Maria Hardy and Sarah Jane Hardy are, from what I can tell, both daughters of the same person (Lancelot Hardy), born to different mothers. Maria born to Ann Wood Hardy and Sarah Jane born to Jane Tricker Hardy. Both appear to have been born in 1844. A number of different sources imply that their birth years were 1844, including their gravestones:
I had thought that perhaps Maria Hardy's birthday of 29 October 1844 was accurate, but perhaps that Sarah Jane Hardy was born in 1845. Then it would all fit if Ann Wood died in 1844 and Lancelot remarried Jane Tricker in 1845. But it got a little more complicated when I recently discovered the birth of Harriet Hardy in July of 1846.
We now know that Harriet Hardy was born in July of 1846 from the baptism record and was the daughter of Lancelot and Jane. Which means that Jane would have become pregnant sometime around November of 1845. So then if we have Maria Hardy born in October of 1844 and somewhere in between October of 1844 and November of 1845, you have the birth of Sarah Jane Hardy. Which seems a lot to have happened in a short period of time, if my original timeline is correct. So, rethinking the information that I have, here are the possibilities as I see them:
1) The dates that I have or 1844 and 1845 are correct.
Which means that in the span of about year, Ann Wood Hardy gave birth to Maria Hardy, then died, then Lancelot Hardy married Jane Tricker very shortly thereafter, she got pregnant and gave birth to Sarah Jane Hardy and then got pregnant again shortly thereafter. That’s a lot happening in a very short period of time.
2) The dates I have are not correct
Which seems the more likely case, but then what dates are wrong? Was Maria born earlier than 1844? That is going to take some more analysis to determine if it is a possibility.
3) Lancelot had an extramarital affair and/or abandoned Ann Wood
This one could be a possibility. Divorce would have been unlikely at the time, but Lancelot could have had an extramarital affair and/or abandoned Ann Wood. This option would certainly fit within the time line. But if this the case, it opens up some other questions, particularly as to when Ann Wood Hardy died. It had been assumed that she died in 1844, but this opens the door to a number of possibilities.
4) Twins
In this scenario, Maria Hardy and Sarah Jane Hardy were twins, born to the same mother (either Ann Wood or Jane Tricker) and I have the wrong mother for one of them. This seems a bit unlikely though, because it goes against all the other evidence.
5) Different Lancelots
The last possibility is that there are two different Lancelot Hardys. I have looked at this possibility before. We know that Lancelot born about 1793 was definitely married to Ann Wood. The Lancelot Hardy born 1827 can’t have been married to both Jane Tricker and Frances Snowden. So, it would have to mean that there was a third Lancelot Hardy living in Toronto Township at the time, which seems very unlikely.
So, given the above, I’m thinking that either #2 or #3 are the most likely possibilities. But technically any of them could be. Unfortunately, there aren't a whole lot of documents available from that time period to help.
Sources:
[TBD] Churchville Cemetery (Canada, Ontario).
[D02014] Churchville Cemetery (Canada, Ontario).
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