The market town of Dorchester is more than simply the county capital of Dorset. It was home to one of Englands most revered novelists - Thomas Hardy (1840-1928).
Hardy was responsible for penning such works as 'Far From the Madding Crowd', 'Jude The Obscure', 'The Mayor of Casterbridge', 'The Return of the Native' and'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' among others. All of these generally shared the common themes of rural life, oppresive Victorian society and tragic,
alienated heros and heroines. Cheerful stuff !!
The County Museum in Dorchester has a huge collection of hardy artefacts including this re-constuction of his study.
One of the most interesting aspects of Hardys work is that he based many of his characters, locations and stories on fact. The fictional county of 'Wessex' appears in many of his books and is based on real locations in SW England. Similarly, some of the tragic incidents and events in his novels come directly from newspaper clippings of the time.
Thomas Hardy died on January 11, 1928 at his house in Dorchester. He had expressed the wish to be buried beside his first wife, Emma, but his wishes were only partly regarded; his body was interred in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey, and only his heart was buried in Emma's grave at Stinsford...
...Did You Know?
A rumour has persisted since Hardy's death that it is not the author's heart that was buried beside Emma. The story goes that Hardy's housekeeper placed his heart on the kitchen table, where it was promptly devoured by her cat. Apparently a pig's heart was used to replace Hardy's own. Truth? Fiction? We will probably never know.
Nastasija Kinski in the film adaptation, "Tess".
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