Full Name: Thomas Masterson Hardy

Father: Thomas Hardy (stonemason)
Mother: Jemima Hand
Wife: Emma Lavinia Gifford (m. 1914–1928)
Wife: Florence Emily Dugdale (m. 1874–1912)

Date of Birth: 2 June 1840
Birth Place: Stinsford, Dorchester, Dorset, England
Date of Death: 11 January 1928 (aged 87)
Death Place: Dorchester, Dorset, England
Cause of Death: Unspecified

Remains: Cremated, Westminster Abbey, London, England
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Novelist, Poet and Short Story Writer
Education: Julia Martin's school, King's College London
Movement: Naturalism, Victorian literature
Nationality: England
Executive Summary: Far from the Madding Crowd

Notable Work(s): Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd, Collected Poems.

Influences: Charles Dickens, George Meredith, Thomas Gray, Arthur Schopenhauer.

Influenced: Philip Larkin, D. H. Lawrence, Robert Frost, W.H. Auden, W.D. Snodgrass, John Fowles, Robinson Jeffers.

Early Life: English Novelist, Poet and Short Story Writer Thomas Masterson Hardy were June 2, 1840, in the village of Upper Bockhampton, located in Southwestern England. His father Thomas Hardy, was a builder and played the violin in the local church and for local dances. His mother Jemima Hand, enjoyed reading and relating all the folk songs and legends of the region and had only a basic education. She educated Thomas until he went to his first school at Bockhampton at age eight. In 1848, Hardy began to attend Julia Martin's school in Bockhampton. One year later he moved to a commercial academy run by Isaac Last, where he was able to study Latin. Most of his education came from the books he found in Dorchester, the nearby town. In 1856, He left school and was articled to the architect John Hicks in Dorchester. During this period he became friends with Horace Moule. Here he learned Greek, with encouragement from the dialect poet and philologist William Barnes, who had a house next door to Hicks’ office. In 1862 age of 22, Hardy was sent to London to work with the architect Arthur Blomfield. During his five years in London, Hardy immersed himself in the cultural scene by visiting the museums and theatres and studying classic literature. He even began to write his own poetry. But his poems were rejected by a number of publishers. Although he enjoyed life in London, Hardy's health was poor, and he was forced to return to Dorset.

Personal Life: John Hicks died in 1868. In 1870 Hardy was sent to St. Juliot in Cornwall on an architectural mission. There he met Emma Gifford, sister-in-law of the vicar of St.Juliot. She encouraged him in his writing, and they were married in 1874. Although they later became estranged, her death in 1912 had a traumatic effect on him. In 1914 at the age of 74, Hardy married his secretary Florence Emily Dugdale, who was 39 years his junior.

Later Life: Hardy published his first novel, Desperate Remedies in 1871, to universal disinterest. His first popular novel was Under the Greenwood Tree, published in 1872. The next great novel, Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) was so popular. Other popular novels followed in quick succession: The Return of the Native (1878), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), The Woodlanders (1887), and Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). He continued to write novels, and in 1887 age of 47 made a tour of Italy, visiting the graves of Shelley and Keats. In 1910 he was awarded the Order of Merit, having previously refused a knighthood, and he received the freedom of the borough of Dorchester.

Death: After a long and highly successful life, Thomas Hardy died on January 11, 1928, at the age of 87. His heart was removed and buried in Emma Hardy’s grave in Stinsford Churchyard. His ashes were buried in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey.