John Hardy and his wife Mary; and the brother of
Robert Edward Hardy (1819-1854) was the son of John Hardy and his wife Mary; and the brother of Thomas Hardy. At the Great Exhibition (1851), he displayed carved bread and plated dessert knives, nut picks, and instruments for ladies’ work, and boxes and gentlemen’s dressing cases. His address was Broomhall Street, where he was listed in 1852. However, he died on 11 May 1854, aged 34, and was buried in the General Cemetery. Intriguingly, a Bowie knife made by ‘R. E. Hardy’ of Sheffield was once owned by ‘Bowie Knife’ Potter and intended for use in 1860 in a duel (which never took place) with fellow Congressman Roger A. Pryor (Peterson, 19581). 1. Peterson, Harold L, American Knives: The First History and Collector’s Guide (Highland Park, NJ, 1958)