Vernon Lee referred to William Money Hardinge in 1886 as “a rich and fashionable young novelist” (
Letters, ed. Irene Cooper-Willis [London: privately printed, 1937], 224). Tom Stoppard represents Hardinge as the “Balliol student,” without naming him, in
The Invention of Love, describing him as “handsome and debonair” (London: Faber and Faber, 1997, p. 9). It has been Hardinge's fate to be remembered in the twenty-first century, not as a novelist, but as a Balliol student who, because he had written some sonnets celebrating same-sex love and had exchanged love letters with Walter Pater, was rusticated in February 1874 for a term of nine months. As a student, Hardinge played the harmonium in chapel and was awarded the Newdigate Prize in 1876 for his poem “Troy,” which is…
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Citation: Inman, Billie Andrew. "William Money Hardinge". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 November 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5855, accessed 24 November 2024.]
