Cornelius William John Hardy, or Hardey, (born 1831 or 1833,[a] date of death unknown) was a convict transported to colonial Western Australia, later to become one of the colony's ex-convict school teachers.
In 1856, he was working as a clerk in the General Post Office when he and two other clerks were caught stealing money from letters.
On 9 March 1856, Hardy was sentenced to fourteen years' transportation.
He arrived in Western Australia on board Nile in January 1858.
[2] After receiving his ticket of leave, he was employed as a tutor by another convict, Frederick Morrell, before being appointed government schoolteacher at Northam in 1865.