I am descended from Henry Gardiner’s daughter, Anne (1703-55?), via my 2 x great-grandfather. I was so interested in the Gardiners, that I decided to explore the lives of the descendants of her brothers, Henry and John. There are various gaps and vagueries in the Great Bromley parish register, so I have tried to work out their story using a variety of sources, including wills, poll lists, marriage licence allegations and newspaper reports. This research also crosses over into my Nunn surname research, and the story takes in everyone, from labourers and yeoman to bankers and the King of Prussia.
Please note that the surname is spelt variously as Gardiner, Gardener and Gardner, but Gardiner is used throughout for consistency, unless quoted from a document.
- Where the story begins: Henry GardinerI and his three children – Henry, John and Ann
- Ann of the three surnames: Ann Gardiner (1703-55), William Crooks (1699-1727) and John Maxfield (1705-1751)
- The rural “middling sort”: Henry GardinerII (1697-1771) and Mary Barton (1701-1768)
- The Mistley Mysteries: Mary Gardiner (1722-1777) and Joseph NunnII (1718-1782)
- A Great Bromley farmer: John GardinerI (1697-1772) and Hannah Barton (1701-1768)
This is a work in progress – more articles to follow.