# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hardwick, Charles (1821-1859)

​HARDWICK, CHARLES (1821–1859), archdeacon of Ely, was born at Slingsby, near Malton, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, on 22 Sept. 1821, in humble circumstances. After receiving some instruction at Slingsby, Malton, and Sheffield, he acted for a short time as usher in schools at Thornton and Malton, and as assistant to the Rev. H. Barlow at Shirland rectory in Derbyshire. In October 1840 he unsuccessfully competed for a sizarship at St. John's College, Cambridge; became pensioner, and afterwards minor scholar of St. Catharine's Hall; was first senior optime in January 1844; became tutor in the family of Sir Joseph Radcliffe at Brussels; and was elected fellow of his college in 1845. He was ordained deacon in 1846, and priest in 1847, in which year also he proceeded M.A. During 1846 he edited Sir Roger Twysden's 'Historical Vindication of the Church of England,' and edited as a supplement F. Fullwood's 'Roma ruit' in 1847. He next edited for the Percy Society (vol. xxviii.) 'A Poem on the Times of ​Edward II' (1849), and an 'Anglo-Saxon Passion of St. George,' with a translation (1850). He was editor-in-chief of the 'Catalogue of the Manuscripts preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge,' contributing descriptions of Early English literature. The first three volumes appeared in 1856, 1857, and 1858 respectively. In 1849 he read before the Cambridge Antiquarian Society 'An Historical Inquiry touching Saint Catherine of Alexandria' (printed with a 'Semi-Saxon Legend' in vol. xv. of the society's quarto series). In 1850 he helped to edit the 'Book of Homilies' for the university press, under the supervision of George Elwes Corrie [q. v.], formerly his tutor. He was select preacher at Cambridge for that year, and in March 1851 became preacher at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall. His 'History of the Articles of Religion' first appeared in 1851, and a second edition, mostly rewritten, in 1859. From March to September 1853 he was professor of divinity in Queen's College, Birmingham. In the same year he printed 'Twenty Sermons for Town Congregations,' a selection from his Whitehall sermons, and 'A History of the Christian Church, Middle Age,' a third edition of which by Dr. William Stubbs, now bishop of Oxford, was issued in 1872. In 1855 he was appointed lecturer in divinity at King's College, Cambridge, and Christian advocate in the university. In the latter capacity he published 'Christ and other Masters: an historical inquiry into some of the chief parallelisms and contrasts between Christianity and the Religious Systems of the ancient world,' 4 pts. 1855–9; 2nd edit., with a memoir of the author by F. Procter, 2 vols. 1863. In 1856 he was elected a member of the newly established council of the senate, and was reelected in 1858. Early in 1856 he published the second volume of his 'History of the Christian Church,' embracing the Reformation period. For the university press he completed in 1858 an edition of the Anglo-Saxon and Northumbrian versions of St. Matthew's Gospel, commenced by J. M. Kemble; and edited for the master of the rolls the Latin 'History of the Monastery of St. Augustine, Canterbury,' preserved in the library of Trinity Hall. For many years he was secretary of the university branch association of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and zealously promoted the proposed Oxford and Cambridge mission to Central Africa. In 1859 he became archdeacon of Ely, and commenced B.D. On 18 Aug. of that year he was killed by falling over a precipice in the Pyrenees. A monument was erected on the spot. He was buried on the 21st in the cemetery at Luchon.
[Procter's Memoir; Gent. Mag. 1859, pt. ii. 419–21; Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1858, p. 175.]
G. G.