Alfred Gathorne-Hardy
Alfred Erskine Gathorne-Hardy, styled The Honourable from 1878, was a British Conservative Member of Parliament.
Gathorne-Hardy was the third son of Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook, and Jane Orr. Born Alfred Hardy, he assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Gathorne in 1878 like the rest of his family. The same year he was elected to the House of Commons for Canterbury, a seat he held until 1880, when the constituency was suspended. He returned to Parliament in 1886 when he was returned for East Grinstead, and continued to represent this constituency until 1895.
An observant naturalist he was also a keen shot and fisherman. In 1900 Longmans published his "Autumns in Argyle with Rod and Gun", which is a collection of reminiscences of 30 years worth of sporting visits to his brother-in-law's estate at Poltalloch in Argyll. This estate included historic Dunadd as well as Castle Sween, Carnasserie Castle, and Duntrune - the family seat of the Clan Malcolm. The book has recently been reissued in a facsimile edition.
Gathorne-Hardy died in November 1918, aged 73.
