The Life of Thomas Hardy
at Bosworth, and was crowned at Westminster in 1486. Strangely enough for a monarch, he remembered his ring and his promise to his benefactor in Jersey. In 1488 he appointed Clement Le Hardy to be Lieutenant-Governor of the island under Matthew Baker, granted him the Seigneurie de Meleche, and vested him with the office of Chief Magistrate, or Bailiff, for life.
Clement had a son named John. This John was not to be held at home in Jersey, even in the midst of the honors which descended upon the family by reason of his father's bravery and generosity. Like his great-great-grandfather, he was attracted to the north. He may also have felt irked by the physical restrictions of his island home.
And so it happened that John Le Hardy migrated to England, with his wife and children, shortly after his father's elevation. He took up his residence vers l'ouest, as the records say, and is reported to have settled somewhere in the valley of the Frome River, perhaps at Toller Wilme. He was the first of the Dorset or "Wessex" Hardys.
Meanwhile the Jersey family carried on the traditions of the great Clement. As adventurous islanders these Le Hardys continued to distinguish themselves, particularly in foreign military service, down to the present day. Their arms were in the last century borne by Lt. Col. Charles Francis Le Hardy of His Majesty's Indian Army. They are
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