Grosvenor George Hardy (1888-1917)
Francis Ernest Hardy (1892-1969)
(A memorial card which commemorates Grosvenor)18
Grosvenor Hardy was born in Aberdare, Glamorganshire. The son of Frank Hardy, a
Brickworks Manager, he lived at 111 Bolton Road, Edgworth and worked as a Brick Yard
Labourer.(1) He joined 1st/5th Battalion of the Welsh Regiment and was killed in action in the
Egyptian Theatre on 26 March 1917.(15)
War Record
Unfortunately there are very few records of Grosvenor’s service but we know he enlisted in Pontypridd and served in the Welsh Regiment. What records there are refer to him as George and he appears on the medal roll with service numbers 2344 and 240793(2). When soldiers have a four digit number, replaced by a six digit number, it is fairly certain that he had been in the Territorials prior to the outbreak of war. Grosvenor (George) first served overseas in The Balkans on 9th August 1915. He was killed in action in the Egyptian Theatre on 26th March 1917 and buried in the Jerusalem Cemetery which is 4.5 kilometres north of the walled city.
(15)(19) He received the 1915, Victory and British Medals.(2)
The Welsh Regiment - 1/5th Battalion
The Regiment was formed in Pontypridd in August 1914 and was formed from Territorial Soldiers (Saturday Night Soldiers). In November 1914 they moved to Tunbridge Wells then in February 1915 to the Forth and Tay defences in Scotland. In July 1915 they sailed from Devonport and landed at Suvla Bay in August 1915 where they engaged in various actions against the Turkish Army. In December 1915 they were evacuated from Gallipoli and moved to Egypt where they were involved in The Battle of Romani, The First, Second and Third Battles of Gaza, the Capture of Beersheba, the Capture of Tell Khuweilfe and the Defence of
Jerusalem.(7)
(20)
Family History
Grosvenor Hardy was born in Glamorganshire in 1888. He was the son of Frank Hardy, a Brickworks Manager. Frank was born in Chesterfield and his wife, Alice, was born in Wolverhampton. Grosvenor was the eldest of six children. It is evident that the family moved around the country as the 1901 Census shows them living in Stacksteads, near Bacup, and their children were born in Wales, Clayton-le-Moors, Darwen and Bacup1.
Grosvenor was a member of the Choir at St James’ Hob Lane and played cricket for the Know Mill team. He is remembered on Saint Anne’s Memorial, Turton.
Frank and Alice Hardy with Grosvenor and Francis (20)
Father Frank Hardy b1860 Chesterfield Mother: Alice b1865 Wolverhampton
Siblings Grosvenor b1888 Aberdare Francis b1892 Caerphilly Alice b1895 Darwen Lilian b1896 Clayton-le-Moors Frank William Ewart b1899 Bacup Edgar Algernon b1901 Bacup
Reference: Panels 30 – 32 (15)
Francis Ernest Hardy(30)
Francis Ernest Hardy, Grosvenor’s younger brother, was born in Caerphilly, Glamorganshire in 1892. Like his brother, he enlisted in the Territorials and joined the 5th Battalion, The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment (Territorials) in March 1909 at Bolton. Prior to this he had worked as a Printer’s Labourer at Know Mill, Hob Lane, Edgworth.(2) No further information has been found.
Frank W E Hardy and Edgar A Hardy Although both could have been involved in the war, there is no record for either that can be identified.
Family History
0n 2 January 1915 Francis married Edna Alice Buckley at the Parish Church of Friarmere in Yorkshire. Francis died in Malvern Worcestershire on March 1969 and his widow, Edna, died in Worcester in December 1986.(21)
(20)
Some of the family must have stayed in Edgworth, as this gravestone commemorates Frank, his mother and father and sisters in St. Anne’s Churchyard, Turton.
(19)
The Jerusalem Memorial, Yerushalayim, Jerusalem, Israel, commemorating the Commonwealth soldiers who died with no known grave.(15)
Research: Stephen Shields
Standard References: 1, 2, 7, 15, 30, plus:
18 Memorial card 19 http://www.findagrave.com 20 Walker family tree – www.ancestry.co.uk 21 Hardy family tree – www.ancestry.co.uk
