Cornelius Hardy
Encyclopedia
Cornelius William John Hardy (or Hardey) (born 1831 or 1833, date of death unknown) was a convict transported
to Western Australia
, later to become one of the colony
's ex-convict school teachers
.
Cornelius Hardy was born in the early 1830s. Erickson claims 1831, but other records state that he was 23 years old in 1856. In that year, he was working as a clerk in the General Post Office when he and two other clerks were caught stealing money from letters. On 9 March 1856, Hardy was sentenced to fourteen years transportation. He arrived in Western Australia on board the Nile in January 1858. After receiving his ticket of leave, he was employed as a tutor by another convict, Frederick Morrell, before being appointed government schoolteacher at Northam
in 1865. Attendance at the school dwindled and the school was eventually closed. Hardy then found other work in Northam, and was later elected to the committee of the Northam Mechanics' Institute.
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
to Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, later to become one of the colony
Penal colony
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
's ex-convict school teachers
Ex-convict school teachers in Western Australia
Following Western Australia's convict era, 37 ex-convicts were appointed school teachers in the colony. The appointment of such a large number of ex-convicts to what was considered a respectable government position was highly unusual for a penal colony, as the social stigma of conviction usually...
.
Cornelius Hardy was born in the early 1830s. Erickson claims 1831, but other records state that he was 23 years old in 1856. In that year, he was working as a clerk in the General Post Office when he and two other clerks were caught stealing money from letters. On 9 March 1856, Hardy was sentenced to fourteen years transportation. He arrived in Western Australia on board the Nile in January 1858. After receiving his ticket of leave, he was employed as a tutor by another convict, Frederick Morrell, before being appointed government schoolteacher at Northam
Northam, Western Australia
Northam is a town in Western Australia, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Mortlock Rivers, about north-east of Perth in the Avon Valley. At the 2006 census, Northam had a population of 6,009. Northam is the largest town in the Avon region...
in 1865. Attendance at the school dwindled and the school was eventually closed. Hardy then found other work in Northam, and was later elected to the committee of the Northam Mechanics' Institute.