was erected in Brantford, Ontario by the province to commemorate the Honourable Arthur Sturgis Hardy's role in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
's heritage. On Thursday June 25, 2009 a new plaque was unveiled to commemorate Hardy under the initiative of Premiers' Gravesites Program. Local politicians, guests and family members paid tribute to the former politician. The family included the great-great-great-granddaughter and the children of Hagood Hardy
Hagood Hardy
Hugh Hagood Hardy, CM was a Canadian composer, pianist, and vibraphonist. He is best known for the 1975 single, "The Homecoming", originally created as music to a 1972 TV commercial for Salada tea, and for his soundtrack to the Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea films.Born in Angola,...
.
He became town solicitor for Brantford in 1867, a bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada
Law Society of Upper Canada
The Law Society of Upper Canada is responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1797, it is known in French as "Le Barreau du Haut-Canada"...
in 1875, and a QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
in 1876.
Hardy's body was originally interred at Greenwood Cemetery, however 34 years after his death, his son Senator Arthur Charles Hardy
Arthur Charles Hardy
Arthur Charles Hardy, was a Canadian politician.Born in Brantford, Ontario, he ran unsuccessfully for the Canadian House of Commons in the Ontario riding of Leeds in the 1917 federal election. In 1922, he was called to the Canadian Senate representing the senatorial division of Leeds, Ontario...
had the remains of Hardy, his wife, and their daughter Gladys Mary Starr moved to Farringdon Burial Ground.