Andrew (Society of the Divine Compassion)

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Henry Ernest Hardy, who later became Father Andrew (1869–1946), was a British Anglican priest and friar who co-founded the Society of the Divine Compassion to help the poor in London's East End. He was born in Kasauli, India, where his father was a colonel in the Indian army. After growing up in India, he studied at Clifton College, an art school in Bristol, and Keble College, Oxford, where he earned a theology degree in 1891.

While at Oxford, Hardy joined Arthur Winnington-Ingram’s effort to aid the East End poor. He moved to Oxford House in 1891 to work with residents, combining administration with hands-on help. In 1894, with James Adderley and Henry Chappel, he founded the Society of the Divine Compassion, taking vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and adopting the religious name Andrew. He was ordained a priest after training at Ely Theological College. The society was based in Plaistow, East End, and served St Philip’s Church. Andrew became the central figure of the community, serving as priest-in-charge of St Philip’s from 1916 until his death, except for a year spent on retreat in Southern Rhodesia. He was widely respected as a confessor, spiritual guide, and writer, and was also a talented painter.

The House of Divine Compassion, a friary, was established at 92 Balaam Road in 1908 (now 42 Balaam Road). A side building was added as a chapel and is now the home of the Helping Hands ministry; the friary remains active and is heritage-listed.

In 1901 the Society started Whitwell Press, which published religious works and sometimes government contracts. One notable release was a Gospel Stamp Album for children, a small booklet with stamps linked to Sunday services. The press also published other religious works and even some non-religious titles, such as Bernard Sleigh’s Fairyland (1909).

Andrew’s writings covered devotion, poetry, autobiography, plays, and essays. He also wrote lyrics for songs and contributed to the Church of England hymnal with “O Dearest Lord, Thy Sacred Head.” Kathleen E. Burne, his longtime editor and friend, published many of his works and a posthumous biography of him with his letters. Project Canterbury lists 24 published works, and library records show many more, totaling 59 known works. Most were published by A. R. Mowbray & Co., with others from Plaistow Press and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, among others. Today, only one title remains in print: Our Lady’s Hymn, reissued in 2018 by the Akenside Institute for English Spirituality.

On his guiding principle of light, he said: It is the business of the Church to be the candlestick in which that Light ever shines, the holy lamp wherein that flame ever burns.