William M Hardinge

William Money Hardinge (1854-1916) was an English poet and author. The son of Doctor Henry Hardinge of London, William received his education at Westminster and Oxford. During his time at the Balliol College, Oxford, he gained a reputation as a romantic homosexual and aesthete, acquiring the nickname of the 'Balliol Bugger'. He had a controversial relationship with the essayist Walter Pater, for which he was sent down for nine months. In 1876, at the age of 21, he won the Newdigate Prize for his work Troy and recited his poem at the Sheldonian Theatre, June 21, 1876. In the 1880s he turned to writing novels with heterosexual romantic themes.