Celebrating Hampshire Historians

Hardcastle,  Félicité Frances

1902 - 1988

Félicité Hardcastle was born in Oxford. Her great grandfather was Sir William Herschel and her father, Joseph Alfred Hardcastle, was also a noted astronomer.  When he died, in 1916, she and her mother moved to the New Forest village of Burley.

Over the next 70 years, Miss Hardcastle immersed herself in village life and was involved in many local organisations, from the Scouts to the parish council. Her interest in archaeology led to her working on excavations in the New Forest, Dorset and Wiltshire.

She devoted much of her adult life to studying, in minute detail, the local history of the area, researching the deeds of practically every home in the parish in the process. She also interviewed the older inhabitants and took photographs of them and their dwellings. The resulting book Records of Burley was published in 1951, with a revised and extended edition some 36 years later.

Miss Hardcastle was awarded the British Empire Medal in December 1987. In the official citation she was called ‘the grand old lady of the New Forest’.

Sources

New Forest Museum

Portrait

Contribution to county’s history

Detailed study of the village of Burley and its New Forest setting.

Relevant published works

• Hardcastle, F. (1987). Records of Burley: Aspects of a New Forest Village. Spalding: Chameleon International.

Critical Comments

Other Comments

Contributor

Dave Allen, October 2021

Key Words

Burley, New Forest

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