Lord Alfred Douglas to him in an article on Wilde. Douglas was either plaintiff or defendant in several trials for civil or criminal libel. In 1913 he was charged with libelling his father-in-law. Also in 1913 he accused Arthur Ransome of libelling him in his book "Oscar Wilde: A Critical Study". He saw this trial as a weapon against his enemy Ross, not understanding that Ross would not be called to give evidence. The court found in Ransome's favour and Douglas was bankrupted by the failed libel suit. Ransome did remove the offending passages from the second edition of his book. In the
Alfred Douglas Hardy named "Debarya hardyi" in Hardy's honour. Also in 1909, the Melbourne & Metropolitan Board of Works appointed him "honorary algologist", a position that he held for the rest of his life. His position required him to provide reports listing the algae species found in the various reservoirs managed by the Board of Works. In addition to these unpublished reports, Hardy publishedat least 14 papers of the freshwater algae of Victoria, mostly in the "Victorian Naturalist". Alfred Douglas Hardy Alfred Douglas Hardy (1870 – 1958) was an Australian amateur collector of freshwater algae specimens. He worked as a draftsman and botanical