ABSTRACT
hardy arrived in London on Thursday, April 17, 1862. Pink-cheeked, with a small incipient moustache that tried manfully to conceal his youthfulness, he carried a letter of introduction from John Hicks to an architect-friend of his, John Norton. Mr. Norton had no vacancy on his office-staff at this time, but he generously made a place for Hardy until the Dorchester youth could find better employment. Within a week Chance, with that 'waggery of fate' that Hardy was later to write about, presented Norton with an inquiry from another London architect, Arthur Blomfield, who was seeking a young draughtsman who could deal with designs for church and other Gothic 'restorations'. Norton recommended Hardy, and on Monday morning, May 5, Hardy went to work for Arthur Blomfield. For the rest of the year 1862 he worked at 8 St. Martin's Place; in the following year he moved with Blomfield to larger offices on the second floor of 8 Adelphi Terrace, from the windows of which he could look out on the River Thames.
