2 June 1840: Thomas Hardy is born

In a tiny thatched cottage in the rolling Dorset countryside in England, Thomas Hardy was born on 2 June 1840. The son of a stonemason and a homemaker, Hardy’s world was steeped in rural life and its rhythms, a backdrop that would later become the fabric of his storytelling. His father, also named Thomas, was known for his skills with stone, while his mother, Jemima, had an intellect and ambition that she readily passed on to her eldest son.

Jemima Hardy, in particular, shaped young Thomas’s early years. Though his schooling was modest—first at the village school and later with a tutor—it provided the foundation for his voracious appetite for knowledge. Hardy was a bookish boy, shy and introspective, often preferring the company of his books and the natural world to the boisterous play of other children. His early exposure to the classics, thanks to Jemima, laid the groundwork for his literary inclinations.

Despite his academic leanings, Hardy’s future seemed destined to follow in his father’s footsteps when he was apprenticed as an architect at age 16. His work restoring churches allowed him to immerse himself in England’s past, and his solitary walks through the countryside nurtured his imagination. These landscapes probably inspired his richly drawn “Wessex,” the fictional region that serves as the stage for many of his works.

While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not published until 1898. Initially, he gained fame as the author of novels such as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscure (1895).

Thomas Hardy died on 11 January 1928, at the age of 87, in his beloved Dorset, leaving behind a legacy as one of England’s most celebrated novelists and poets. His works continue to resonate with readers today, immortalizing the beauty and tragedy of rural life in the Victorian era.