Eustace Gilbert HARDINGE

1873 - 1961  (88 years)

• Name	Eustace Gilbert HARDINGE
  Born	06 May 1873	Rangoon, Pegu, Burma
  Gender	Male
  _UID	14A00F38D3CF4E29A918A6AAF348ACDBE78D
  Died	22 Aug 1961	Loma LInda, San Bernadino Co. CA
  Buried	Montecito Memorial Park, Loma Linda, San Bernadino Co. CA
  Notes	He was a surveyor in India. For more information on this family, please contact Peter Singleton pdj_singleton@hotmail.com. California Death Records Last Name First Name Middle Birth Date HARDINGE EUSTACE G 05/06/1873 Mother Maiden Father Last Sex Birth Place FRANKLIN M REST (OTHER) Death Place Residence Death Date Age SAN BERNARDINO 08/22/1961 88 yrs 1940 United States Federal Census Name: E G Hardinge Respondent: Yes Age: 66 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1874 Gender: Male Race: White Birthplace: Burma Marital Status: Married Relation to Head of House: Head Home in 1940: Mission, San Bernardino, California Street: Central House Number: 360 Farm: No Owned: valued at $5000 Inferred Residence in 1935: Adelaide, Australia Residence in 1935: Adelaide, Australia Citizenship: Alien Education: College 2 years Occupation: Superintendent, Government Services Household Members: E G Hardinge 66 C G Hardinge 58 A G Hardinge 15 Southern Asia Tidings,vol. 78, No. 10 October, 1983 BEGINNINGS OF SDA [Seventh Day Adventist] WORK IN ASSAM MIRIAM HARDINGE One day in the year 1908 a Seventh-day Adventist Colporteur knocked at door number 49 Wellesley Street, in a residential area of Calcutta, India. She was shown into the presence of the lady of the house, and presented her canvass. The lady showed little interest in the religious books the colporteur was displaying, and was preparing to usher the unwanted visitor out when she was struck with an idea. "Now, if you were only selling a cookbook that would show me how to cook without meat, I would be interested," she said. "The market is a disgrace and I don't want to buy anything more from it. I would like to learn how to manage without the disease-laden meat that is all that is obtainable here," she continued. "Madam, I think I can help you with that," replied the book saleswoman, "Just wait for a few days and I will be back with a book of vegetarian recipes." True to her word the colporteur returned a few days later with a vegetarian cookbook. While the lady was scanning the recipes in rapture, the colporteur asked, "Do you know how to cook vegetarian food?" "No!" she replied, and then asked, "Do you?" "Yes!" was the response. "Would you care for me to demonstrate how to prepare some vegetarian dishes?" she then asked politely. "Why, yes," hesitantly replied the lady of the house, "but would that not be an imposition?" "It can be easily arranged," replied the colporteur. And so it happened that a few days later the local Adventist Bible Instructor who was the colporteur, again presented herself at the Hardinge home. Constance Hardinge took to her immediately, and she and the Indian cook were soon turning out surprisingly tasty dishes without the help of meat under the Bible Instructor's tutellage. Dr. Mervyn Hardinge still has this cook book and on the fly leaf is written "Constance Hardinge, 1908." As for the Bible Instructor, she was far more interested in giving the Hardinge family spiritual food than in improving their menus, important though it was. With wisdom and heavenly tact she unfolded the truths of the third angel's message, until first Constance Hardinge, and then her husband and their two children, Phyllis and Ivan, accepted the Lord and were eventually baptized, and became early members of the Seventh-day Adventist church in Calcutta. Several years passed by, and one day in 1915 Mr. Hardinge received word that the survey department of the government of India, for whom he worked, was about to transfer him to a more responsible position. "I don't know where it will be," he told his wife. "Oh, I hope it is in the northwest somewhere," said Mrs. Hardinge, "You know there is a good Seventh- day Adventist school, Vincent Hill, in Mussouri. How wonderful it would be if we were sent somewhere near, so that we could send Phyllis and Ivan to it. "Yes, wouldn't it!" acquiesced Mr. Hardinge, "and it won't be many more years before Leslie and Mervyn will be readv for