Aspects of Kentish Local History

THE loss of Dr. Hardman at the age of 81 will be felt by every Member of the Society who was brought into contact with him. He was something more than a mere scholar in as much as he took great delight in promoting scholarship in others. His library was ever at the service of the student and he had an apparently inexhaustible supply of reference books which he delighted to give to those who were likely to make good use of them. In many cases these books could only have been obtained elsewhere with great difficulty and at a considerable price so that they conferred very real benefit on the recipients. His library was noteworthy for the very large number of books devoted to philology; and these were in many different languages, with all of which he seemed to have sufficient acquaintance for his purposes. Only those who have discussed with him at length and in detail the possible origin of some Indo-European root can be aware of how extensive his knowledge really was. We must all regret that he never published any contribution to this aspect of archaeology other than two or three very small booklets on Kentish Place-Names. These were valuable and interesting but were scarcely proportionate to his knowledge of European Place-Names and their origin. He was Chairman of the Records Branch of the Kent Archaeological Society

and in this connection found the opportunity to do a great deal of useful work on the Kent Feet of Fines, the first part of which has already been published. He also contributed to Archaeologia Cantiana articles on Castle-Guard at Dover, The Sea Valley of Deal and, with the Hon. Editor, on the History of Stonar. He was still very interested in the latter subject at the time of his death. In addition to his published work he had accumulated considerable manuscript material with regard to two Kentish Parishes, Ringwould and Nonington. I believe that this material has passed into the hands of the Kent Archaeological Society. He was a member of the Council of the Society for many years and in this capacity also did excellent service to the cause of archaeology. This is not the place to write at length of his official life as a Coroner, Clerk to the late Walmer Urban District Council, Registrar of the Deal County Court, etc., except to say that in these spheres also he left his mark as an able administrator and public servant. In the councils of the Society and the realm of scholarship the death of Dr. Hardman leaves a gap which will not easily be filled. In the circle of friends the gap will be even greater.
                                               G. W.