Frank Hardy was born to William and Sarah Jane Dobson, in around 1895. He was the youngest of at least seven children born to the couple. William and Sarah married in around 1871 and William came from Treeton, while Sarah came from Rawmarsh, where the family seemed to live for most of their lives, at least since around 1876; eldest child Louisa was born in Treeton in around 1873 but second child Herbert was born in Rawmarsh, in around 1876 as were all his younger siblings.

 

In 1881 the family are living at 3 “Rosehill”, at Rawmarsh and comprise of eldest child Louisa, who is 8 and at school, five year old Herbert, and a three year old Leonard who sadly isn’t included in the 1891 census and may have died in childhood. By 1891 the family are living at 11 Lane Head, Rawmarsh and comprise of William and Sarah, Herbert, Ada and William Jr, who is just 6. William and Herbert are both working in the Colliery. The family didn’t move far in the next 10 years; in 1901 they lived nearby at 19 Lane Head, Rawmarsh. William and Sarah have had more children, and more children have left home. The couple now live with Herbert, who is now 25, Frederick who is just 9 and has been born since the last census, and youngest son Frank who is just six years old. William and Herbert are both working in the colliery, whilst Frederick and Frank are both at school.

 

Sadly, both William and Sarah appear to have died in 1908, leaving Frank an orphan at just thirteen years old. Because of this, and because it is impossible to know where Frank and his next eldest sibling Frederick lived after the death of their parents, it has not been possible to conclusively identify them on the 1911 census, which is a shame.

 

Newspaper reports from the time of his death show that Frank had married, and had a daughter before his death. Records suggest that he married either Lily Smith, or Mabel Smith, in early 1914 at the age of around 19. On the page was listed Frank, Lily Smith, Mabel Smith and Ernest Westoby. Further research has identified a Lily Westoby, and a Mabel Hardy in later life; as such, I believe that Frank married Mabel. Whether the two women were sisters is impossible to say. Further research has revealed a baby girl Evelyn Hardy born to a mother with maiden name Smith, in mid 1914. It is possible that this is Frank and Mabel’s daughter. At the time of his death, Frank’s wife lived at 4 Melton View. 

 

Frank’s service papers cannot be found; it is most likely that they were within the vast swathes of WW1 paperwork which was destroyed by fire in the second world war. The war diaries for his brigade (D Battery 247th Brigade Royal Field Artillery) are similarly vague, and provide little information except to put the brigade in the area around the Schwaben Redoubt.

 

Frank was killed on the 27th September 1916, and is buried in Martinsart British Cemetery, France. 

The Conisbrough and Denaby 100 Project

Frank Hardy