Short answers, pulled from the story.
Thomas Hardy was born on the 2nd of June 1840 in Higher Bockhampton, a quiet hamlet in the parish of Stinsford, Dorset. His early life was defined by the physical world of stone and mortar as his father worked as a stonemason on local buildings.
Thomas Hardy died at Max Gate just after 9 pm on the 11th of January 1928. His funeral was on the 16th of January at Westminster Abbey, where his ashes were placed in Poets' Corner while his heart was buried at Stinsford with his first wife Emma.
Jude the Obscure, published in 1895, was the last novel written by Hardy and was met with a strong negative response from the Victorian public. The novel was criticized for its controversial treatment of sex, religion, and marriage, and some booksellers sold it in brown paper bags.
Thomas Hardy wrote 14 novels, including Far from the Madding Crowd and Tess of the d'Urbervilles. These novels are often set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex, which eventually came to include the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire, and much of Berkshire.
Thomas Hardy's first wife was Emma Gifford, whom he married on the 17th of September 1874 at St Peter's Church in Paddington, London. Emma died in 1912, and her death had a traumatic effect on Hardy, leading him to write the collection Poems 1912, 13.
The cause of death cited on Thomas Hardy's death certificate was cardiac syncope, with old age given as a contributory factor. He dictated his final poem to his wife on his deathbed before passing away at Max Gate on the 11th of January 1928.