such as The Volunteers (1860), Early Sorrow (1861), The Sweep (1862), The Young Photographers (1862), The Doctor (1863), The Leaky Roof (1865), The Dismayed Artist (1866) and Baby’s Birthday (1867). Hardy painted at least ten versions of The Sweep, one of his most popular paintings. Some of his paintings from the 1870s were more critical of Victorian society. Looking for Father (1873) portrays a barefoot girl looking through the glass panel of an alehouse door for her father. After the Party (1875) depicts an exhausted servant who has fallen asleep, sitting on a chair, after serving at a party. And The Wedding Dress (1875) portrays a group of seamstresses who have had to work through the night to finish their work. Hardy exhibited ninety-three pictures at the Royal Academy from 1851 to 1898. The sale prices of his paintings were at their peak in the 1870s; in 1877 A Quartette Party (1872) and A Wedding Breakfast (1871) were each sold for £798 at Christie's. From the mid-1870s the Hardys maintained a house in London, at 17 Brunswick Gardens in Kensington, as well as their house in Cranbrook. F.D. Hardy's work is to be found in numerous public collections, notably at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery which holds nineteen of his paintings. Life in Cranbrook. Family About four years after Hardy settled in Cranbrook his friend Thomas Webster, who was related to Hardy's mother, came to live there. For their studios, Hardy and Webster rented a sixteenth century house in the High Street; Hardy's studio was the front room on the ground floor and Webster's studio was the front room above. Several more artists, friends of Webster and Hardy, and Frederick's elder brother George, came to live in Cranbrook or were frequent visitors from London; they became known as the Cranbrook Colony. The Cranbrook artists and their families often met for dinners, teas and parties. Hardy was involved in many activities in Cranbrook: he was an officer in the 37th Kent Rifle Volunteer Corps, a Churchwarden, a Committee member of the Literary Association, a Member of the Cricket Club and a participant at musical evenings in the town. Frederick and Rebecca Hardy had four sons and a daughter. Their eldest son Frederick (1853-1937), attended the Royal Academy Schools and became an artist, using the name “Dorofield Hardy”. Their fourth son, Edwin George (1859-1896), became an architect after studying at the Royal Academy