Charles Hardy had a fascinating life full of adventure prior to migrating to New Zealand in the 1860s along with his wife Alice.
The photo below is believed to be Charles in his early 20s. It is labeled as being taken at the Oriental Bazaar, Steamer Point, Aden. Charles is known to have travelled extensively as a young man.
Charles was born on 21st March 1832 at Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. His parents were George and Susan Hardy. George was a fell-monger and wool merchant. George and Susan had 11 children- 7 girls and 4 boys.
At the age of 15 Charles was indentured to learn the business of chemist and druggist over a 5 year period. His brother Robert also became a chemist and established a chemist and water bottling business in Salisbury called Hardy & Son. Charles briefly worked with Robert before his marriage to Alice and their emigration to New Zealand.
Charles' brother John became a fell-monger like his father George and eventually took-over his father's business.
The Hardy family home at Broad St Ely is on an historic site that was featured in a BBC Time Team Special episode 7 2001 "The Island of Eels". The site was subject to an archeological investigation and found to contain early saxon relics. The site borders the Great Ouse River and was well placed for goods brought to and from Ely by river.
Charles arrived in Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne, Australia on 25th September 1852 on the ship Statesman. He would have finished his 5 year indenture as a chemist on 6th March 1852 and was age 20. His older brother George was already in Melbourne having emigrated to Australia in February 1850.
Charles becomes a Mormon
It is not clear exactly when this occurred but at some point Charles became a Mormon and joined up with fellow followers of this church in Australia. During his lifetime he continued his Mormon connection including in New Zealand where he was a mormon church elder. Charles's father George was a man of strong religious beliefs. He founded his own Ely Strict Baptist Church in 1858 and was its Deacon. The chapel for this church still exists in Ely.
A diary kept by Frederick William Hurst records that Brother Charles Hardy was ordained with him to preach in the Bendigo Gold mines at a conference of the Mormon church at Castlemaine around 15th September 1854. Charles was subsequently appointed President of the Bendigo and Golden Gully branch of the church. However he then chose to go back to Melbourne and start a business trading in hogs and chickens. A few months later Charles returned to Bendigo with a wagon load of hogs and chickens but according to Hurst he had " ... lost the spirit of his mission and thought more of dollars and cents than of preaching or performing his duties as a missionary". When Hurst challenged Charles about this his response was that he was ".. the head and had the right to do as he liked".
In April 1855 a large group of Mormons including Charles sailed on the ship Tarquenia from Melbourne bound for Utah via San Pedro, California. According to Hurst's diary, during this voyage before the ship reached Tahiti, Charles was cut off from the church.
The Tarquenia proved to be a leaky vessel having required repairs at Bora Bora Tahiti and again in Honolulu. After leaving Honolulu she encountered rough weather, was eventually concluded to be unseaworthy and put back into Honolulu. There she subsequently sank in the harbour only 4 hours after arrival. The voyage to California was completed on the Willamantic sailing from Honolulu on 20 August 1855 to San Pedro via San Francisco.
From San Pedro the Mormons proceeded to San Bernadino where Charles purchased 37 acres of land. He is also known to have had a gold mining venture Bear Lake in which he lost money.
A group of 500 Mormons had purchased the Rancho San Bernadino in 1851. Nearby was the Jurupa Rancho owned by Don Louis Robidoux. Today this is the Rancho Jurupa Park along the Santa Ana River west of the town of Riverside.
Charles Hardy formed a connection with Don Louis. A history of Riverside mentions a letter written by Charles Hardy to a Senator Estudillo, grandson of Don Louis in which Charles states;
" I lived with your grandfather Don Louis at Jurupa Ranch, but time plays havoc with rich and poor alike. I am eighty years old on 21 March proximo. I have a daguerreotype of myself taken in San Francisco in 1855, but I of course do not wish to part with it. I lived on and off with Louis Robidoux from 1856 to 1862, was always welcomed by him to his house and treated with great respect..... I forget how long I taught there, but I think it must have been for about two or three years altogether. I received $50 per month from the State and $15 per month from Don Louis, together with board and lodging.
The letter to myself from Don Louis, which my daughter* told you of was written in 1862, when I was in San Francisco. It was to thank me for some business which I transacted for him in regard to the Rancho San Jacinto. "
* The daughter referred to by Charles may be Florence Hardy who lived in the USA from 1903 to 1906 studying the educational system and was a teacher at Clarksville School near Sacramento California in 1905.
Charles's letter goes on to mention he asked for the hand in marriage of one of Don Louis' daughters. Don Louis was willing but his wife refused because Charles intended taking the daughter away to England.
Charles states that Don Louis never went abroad either on horseback or in his buggy without taking Hardy with him. "I was his constant companion and slept in the same room that he did, the large room in the middle of the house..."
Charles returned to England at some time between 1862 and 1865. It was on 5th June 1865 that he married Alice Francis Thomas. At the time of his marriage he was working for his brother Robert in Salisbury. The wedding certificate states his occupation as chemist and address as Salisbury.
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