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Further to the comment by saphireblue67 dated Saturday 31 July 10 (2010?) regarding ancestor Richard Hardy, Richard Burcham Hardy (1817-1913) is my maternal great-great-great uncle so you and I are related. I do not have information on Richard's date of birth, his migration to Australia or indeed any pertinent details other than his son John's marriage to my great grandmother Gertrude Sarah Everingham, details follow. It would be fairly safe to say Richard's gravestone at Failford NSW Australia is incorrect with an age of 116 years. We would accept the post by Suz with Richard's birth at 14 December 1817 making his age 96, 20 years exaggeration that only the deceased family would know. My mother at 10 years of age accompanied Richard's funeral procession where hundreds of people in the district turned out and she often spoke of her great-great uncle living to 116 years. There are descendants of Richard Hardy here in Australia but they are proving hard to track down and I suspect most if not all have little information on the history of the Hardy family in the UK. Anyway, I pick up the story as outlined below where I am attempting to connect Richard as a nephew of Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, captain of HMS Victory during the battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.

In regard to 18th & 19th English and Australian family history, I am endeavouring to ascertain the family (hopefully blood) link between two Hardy families. First, we have Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy (1769-1839) well-documented as a British naval admiral who captained Admiral Nelson's flagship the 100-gun Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. Second, we have what is believed to be his nephew Richard Burcham Hardy (1817-1913) born in London and died in Nabiac NSW Australia. Richard is my three-greats uncle and his son John Joseph Hardy (1853-1935) married my great grandmother Gertrude Sarah Everingham (1855-1941) the great granddaughter of First Fleeter Matthew James Everingham (1769-1817) who arrived in Sydney Cove from England on 26 January 1788 aboard the convict ship Scarborough. According to our family's understanding and as published in newspapers, namely: Northern Champion (NSW Australia) Newspaper 13 August 1913 and Manning & District Times (NSW Australia) Wednesday 10 September 1913, Richard Burcham Hardy was stated as a nephew to Thomas Hardy; and, Richard's father, James Hardy, was the ship's carpenter also aboard the Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar. Now, whilst it seems to be quite clear that the two Hardy men, Thomas and Richard, lived according to numerous records, the question is: "Are Thomas Masterman Hardy and Richard Burcham Hardy related, as uncle and nephew respectively?" Richard's father, James Hardy, may be either a brother or cousin to Thomas Hardy and it is possible they are related by marriage, not blood, or not related at all. I am hoping there is some record in existence that discusses the relationship between the two Hardy men.

davidmillikenmichel, Sydney, Australia, 1 October 2016