After the discussion at the South Canterbury Museum on 22 September 2016 on John Hardcastle and the invention of loess stratigraphy there is a need for some more details about JH- in particular his early life. He arrived in NZ on the Maori in 1858, aged eleven.
Beth Tupper, JH's grand-daughter has supplied some details of this early life. JH was born in Wakefield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on 21st January 1847, and was the eldest of a family of twelve. Three generations of the family farmed in Hunsingore, in Nidderdale, and John's father Thomas was born there. He married Caroline Hebb in 1846 when he was 29. John and the next child, Thomas, were born in Wakefield. Then the family moved to Allington, near Grantham, in Lincolnshire, where they had a small farm. John lived there from age 3 to 11 and went to the village school.
Beth Tupper, JH's grand-daughter has supplied some details of this early life. JH was born in Wakefield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on 21st January 1847, and was the eldest of a family of twelve. Three generations of the family farmed in Hunsingore, in Nidderdale, and John's father Thomas was born there. He married Caroline Hebb in 1846 when he was 29. John and the next child, Thomas, were born in Wakefield. Then the family moved to Allington, near Grantham, in Lincolnshire, where they had a small farm. John lived there from age 3 to 11 and went to the village school.
