1st Baron Gardner

THEOPHILUS GARDNER, of Coleraine, County Londonderry, by Margaret, daughter of _______ White, left issue,

WILLIAM GARDNER, of Coleraine, who commanded a company within the walls of Derry under WILLIAM III during the celebrated siege of that city.

Mr Gardner died young, and left a son,

WILLIAM GARDNER (1691-1762), Lieutenant-Colonel of the 11th Regiment of Dragoons, who married, in 1729, Elizabeth, eldest daughter and co-heir of Dr Valentine ffarington, physician, of Preston, Lancashire, and had issue,

William;

Valentine (b 1739), Major; father of WILLIAM LINNÆUS GARDNER;
Henry;
ALAN, of whom we treat;

Henry Farrington;

Anne; Agnes; Elizabeth; Mildred; Sarah; Margaretta; Dorothy.

Colonel Gardner died at Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.

His fourth son,

ALAN GARDNER (1742-1809), entered the Royal Navy in 1755, and rose to become Rear-Admiral in 1793; in the same year he was elected to Parliament for the borough of Plymouth, and was constituted one of the Lords of the Admiralty.

For his part in the memorable actions of the 29th May and 1st June, the Glorious First of June, under the Earl Howe, he was created a Baronet in 1794, designated of the Navy.

In 1796, he was returned to Parliament for Westminster, and in 1799 advanced to the rank of Admiral of the Blue.

1st Baron Gardner (William Beechey/Royal Museums Greenwich)

Sir Alan Gardner, 1st Baronet, was elevated to the peerage of Ireland, in 1800, as Baron Gardner of Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.

His lordship was re-elected for Westminster in 1802, and created a peer of the United Kingdom, in 1806, by the title of BARON GARDNER, of Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.

His lordship wedded, in 1769, Susannah Hyde, widow Samuel Turner, and daughter and sole heir of Francis Gale, of Liguania, Jamaica, by Susannah his wife, daughter of James Hall, of Hyde Hall, and had with other issue,

ALAN HYDE, his successor;

Francis ffarington, Rear-Admiral;

William Henry, General in the Army, Royal Artillery;

Herbert;

Susannah Hall.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

ALAN HYDE, 2nd Baron (1770-1815), KCB, Admiral, Royal Navy, who espoused firstly, in 1796, Maria Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Addlerly, of Innishannon, County Cork (who was divorced in 1805); and secondly, in 1809, Charlotte Elizabeth, third daughter of 1st Baron Carrington, and had issue,

ALAN LEGGE, his successor;

Charlotte Susannah.

On the 30th September, 1815, the Gazette announced the intended elevation of his lordship to a viscountcy; but he died before the patent passed.

2nd Baron Gardner KCB (National Trust, Clandon Park

He was succeeded by his son, 

ALAN LEGGE, 3rd Baron (1810-83), of Court Garden, Buckinghamshire, and 46, Dover Street, London, who married firstly, in 1835, Frances Margaret, daughter of 1st Baron Dinorben, which lady dsp 1847; and secondly, in 1848, Julia Sarah Hayfield (who died in 1899), daughter of Edward Fortescue, by whom he had two daughters,

Florence Coulston, m 1875, 4th Earl of Onslow;

Evelyn Coulston, m 1881, Wm Fuller Maitland, of Stansted Hall, Essex.

He had two sons, Alan Coulson Gardner, and Herbert Coulson Gardner, both born out of wedlock.

His lordship died, 1883, without legitimate male issue.

Since the death of the 3rd Baron, the right to the baronies of Gardner has not been established and, as a consequence, it remains dormant.

Julian James Gardner, of Kasganj, India, claims to be a descendant of William Linnæus Gardner.

Gardner arms courtesy of European Heraldry.