Portrait of Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy, three-quarter-length, with a telescope in his right hand, his left hand resting on a cannon, his ship beyond

Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy (1666-1732) was born in Jersey and is said to have entered the Royal Navy under the patronage of Captain George Churchill, the younger brother of John, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Whether this is true or not, Hardy certainly served with him as 1st Lieutenant of the St. Andrew at the Battle of Barfleur in May 1692 and thereafter was given command of the fireship Charles. In September 1695 he was appointed to the 48-gun Pendennis and, after several other commands, he was given the Pembroke in January 1702 which formed part of Sir George Rooke's Mediterranean Fleet. During a mission after the failure to take Cadiz, Hardy took Pembroke into Lagos for water and there learned that the combined Franco-Spanish fleet from the West Indies had put into Vigo. As a direct result of this information, Rooke sailed into Vigo where he took or destroyed the enemy fleet and captured a large amount of bullion. Appropriately, Rooke sent Hardy home with the news of the victory where he was received by Queen Anne, knighted for "his good services" and rewarded with £1000 as well as the command of the 70-gun Bedford. Participating in the various Mediterranean campaigns from 1703 onwards, he found himself court-martialled in 1707 for not leaving the valuable convoy he was escorting to Lisbon in pursuit of a French squadron but was fully acquitted with the strong support of Admiral Sir John Leake under whom he had served with distinction. Promoted Rear-Admiral in 1711, he was then given a command in the North Sea which gave him time to stand and be elected as Member of Parliament for Weymouth in the same year. Later still in 1711 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief at the Nore and other senior postings followed until his last sea-going appointment, that of second-in-command of a fleet sent to the Baltic in 1715. Promoted Vice-Admiral after he returned home, he retired soon afterwards and was buried in Westminster Abbey following his death on 16th August 1732.