George Alexander Hardy (29 December 1851 – 2 October 1920) was an English businessman and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician who served for many years as a councillor in

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, and briefly as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for the Stowmarket division of

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. Hardy was born in the

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

district of North London, and went into business in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. He was a member of the Greenwich Vestry, and later served as a councillor on Camberwell Borough Council. In the March 1901 elections for the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

, Hardy was elected as a

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Italy ...

councillor for the Dulwich division of Camberwell. He was re-elected in 1904, but at the 1907 elections, the

Municipal Reform Party The Municipal Reform Party was a local party allied to the parliamentary Conservative Party in the County of London. The party contested elections to both the London County Council and metropolitan borough councils of the county from 1906 to 1945 ...

made sweeping gains and Hardy lost his seat on the council. He was elected at the 1906 general election as the

(MP) for Stowmarket division of

. At that time he was a deacon of the

Camberwell Green Camberwell Green is of common land in Camberwell, south London laid out as a formal park. Its south-west corner is the junction of Camberwell Road/Denmark Hill and Camberwell New Road/Camberwell Church Street. Its other edges share one point ...

Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

, president of the south-east London Free Church Council, chairman of the

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of ...

Society of Public Morality and a member of the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational miss ...

. ''

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'' reported in January 1910 that although he was "a good worker and a good speaker", Hardy was likely to lose the seat at the January 1910 election to his unionist opponent

Frank Goldsmith Francis Benedict Hyam Goldsmith (22 November 1878 – 14 February 1967) was a British Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1910 to 1918. He served in World War I. In 1918, he moved to France, where he ent ...

, who had been working hard to cultivate the support of agricultural workers. Hardy's majority in 1906 had been only 2.2% of the votes, and Goldsmith took the seat on a swing of 4.3%. After his defeat, Hardy did not stand again in Stowmarket, but on 15 November 1910 he was adopted as one of the two Liberal candidates for the borough of

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, a marginal constituency where the Liberals had lost both of the two seats in January 1910.Craig, page 66 At the general election, in December 1910, the Conservatives held both seats. He stood for the

again at the 1913 elections, this time in Stepney, but did not win a seat. However he was nominated by the Progressive Party as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

, and at the new Council's first meeting on 13 March 1913, he was elected to serve as an alderman until 1919. He was elected again as an alderman in 1919, but died the following year at his home on

Champion Hill Champion Hill is a football stadium in East Dulwich in the London Borough of Southwark. It is the home ground of Dulwich Hamlet. History Dulwich Hamlet began playing at the ground in 1912. 'The Hill' was formerly one of the largest amateur gro ...

East Dulwich East Dulwich is an area of South East London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. It forms the eastern part of Dulwich, with Peckham to the east and Camberwell to the north. This South London suburb was first developed in the nineteen ...

, aged 68.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardy, George 1851 births 1920 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1906–1910 Members of London County Council People from East Dulwich Members of Camberwell Metropolitan Borough Council Progressive Party (London) politicians