Person:Florence Hardy (1)

Hugh Meets and Marries Florence Hardy

As you travel along Highway 12 from Uptergrove to Orillia you pass throu gh a little place called Atherley. Back in the late 1800's there was an I nn there called Leith's Inn. It still stands today but is called the Ather ley Arms. It was a striptease joint when we passed by in 1991 and in 199 9. A red-haired beauty by the name of Florence Hardy lived with the fami ly who ran the Inn. Florence assisted with family chores and the childre n. When needed she also helped to serve drinks in the pub. It was there th at she first married Hugh McLean.

Florence Hardy was raised by her paternal grandmother (Mrs. Hardy) in a ho use either near or at Jarratt's Corner. Jarratt's located on County Ro ad 22 which runs left off Highway 12 as it leaves Orilliá going northwes t. Jarratt is not far from Bass Lake. Florence's mother died when she w as around 4 years old. Her father, Ed Hardy was left with three small chil dren to raise. Since he was a blacksmith and was away much of the time wor king in lumber camps, he needed help in raising his children. He gave h is second oldest child, Florence, to his mother and his oldest child, Jac k, and his youngest child, Mary, to his wife's mother (Mrs. Currie ), to be raised. Although the family was separated, the children did not l ive far apart. Florence's Dad took her to visit often with her brother a nd sister. Florence told stories of going fishing at Bass Lake with her fa ther when he was home during the summer.

According to Florence, her grandmother, Mrs. Hardy. was very strict. She m ade Florence work quite hard as a child. Some of her chores included white washing the garden rocks, painting the fence, digging weeds and cooking. H er grandmother made sure she learned how to sew and knit. Little did Flore nce know that the skills she learned at that time would serve her we ll in the hard life that was to follow. Florence envied her sister Mary a nd brother Jack who lived with the kind grandmother, Mrs. Currie. All th ey did was play all day. After Florence completed her schooling and when s he was in her teens she left home and got a job working with the Leith Fam ily who ran the Inn at Atherly.

Hugh and Florence married at the Inn and began dating. She was from nor th Orillia which was predominantly Protestant and Hugh was from south Oril lia which was mostly Catholic. When she started hanging out with Catholi cs her fami1y had nothing to do with her with the exception of her fathe r, sister and brother. She lost track of her family at this point and nev er mentioned much about them.

Florence's Dad had a twin brother. Florence had a large framed pictu re of the twins. Mark remembers his mother taking good care of this pictu re while they lived up north and when they moved south. Many commented th at Mark looked exactly like the twin brother.

For years her children never knew of any other Hardys. When Hugh's son Edw ard bought a lodge in Muskoka in the mid 1980's, he often listened to t he Orillia radio station. He heard the Hardy name mentioned in weddings, d eaths, etc. He asked his Aunt Mary if she knew of any other Hardys and s he said her dad had four brothers.

Ed Hardy kept in touch with his children as he travelled across the countr y. The railway was being built across Canada at that time and he had a ste ady Job blacksmithing. He often wrote letters to Florence and Mary telli ng of his adventures. He gave Florence a gold watch which she always wo re around her neck. Sometimes he would send a bit of money.

1. ↑ McLean Helen -"Timeline"
   15.

   QUAY 3 "1958 Sept. - Florence McLean (Hardy) dies. She died at 76 years old."