George Hardinge

The third son of Nicholas Hardinge, clerk of the House of Commons, George Hardinge attended Eton College (1753-60), Trinity College Cambridge (M.A. by mandate 1769) and the Middle Temple (1764). He was solicitor general (1782), member of Parliament for Old Sarum (1784-1802 — a sometimes ally of Edmund Burke), attorney-general to Queen Charlotte (1794) and senior justice of Brecon, Glamorgan (1787-1816). He was F.S.A. (1769), F.R.S. (1788). Byron refers to Hardinge as the "waggish Welsh Judge."

TEXT RECORDS:

1782Rowley and Chatterton in the Shades [Spenserian Stanzas].
1782Rowley and Chatterton in the Shades.
1782To the Dygne Reader, with this Discoursing Interlude.
1792Sonnet. Written in 1792, at Rennie in Ireland, where Spenser had an Estate, and resided.
1799The Editor, the Bookseller, and the Critic. An Eclogue.
1800 ca.An Elegy, in imitation of Gray.
1805 ca.Address intended for a Meeting of the Literary Fund.

PUBLICATIONS:

Rowley and Chatterton in the shades. 1782.
The defence of T. Rumbold, stated by his counsel. 1783.
A series of letters to Rt. Hon. Edmund Burke. 1791.
Chalmeriana: or a collection of papers ... occasioned by reading a late ... apology for the believers in the Shakespeare papers. 1800.
The editor, the booksellers, and the critic, an eclogue from No. XII of a collection of papers entitled Chalmeriana. 1800.
Essence of Malone. 1800.
Another essence of Malone. 1801.
The filial tribute. 1807.
To Charles Manning, Esq. [An elegy]. 1808.
The Russian chiefs, an ode. 1813.
Biographical anecdotes of Daniel Wray. 1816.
Biographical memoirs of the Rev. Sneyd Davies, D.D. 1816.
Miscellaneous works in prose and verse, ed. John Nichols. 3 vols, 1818.
Poems, Latin, Greek, and English, collected and revised by George Hardinge, Esq. 1818.

PROFILE AND
ASSOCIATES:

English
Welsh
Anglican

Eton College
Trinity College Cambridge
Master of Arts
Middle Temple
Inns of Court
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellow of Society of Antiquaries
Member of Parliament
courtier

lawyer
antiquary
editor
poet

Gentleman's Magazine
The Morning Chronicle

Dr. Mark Akenside
Bp. Lewis Bagot
Brooke Boothby
Edmund Burke
Richard Owen Cambridge
Edward Capell
George Chalmers
Richard Cumberland
Rev. Sneyd Davies
Capel Lofft
Edmond Malone
John Nichols
Rev. Richard Polwhele
Bp. Beilby Porteus
Anna Seward
Rev. Michael Tyson
Horace Walpole

REFERENCE:

DNB; not NCBEL; CBEL (3rd ed).

David Rivers, Literary Memoirs of Living Authors (1798); John Nichols, Literary Anecdotes (1812-15); Biographical Dictionary of Living Authors (1816); obituary in New Monthly Magazine 5 (June 1816) 464; obituary in Gentleman's Magazine 86 (May-June 1816) 469-70, 563; Annual Register for 1816 (1816) 215; memoir in Monthly Magazine 42 (February 1817) 85-86; memoir in Nichols, Illustations (1817-58) 3:1-48, correspondence 3:145-234 [portrait]; Life by John Nichols in Miscellaneous Works (1818) [portrait]; Robert Watt, Bibliotheca Britannica (1824); The Georgian Era: Memoirs of the most Eminent Persons (1832-34); Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858-71; 1882); Eton College Register, 1753-1790 (1921); Longaker, in English Biography (1931) 232-34; Venn and Venn, Alum. Cant. (1940-54); Valentine, British Establishment (1970); Introduction in Hardinge, Rowley and Chatterton, ed. Joan Pittock (Los Angeles: Augustan Reprint Society, 1979).

COMMENTARY RECORDS
for George Hardinge:

1.	1775 ca.  Sir William Jones, sonnet to George Hardinge, 1775 ca.; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 3:11.
2.	1786  Anna Seward to George Hardinge, 23 September 1786; Letters, ed. Scott (1811) 1:171-73.
3.	1793  Verney Lovett to Thomas Percy, 22 September 1793; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 8:294-95.
4.	1800  John Taylor Esq., "To George Hardinge, on being desired to read his Pamphlet entitled The Essence of Malone" 1800; Taylor, Poems on Various Subjects (1827) 1:266-67.
5.	1801  Andrew Caldwell to Thomas Percy, 4 March 1801; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 8:32.
6.	1802  Surbiton, "Twickenham Meadows. Addressed to G. H. Esq." The St. James's Chronicle (21 September 1802).
7.	1805  Lady Jerningham to Lady Bedingfield, 25 March 1805; The Jerningham Letters (1896) 1:264-65.
8.	1814  Frederick Bewley, "Charade, addressed to George Hardinge, Esq." New Monthly Magazine 1 (April 1814) 286.
9.	1816  Capel Lofft to Richard Polwhele, 22 October 1816; Polwhele, Traditions and Recollections (1826) 2:688.
10.	1817  Henry Crabb Robinson, 11 March 1817; Diary, Reminiscences, and Correspondence (1870; 1872) 1:290.
11.	1818  Richard Polwhele, "To the Memory of Mr. Justice Hardinge" Gentleman's Magazine 88 (Supplement to Part I, 1818) 617.
12.	1818  Anonymous, in Review of Hardinge, Miscellanies; British Critic NS 11 (1818) 204-05.
13.	1907  E. V. Lucas, in A Swan and her Friends (1907) 216-17.

