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McHardy History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

McHardy History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland
England

The ancestors of the first families to use the name McHardy lived in ancient Scotland in the kingdom of Dalriada. The name was then used as a nickname for a brave person. This surname is a nickname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. Nicknames form a broad and miscellaneous class of surnames, and can refer directly or indirectly to one's personality, physical attributes, mannerisms, or even their habits of dress. The surname McHardy comes from the Old French and Old English word hardi, which means brave. 1

Another source claims that the name was originally Norman as the Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae lists Roger, Hunfrid, Robert and Nicholas Hardi in Normandy, 1180-1195. 2

Early Origins of the McHardy family

The surname McHardy was first found in Lanarkshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig) a former county in the central Strathclyde region of Scotland, now divided into the Council Areas of North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, and the City of Glasgow.

"The home county of the MacHardies is the Highlands of Aberdeenshire and the immediate neighborhood north and south, but with some few unimportant exceptions they did not own land on Deeside. They were, however, numerous and influential. The Strathdon branch counted themselves of the Clan Chattan and followed Macintosh as their chief. Dr. Macbain suggested that the name came from Pictish Gartnaigh, pronounced Gratney, a well-known name of old in Mar. (There was an earl of Mar called Gartney or Gratney about 1300.) He thinks it was developed to MacCardney or MacCarday, and ultimately before 1587 to MacHardy." 3

Further to the south in England, the root of the name was more often than not found. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 listed Thomas Hardi (with no place of origin) and later, Thomas Hardy was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. 4

"We learn from the Hundredorum Rolls that six centuries ago, Hardi or Hardy was also an east country name, occurring then in the counties of Norfolk, Bedfordshire, Cambridge, Huntingdonshire, etc. " 5

Over in Ireland, "the ubiquitous English surname Hardy in Ireland often conceals an ancient Gaelic Irish name MacGiolla Deacair. Deacair is the Irish word for hard. The early Anglicized form of this name was Macgilledogher. This is now obsolete and in the absence of a reliable pedigree, or at least of a well established family tradition, it is not possible to distinguish between Hardys of English and Hardys of Irish origin. " 6

The famous English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), hailed from Stinsford, Dorset, England where his father Thomas Hardy (1811-1892) worked as a stonemason and local builder.

Early History of the McHardy family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McHardy research. Another 259 words (18 lines of text) covering the years 1296, 1505, 1519, 1529, 1560, 1566, 1586, 1606, 1613, 1618, 1633, 1636, 1643, 1651, 1666, 1667, 1670, 1676, 1680, 1682, 1691, 1696, 1705, 1732, 1744, 1797 and 1890 are included under the topic Early McHardy History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

McHardy Spelling Variations

In various documents McHardy has been spelled Since medieval scribes still spelled according to sound, records from that era contain an enormous number of spelling variations. Hardy, Hardie, Hardey, MacHardy and others.

Early Notables of the McHardy family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Nathaniel Hardy (1618-1670), Dean of Rochester, son of Anthony Hardy of London, born in the Old Bailey, 14 Sept. 1618, and was baptised in the church of St. Martin's, Ludgate. 7Samuel Hardy (1636-1691), English nonconformist minister, born at Frampton, Dorsetshire. 7Sir Thomas Hardy (1666-1732), English vice-admiral, grandson of John Le Hardy (1606-1667), solicitor-general of Jersey, son of John Le...
Another 66 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early McHardy Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the McHardy family to Ireland

Some of the McHardy family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 110 words (8 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

McHardy migration to the United States +

Many who arrived from Scotland settled along the east coast of North America in communities that would go on to become the backbones of the young nations of the United States and Canada. In the American War of Independence, many settlers who remained loyal to England went north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. Their descendants later began to recover the lost Scottish heritage through events such as the highland games that dot North America in the summer months. Research into various historical records revealed some of first members of the McHardy family emigrate to North America:

McHardy Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Alexander McHardy, who arrived in Savanna(h), Georgia in 1826 8

McHardy migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

McHardy Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

John McHardy, aged 18, a baker, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Arab" in 1841
Mr. Alexander McHardy, Scottish settler from Leith travelling from Leith aboard the ship 'Melbourne' arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 18th March 1861 9
Mr. Alexander Mchardy, (b. 1832), aged 29, Scottish ploughman, from Aberdeenshire travelling from Bristol aboard the ship "Rhea Sylvia" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 2nd May 1861 10
Mr. George McHardy, Scottish settler travelling from Glasgow aboard the ship "Paria" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 6th January 1866 10

Contemporary Notables of the name McHardy (post 1700) +

Peter McHardy, American politician, Mayor of Hibbing, Minnesota, 1905 11
Iain William Thomson Duff McHardy (1913-2000), Scottish eminent Anglican priest, Dean of Moray, Ross and Caithness (1977-1980)
Emmet Charles McHardy (1904-1933), New Zealand catholic missionary
Major-General Alexander Anderson McHardy DSO (1868-1958), British first Colony Commissioner of the Boy Scout Association, Hong Kong Branch in 1914 and 1915
Todd McHardy (b. 1977), former Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne Football Club from 1995 to 1997
John McHardy Mauldin, American politician, Mayor of Greenville, South Carolina, 1933-37 12

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
MacLysaght, Edward, Supplement to Irish Families. Baltimore: Genealogical Book Company, 1964. Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 22) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 7) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html