Mary Hardy (diarist)

Mary Hardy
Hardy in 1785 aged 51, by Huquier (Cozens-Hardy Collection)
Born
Mary Raven

(1733-11-12)12 November 1733
Whissonsett, East Dereham, Norfolk, England
Died23 March 1809(1809-03-23) (aged 75)
Letheringsett, Holt, Norfolk, England
NationalityEnglish
OccupationBrewer's wife (married Whissonsett 22 December 1765)
Known forDiarist
Spouse(s)William Hardy (1732–1811), farmer and wholesale brewer
ChildrenRaven Hardy (1767–1787)
William Hardy (1770–1842)
Mary Ann Cozens, née Hardy (1773–1864)
Parent(s)Robert Raven and Mary, née Fox
RelativesHerbert Hardy Cozens-Hardy, 1st Baron Cozens-Hardy, Master of the Rolls
William H. Cozens-Hardy, 2nd Baron Cozens-Hardy
Hon. Beryl Cozens-Hardy

Mary Hardy (née Raven; 12 November 1733 – 23 March 1809) was an 18th-century English diarist. She depicted commercial and working life in the countryside, being actively engaged in her husband's farming and brewing business. Her 500,000-word record, compiled daily from 1773 to 1809, reveals the exacting, time-pressured nature of pre-mechanised work for the middle and labouring classes.[1][2][3]

  1. ^ Hill, Bridget (1993). Women, Work And Sexual Politics In Eighteenth-Century England. Routledge. pp. 28–33. ISBN 978-1857282139.
  2. ^ Cozens-Hardy, Basil (1957). The History of Letheringsett in the County of Norfolk. Norwich: Jarrold & Sons.
  3. ^ Bird, Margaret (2020). Mary Hardy and her World 1773–1809, 4 vols. Kingston upon Thames: Burnham Press. ISBN 978-1916206755.