BIOGRAPHY RECORDS
for George Hardinge:

1.	1798  David Rivers, in Literary Memoirs of Living Authors (1798) 1:237.
2.	1816  Anonymous, in Biographical Dictionary of Living Authors (1816) 434-35.
3.	1816  Anonymous, Obituary in New Monthly Magazine 5 (June 1816) 464.
4.	1816  Anonymous, Obituary in Gentleman's Magazine 86 (May, June 1816) 469-70, 563.
5.	1818  John Nichols, Memoir in Harding, Miscellaneous Works (1818) 1:x-xliii.
6.	1832  William Clarke and Robert Shelton Mackenzie, in The Georgian Era: Memoirs of the most eminent Persons who have flourished in Great Britain (1832-34) 2:300.
7.	1834  G. G. Cunningham, in Memoirs of Illustrious Englishmen (1834-37) 7:255-58.

AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(commentary records)

1.	1772  Dr. Mark Akenside:   George Hardinge to Horace Walpole, 27 July 1772; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 3:185.
2.	1777 ca.  Edward Capell:   George Hardinge to Horace Walpole, 1777 ca.; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 3:203-04.
3.	1790 ca.  Henry Fielding:   George Hardinge, "At the Upton Inn, celebrated by Fielding" 1790 ca.; Hardinge, Miscellaneous Works (1818) 2:62.
4.	1790 ca.  William Jackson of Exeter:   George Hardinge, "To William Jackson, of Exeter" 1790 ca.; Hardinge, Miscellaneous Works (1818) 2:13.
5.	1790 ca.  Anna Seward:   George Hardinge, "To Miss Seward" 1790 ca.; Hardinge, Miscellaneous Works (1818) 2:15.
6.	1790 ca.  Helen Maria Williams:   George Hardinge, "To Miss Williams; addressed by her grateful Admirer and Friend, whose Opinion she consulted upon her Ode To Poesy" 1790 ca.; Hardinge, Miscellaneous Works (1818) 2:98-99.
7.	1797 ca.  William Roscoe:   George Hardinge, "To William Roscoe, Esq." 1797 ca.; Hardinge, Miscellaneous Works (1818) 2:15.
8.	1799  Sir James Bland Burges:   George Hardinge, "Chalmeriana. Epigram V. A Chimerical Epigram" Morning Chronicle (9 September 1799).
9.	1799  Edward Capell:   George Hardinge, "Chalmeriana No. VI. Capell's Ghost. A Parody" Morning Chronicle (8 October 1799).
10.	1799  George Chalmers:   George Hardinge, "Chalmeriana. Epigram I" Morning Chronicle (5 September 1799).
11.	1800 ca.  Richard Owen Cambridge:   George Hardinge, "The Vale of Years. To Mr. Cambridge" 1800 ca.; Hardinge, Miscellaneous Works (1818) 2:103-04.
12.	1800 ca.  David Hume:   George Hardinge, in "Miscellaneous Observations" 1800 ca.; Miscellaneous Works (1818) 3:130-31.
13.	1800 ca.  Samuel Johnson:   George Hardinge, in "Miscellaneous Observations" 1800 ca.; Miscellaneous Works (1818) 3:139-40.
14.	1800 ca.  Sir William Jones:   George Hardinge, "Impromptu, on reading a Discourse by Sir William Jones" 1800 ca.; Hardinge, Miscellaneous Works (1818) 2:133.
15.	1800 ca.  Rev. William Mason:   George Hardinge, in "Miscellaneous Observations" 1800 ca.; Miscellaneous Works (1818) 3:134-36.
16.	1805 ca.  Richard Cumberland:   George Hardinge, "To Richard Cumberland, Esq." 1805 ca.; Hardinge, Miscellaneous Works (1818) 2:105-06.
17.	1807 ca.  Sir James Bland Burges:   George Hardinge, "On the Exodiad" 1807 ca.; Hardinge, Miscellaneous Works (1818) 2:389.
18.	1810 ca.  Richard Owen Cambridge:   George Hardinge, 1810 ca.; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 1:58-59.
19.	1810 ca.  John Chute:   George Hardinge, 1810 ca.; Nichols, Literary Anecdotes of the XVIII Century (1812-15) 8:526.
20.	1810 ca.  Elizabeth Montagu:   George Hardinge, "On the Letters and Works of Mrs. Montagu" 1810 ca.; Hardinge, Miscellaneous Works (1818) 2:97-98.
21.	1810 ca.  Rev. John Whaley:   George Hardinge, 1810 ca.; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 1:502-03.
22.	1812  Richard Cumberland:   George Hardinge to William Mudford, 15 November 1812; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 3:821.
23.	1812 ca.  Anna Seward:   George Hardinge, 1812 ca.; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 1:488-89.
24.	1814  Rev. Michael Tyson:   George Hardinge to John Nichols, 29 June 1814; Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the XVIII Century (1817-58) 3:35.
25.	1815  Rev. Richard Polwhele:   George Hardinge to Richard Polwhele, 8 May 1815; Polwhele, Traditions and Recollections (1826) 2:670-73.

AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(biography records)

1.	1813  William Hall:   George Hardinge, 1813; in Nichols, Literary Anecdotes of the XVIIIth Century (1812-15) 8:520.
2.	1814  Dr. Mark Akenside:   George Hardinge, in Nichols, Literary Anecdotes of the XVIII Century (1812-15) 8:521-25.