Henry Ernest Hardy (later known as Father Andrew) (7 January 1869 – 31 March 1946) was a British
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
clergyman and
friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...
, who co-founded the Society of Divine Compassion to work with the poor in the
East End of London
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
.
Life
Hardy was born in
Kasauli
Kasauli is a town and cantonment, located in Solan district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The cantonment was established by the British Raj in 1842 as a Colonial hill station,Sharma, Ambika"Architecture of Kasauli churches" ''The Trib ...
, India; his father was a colonel in the
Indian army
The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...
. After growing up in India, he attended
Clifton College
''The spirit nourishes within''
, established = 160 years ago
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school
, religion = Christian
, president =
, head_label = Head of College
, head ...
"Clifton College Register" Muirhead, J. A. O. p. 78: Bristol; J. W. Arrowsmith for Old Cliftonian Society; April, 1948 and an art school in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, before studying at
Keble College, Oxford
Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to th ...
, where he obtained a fourth-class degree in theology in 1891. While he was at Oxford,
Arthur Winnington-Ingram
Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram (26 January 1858 – 26 May 1946) was Bishop of London from 1901 to 1939.
Early life and career
He was born in the rectory at Stanford-on-Teme, Worcestershire, the fourth son of Edward Winnington-Ingram (a Ch ...
(a Keble graduate who at the time was head of
Oxford House
The term Oxford House refers to any house operating under the "Oxford House Model", a community-based approach to addiction recovery, which provides an independent, supportive, and sober living environment. Today there are nearly 3,000 Oxford House ...
in the
East End of London
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
, and later became
Bishop of London
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
) visited the university seeking volunteers to work with the poor. Hardy offered his services and moved to Oxford House in October 1891, where he combined administrative work with practical assistance to the needy.
In January 1894, his thoughts about combining a religious life and work with poor residents of London led him and two others (James Adderley and Henry Chappel) to found the Society of the Divine Compassion, taking religious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and for his religious name: "Andrew". Brother Andrew was ordained a priest, following studies at
Ely Theological College
Ely Theological College was a college in Ely, Cambridgeshire, for training clergy in the Church of England. Founded in 1876 by James Woodford, Anglican Bishop of Ely, the college had a strong Anglo-Catholic tradition. Ely's "ritualistic" (i.e. ...
. The new society was then based in Plaistow, in the East End, and its members staffed St Philip's Church. Father Andrew was the last of the original three members of the community (Adderley left in 1897, and Chappel died in 1915) and was its central figure for many years, as well as acting as priest-in-charge of St Philip's from 1916 until his death, apart from a year spent on retreat in
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...
. He was highly regarded as a
confessor
Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways.
Confessor of the Faith
Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Bibliography from
Project Canterbury Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, and is ho ...