Tuesday 17 May 2022

The Hardinge Baronets

This family is descended from

NICHOLAS HARDINGE, who was seated at Kings Newton, Derbyshire, in the reign of HENRY VII; who wedded Isabel, daughter of Edward Webb, and had issue,

SIR ROBERT HARDINGE (1621-79), Knight, of Kings Newton, who married Anne, daughter of Sir Richard Sprignell, Knight.

Sir Robert, a Master in Chancery, raised a royalist troop of horse during the reign of CHARLES I, and entertained CHARLES II at Kings Newton Hall.

Sir Robert, who received the honour of knighthood in 1674, was succeeded by his younger son,

THE REV GIDEON HARDINGE (c1668-1712), Vicar of Kingston-upon-Thames, who left issue,
NICHOLAS, of whom we treat;
Caleb, MD, Physician to the Queen;
Mary, m Sir John Stracey, Knight.
The Rev Gideon Hardinge's elder son,

Nicholas Hardinge MP

NICHOLAS HARDINGE (1699-1758), of Canbury, Surrey, MP for Eye, 1748-54, a barrister, Chief Clerk of the House of Commons, 1731, Attorney-General to the Duke of Cumberland, Joint Secretary to The Treasury, 1752, married, in 1738, Jane, daughter of Sir John Pratt, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench, and had issue,
George, dsp 1816;
Henry (Rev),
father of the 2nd Baronet and Capt George N Hardinge RN;
RICHARD, of whom hereafter;
Juliana; Jane; Caroline.
George Hardinge MP (1743-1816)

The youngest son,

RICHARD HARDINGE (1756-1826), of BELLE ISLE, County Fermanagh, was created a baronet in 1801, designated of BELLE ISLE, County Fermanagh, with remainder to the heirs male of his father.

Sir Richard wedded firstly, in 1793, the Lady Mary Gore, daughter of RALPH, 1ST EARL OF ROSS, by whom he had no issue; and secondly, in 1826, Caroline, daughter of Lieutenant-General Wolf.
Sir Ralph Gore was born at BELLE ISLE in 1725 and was created Earl of Ross in 1772. He died in 1801, leaving Belle Isle to his only surviving child, Mary, who married Sir Richard Hardinge, 1st Baronet, who sold Belle Isle, in 1830, to the Rev John Porter for £68,000 (£5.8 million in today's money).
Sir Richard died without issue, in 1826, when the baronetcy devolved, according to the limitation, upon his nephew,

THE REV SIR CHARLES HARDINGE, 2nd Baronet (1780-1864), Rector of Crowhurst, Surrey, who married, in 1816, Emily Bradford, second daughter of Kenneth Callander, of Craigforth, Stirlingshire, and had issue,
HENRY CHARLES, 3rd Baronet;
EDMUND STRACEY, 4th Baronet;
Robert James;
Caroline Bradford; six other daughters.
It is thought that Sir Charles sold BELLE ISLE, his estate in County Fermanagh, and purchased Boundes Park in Kent.

Their other residence was Ketton Hall, Darlington, County Durham.

Sir Charles was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR HENRY CHARLES HARDINGE, 3rd Baronet (1830-73), who died unmarried, when the title devolved upon his brother,

SIR EDMUND STRACEY HARDINGE, 4th Baronet (1833-1924).

Former residences: 25 Duke Street, off Manchester Square, London; Sundridge, Sevenoaks, Kent.
  • Sir Henry Charles Hardinge, 3rd Baronet (1830-73);
  • Sir Edmund Stracey Hardinge, 4th Baronet (1833–1924);
  • Sir Charles Edmund Hardinge, 5th Baronet (1878–1968);
  • Sir Robert Hardinge, 6th Baronet (1887–1973);
  • Sir Robert Arnold Hardinge, 7th Baronet (1914-86);
  • Sir Charles Henry Nicholas Hardinge, 8th Baronet (1956–2004) – succeeded as 6th Viscount Hardinge in 1984).

THE VISCOUNTCY OF HARDINGE was created in 1846 for the soldier and politician Sir Henry Hardinge.

His son, the 2nd Viscount, represented Downpatrick in Parliament.

His great-great-grandson, the 6th Viscount, succeeded a distant relative as 8th Baronet, of Belle Isle in the County of Fermanagh, in 1986.

This aforementioned baronetcy had been created in 1801 for Richard Hardinge.

He was the third son of Nicolas Hardinge, younger brother of Rev Henry Hardinge and uncle of the latter's third son Henry Hardinge, 1st Viscount Hardinge.

The baronetcy was created with special remainder to the male heirs of Richard Hardinge's father.

Whilst the present and 7th Lord Hardinge is generally believed to be the 8th Hardinge Baronet, the succession has yet to be proved.
The mitre on the Hardinge crest indicates the family's ecclesiastical past. The other crests, two pennants, allude to the naval exploits of George Nicholas Hardinge: As a naval commander, he captained HMS Scorpion in 1803, capturing the brig Atalanta (or Atalante).  
First published in December, 2010.

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