- A strand of author Thomas Hardy’s hair
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) is considered the laureate of the south west of England. His much-loved novels explore the changing lives of country people in a rapidly industrialising world.
His canon includes Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Far From the Madding Crowd and the Mayor of Casterbridge.
The hair was collected by WG Mills, Thomas Hardy’s barber in Dorchester.
Hardy spent most of his life around Dorchester. He referred to it as Casterbridge in his writings.
Mills writes in a letter of provenance dated August 1963: “I had the esteemed honour to be Thomas Hardy’s hairdresser. The hair you had from me in April 1963, I cut from his head myself. I kept in the box it was in when I passed it on to you.
“It took a long time to collect as he did not like his hair short. I gathered it from the floor myself. There was no other hair on the floor as my customers were always given a clean space.”
This is an intriguing curio connected with one of Britain’s best loved writers.
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