school. Let's pray that the government will send us near Mussouri." So daily their prayers ascended for the move to be in the westerly direction of Mussouri, but always they ended with the words, "Thy will be done." But it was not God's will. When the orders came, Mr. Hardinge was invited to be the officer-in-charge of the Assam Survey and Traverse Party with the responsibility of making revenue maps of the province of Assam, located eastward, an area that had never been completely surveyed. The family would live in Shillong, the capital of Assam. Assam! it was as far from Mussouri where they longed to go as it could be! Their disappointment was great. How could this be God's will? they were tempted to ask. But it must be! So instead of attending a Seventh-day Adventist school the Hardinge children were obliged to look for their education to the Catholic schools found in Shillong. Was this God's will? Back in Calcutta Mr. Hardinge had made inquiries about the church in Shillong. They had so much enjoyed the fellowship in the Calcutta church and looked forward to being united with the Adventist family in their new station. "There is no church there," he was told. "Nor is there an Adventist in the whole of Assam," the mission added with regret. "No church?" "No, and no believers there at all? yet! You will be isolated members," he was informed. So the Hardinges moved to Shillong in 1915, and did the best they could to witness for Christ in the circumstances. They subscribed to The Review and Herald, The Youth's Instructor, and Our little Friend and bought Advenrist and other good books by Ellen White as they came out. In Shillong they made every Sabbath a special day for their family. On fine days they would seek out a beautiful spot beneath some trees, and have Sabbath School and take turns reading from papers and books, and they would hike in the beautiful hills around Shillong, especially beyond the Polo grounds. On rare occasions, every three or four years, a pastor from the mission office in Calcutta would make the long trip to look up these isolated members and encourage them. Pastors Wilson, Wellman, Wyman and Raymond were given great welcomes when they took the trouble to visit them. The Gilliards from Australia, and their family stayed in Shillong for a year, fostering the interests. The concern which the Hardinges felt went beyond their own family to their neighbours. Invitations were given first to the friends of the children Phyllis and Ivan, and then to their parents, to join the family group on Friday evening for hymn singing, and later for Sabbath Bible studies. Personal Bible studies followed, and in due course one of the visiting pastors was called upon to conduct a baptism. In 1928 the first baptism was carried out by Pastor Keller. It consisted of an 84 year old man, Mr. Matthews, and Leslie and Mervyn Hardinge in a stream called the Umkhrah. Then Mr. Doram was baptized and began to sell Adventist books. Soon there was a little company in the Hardinge living room at Shillong on Bancroft Road. But even that was not enough for the missionary-minded Hardinges. Often Mr. Hardinge would lift up his eyes to the Khasi Hills among which they lived. They were populated by simple, untaught people, many of whom were bound in the chains of heathen worship and animistic customs. They needed the Gospel. Who was to take it to them? He seemed to hear a Voice saying, "You, Mr. Hardinge." "But I don't know the language," was his excuse. But God does not receive our excuses when they try to get us out of serving Him. Painstakingly he wrote a tract in English. In simple words it told the story of the Gospel embedded in the doctrines of the Adventist message, in words which the Holy Spirit made appealing and beautiful. As Mr. Hardinge travelled up and down Assam, he became known as the sahib who did not smoke or drink, did not eat meat and kept the Sabbath as his holy day. An employee in Mr. Hardinge's office was familiar with the Khasi language, so he paid him to make a translation of the tract he had written into Khasi. To make sure that every- thing was correct and clear Mr. Hardinge had someone else who knew Khasi translate and read it back to him in Bengali! At last satisfied that the tract said what he intended, Mr. Hardinge had it