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Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner

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The Lord Gardner
Alan Gardner by William Beechey
Born12 February 1742
Uttoxeter, England
Died1 January 1809 (1809-02) (aged 66)
Allegiance Kingdom of Great Britain
 Great Britain and Ireland
Service / branch Royal Navy
Years of service1755–1800
RankAdmiral
CommandsJamaica Station
Leeward Islands Station
Cork Station
Portsmouth Command
RelationsAlan Hyde Gardner (eldest son),
Robert Barrie (nephew)
Other workMP for Plymouth and, later, Westminster.

Admiral Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner (12 February 1742 – 1 January 1809) was a British Royal Navy officer and peer of the realm. He was regarded by some as one of the Georgian era's most dashing frigate captains and, ultimately, a respected senior admiral.

Gardner joined the Royal Navy in 1755. Promoted to Captain in 1766, his first command was the fireship HMS Raven.[1] He commanded a number of frigates before being promoted to a ship of the line. In 1782 he commanded a ship at the Battle of the Saintes and in 1786, as Commodore of the Jamaica Station (consisting of HMS Europa and HMS Experiment),[2] he suppressed smuggling in the Gulf of Mexico and ordered detailed hydrographic surveys of Caribbean locations of interest to the Navy. During this time, he commanded and probably mentored future famous officers such as George Vancouver, Peter Puget and Joseph Whidbey.[3]

He became a Member of the Board of Admiralty in 1790 and was appointed commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands Station in 1793.[4] As Rear Admiral in November 1793, he was the first officer to articulate a growing conviction in the navy that lemons were the best cure for scurvy and, going against prevailing medical opinion, demanded a supply for his ships. The resulting scurvy-free voyage of HMS Suffolk to India was a crucial element in the Admiralty's decision in 1795 to issue lemon juice as a daily ration in the navy – a policy which drastically minimised outbreaks of scurvy.[5] During the Mutiny at Spithead in 1797, Gardner negotiated directly with the mutineers, until he lost his temper, seized a mutineer by the throat and threatened to hang the lot. This nearly led to his own demise at the hands of the mutineers, but cooler heads prevailed.[6]

He left the Admiralty Board in 1795 and was promoted to full admiral. In 1800 he became Commander-in-Chief of the Cork Station.[7] That year he was also created Baron Gardner, of Uttoxeter, in the Peerage of Ireland and in 1806 the title of Baron Gardner in the Peerage of the United Kingdom was created for him. He was Member of Parliament for Plymouth and, later, Westminster. He was briefly Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth from March to June 1803[8] but returned to the Cork Station after that. In 1807 he was made Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet and he died in office on 1 January 1809.[7]

Family

Gardner was born in Uttoxeter. He married Susannah Hyde Gale (c. 1760 – 20 April 1823) on 20 May 1769.[9] They had two sons. The older son, Alan Hyde Gardner, 2nd Baron Gardner, became an admiral in the Royal Navy.[10] Gale was a Jamaican heiress and the daughter of Francis Gale, a plantation owner, and Susanna Hall.[9]

Through his brother, Major Valentine Gardner, he was the uncle of Colonel William Linnæus Gardner, an Indian officer.[11]

Legacy

An East Indiaman was named after Admiral Gardner; it was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands, 24 January 1809.[12] It was carrying a large number of copper 10 and 20 cash coins minted by the East India Company for circulation in the Madras Presidency.[13] The coins were preserved in tightly sealed barrels and large numbers were retrieved around 1986. They are frequently packaged and sold as inexpensive "shipwreck coins."[14]

References

  1. ^ Wing, Robert; Newell, Gordon (1979). Peter Puget: Lieutenant on the Vancouver Expedition, fighting British naval officer, the man for whom Puget Sound was named. Gray Beard Publishing. ISBN 0-933686-00-5.
  2. ^ Cundall, p. xx
  3. ^ Naish, John (1996). The Interwoven Lives of George Vancouver, Archibald Menzies, Joseph Whidbey and Peter Puget: The Vancouver Voyage of 1791–1795. The Edward Mellen Press, Ltd. ISBN 0-7734-8857-X.
  4. ^ Haydn, Joseph (13 June 2008). The Book of Dignities: Containing Lists of the Official Personages of the British Empire ... from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time ... Together with the Sovereigns and Rulers of Europe, from the Foundation of Their Respective States; the Peerage of England and Great Britain Original 1851 Digitized by the University of Michigan. Longmans, Brown, Green, and Longmans. p. 279.
  5. ^ Vale, Brian (2008). "The Conquest of Scurvy in the Royal Navy 1793–1800: a Challenge to Current Orthodoxy". The Mariner's Mirror. 94: 160–175. doi:10.1080/00253359.2008.10657052.
  6. ^ Dugan, James (1965). The great mutiny. Putnam.
  7. ^ a b Laughton 1889.
  8. ^ History in Portsmouth
  9. ^ a b The Gale/Gayle Families of the West Indies (portrait of Susanna Hyde Gale included)
  10. ^ William Courthope ed. Gardner entry p. 323 Debrett's Complete Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Printed for J.G. & F. Rivington, 1838 – 781 pages. Retrieved from Google Books.
  11. ^ Chichester 1889.
  12. ^ "Wrecks of the Britannia, & Admiral Gardner, East Indiamen, on the Goodwin Sands, 24 Jan 1809". National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 4 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Soho Mint: The Loss of the Admiral Gardner
  14. ^ Coin Community
Attribution

Laughton, John Knox (1889). "Gardner, Alan" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 20. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 430. ; Endnotes:

  • Charnock's Biog. Nav. vi. 583
  • Ralfe's Nav. Biog. i. 407
  • Foster's Peerage
  • Jerdan's National Portrait Gallery

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Plymouth
1790–1796
With: Captain John MacBride (1790)
Sir Frederick Leman Rogers (1790–1796) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Westminster
1796–1801 		Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New parliament Member of Parliament for Westminster
1801–1806 		Succeeded by
Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica Station
1785 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Jamaica Station
1786–1789 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands Station
1793 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Cork Station
1800–1803 		Succeeded by
Not filled
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth
March 1803 – June 1803 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Not filled
 Commander-in-Chief, Cork Station
1803–1807 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New title Baron Gardner
of Uttoxeter
1806–1809 		Succeeded by
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