printed at hisown cost. And as he went into the hill country on his survey trips he took along copies and distributed them far and wide. God had promised that His Word will not return unto Him void, and so it was that one by one as a result of this little Khasi tract, people came to learn more of the message contained in it. The Gospel light was spreading! There were young people among those who made inquiries and listened to the teaching of the Word, and the Hardinges thought to themselves, "There should be a school to train these young people." More years went by. All but one of Surat the Hardinge children left to seek higher education in England. Retirement time was coming around. The Hardinges felt that they would need to sell their home and leave India. But because times were changing in India, it was getting more and more difficult for Europeans to sell their property at a fair price. There were no bids for the Hardinge home for some time. They prayed about it, of course. Then an idea struck! They changed the mode of their praying!"Lord," they prayed, "if Thou wilt send a buyer for our house, we will give a portion towards the establishment of a training school for the mountain young people." It was certainly no coincidence that in a very short while someone bought the house for a fair price and the Hardinges kept their promise and turned in part of the proceeds to the mission towards a fund to establish what was to become the Jowai Training School?later the Assam Training School. In 1933 the Hardinges retired and left Assam never to return. Had God disregarded their prayer request when they asked to be sent to the Mussouri area? Far from it. It was his purpose for the Hardinges to let their light shine in that dark area of India? light that has spread into many of Assam's hills and valleys and brought the peace of God to many a heart. The health message that the Adventist church had to offer, attracted Mrs. Hardinge and led the whole family into the church. Therefore, it is not surprising that one of their sons, Dr. Mervyn G. Hardinge, is the Director of Health and Temperance of the General Conference. Dr. Leslie G. Hardinge, one of the other sons visited India last year. He is connected with the Theology Department of the Philippine Union College. Dr. Mervyn Hardinge will be visiting Southern Asia Divison to acquaint with the Health and Temperance work in this Division. This will be his first visit since he left this country as a boy. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:5fVSGAkXnB0J:www.adventistarchives.org/docs/SAT/SAT19831001-V78-10__B.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShRfx2pdyuWjKz4ziQotrR-5Q8eSfq85ESBc27a8W1rw5s9Zo--UkaTI2v5jRFPNMnaWKkSpcAh8cY2YkyDWq1KR3iaBQ2SMCYWH65ou5yOvbPSUxu26OTwcBsn9bRbgBiPGg94&sig=AHIEtbTq5yNIpRSsQbKxiL-dOpxygtGzRQ
  Person ID	I2401	Master File
  Last Modified	24 Sep 2012

  
  

  Father	John Josiah Coles Hardinge,   b. 30 Jan 1833, Poonamallee, India ,   d. 14 Jul 1895, Rangoon, Pegu, Burma  (Age 62 years)
  Mother	Caroline Susan Frankliln,   b. 10 Sep 1840, Secunderabad, Andhra, Pradesh, India ,   d. 03 Jul 1904, Rangoon, Pegu, Burma  (Age 63 years)
  Married	12 Jan 1858	Rangoon, Pegu, Burma
  Family ID	F8483	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Constance WILSON,   b. 20 Jun 1881, Mandalay, Burma ,   d. 12 Oct 1968, Angwin, Napa Co. CA  (Age 87 years)
  Married	25 Sep 1900	Mandalay,MC, Burma
  	Eustace & Constance were married at the English Wesleyan Church,Mandalay, Upper Burma.
  Children	1. Phyllis Constance HARDINGE,   b. 19 Dec 1901, Calcutta, India ,   d. 06 Apr 1970, Loma LInda, San Bernadino Co. CA  (Age 68 years)   2. Ivan Gilbert HARDINGE,   b. 02 Jun 1903, Bangalore, Karnataka, India ,   d. ca Mar 1977, London, Middlesex, England  (Age 73 years)   3. Leslie Gilbert HARDINGE,   b. 20 Apr 1912, Calcutta, India ,   d. 12 Mar 2002, Ventura, Ventura Co. CA  (Age 89 years) + 4. Dr. Mervyn Gilbert HARDINGE,   b. 29 Jul 1914, Calcutta, India ,   d. 20 Sep 2010, Loma LInda, San Bernadino Co. CA  (Age 96 years)   5. Alan Gilbert HARDINGE,   b. 01 Mar 1925, Shillong, India ,   d. 31 Jan 1992, Lancaster, Los Angeles Co. CA  (Age 66 years)
  Last Modified	24 Sep 2012
  Family ID	F1716	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart