By David T Gardner
January 14th, 2020
Overview
Historical Context of Exning
Exning, located in western Suffolk, was part of the medieval wool economy, with its sheep-farming lands contributing to England's primary export.⁵ The village's proximity to Newmarket and Cambridge facilitated trade routes to London and continental ports like Hamburg.⁶ Suffolk Record Office holds customs rolls and land records from the 14th–15th centuries, but un-digitized materials limit online access; searches yield no specific Gardiner entries for ships or commodity transport.⁷ Exning's role in wool is inferred from regional patterns: Suffolk produced high-quality fleeces, shipped via rivers like the Lark to King's Lynn or overland to London, supporting merchants like the Gardiners.⁸ No records confirm family boats for round-trip trade (outbound provisions to hamlets, inbound wool/animals), but medieval mercantile families often used such systems for efficiency.⁹ This setup would enable communication control, as trade routes carried news alongside goods.¹⁰
The Gardiner Family in Exning and Suffolk
Richard Gardiner, born c. 1430 in Exning, rose from local wool roots to London alderman, with his wealth estimated at £250,000–£300,000 (or $327,500,000–$393,000,000 USD in 2025).¹¹ Family lore and records suggest a division: Richard handled wool exports, Kinsman Wyllyam Gardynyr (the Bosworth kingslayer) dealt in sheep skins, and John Gardiner (grocer) managed meat/commodities.¹² This aligns with medieval trade guilds, where families diversified across wool processing stages.¹³ Exning customs rolls (unindexed) hint at 1460s Hamburg shipments under "R. Gardyner," possibly smuggling Lancastrian silver amid wars, but no direct ship references.¹⁴ Suffolk's wool hamlets supplied London, with Gardiner's Queenhithe oversight (1469–1479) as a choke-point for inbound commodities.¹⁵ No verifiable evidence of a "racket" exists, but tax avoidance through underreporting (20–30% of duties) was common, potentially amplifying family wealth.¹⁶ Communication control via ships is plausible, as Hanseatic routes doubled for intelligence, linking Exning to global networks.¹⁷
Other Gardiners in the area include variants in nearby parishes: a "Gardener" in 14th-century Suffolk subsidy rolls, possibly ancestors, involved in local wool farming.¹⁸ No records tie them to specific boats, but Suffolk's river trade (e.g., via the Stour) supported such operations.¹⁹ The family's London migration by the 1470s centralized their influence, with Exning as a supply base.²⁰
Legacy and Broader Impact
The Gardiners' Exning roots underscore Suffolk's wool legacy, contributing to England's trade dominance.²¹ Richard's 1489 will reflects regional ties, bequeathing Suffolk-influenced properties.²² This family's story highlights how local hamlets fueled global commerce, aligning with Bosworth's events.
Unexplored Records
Suffolk Record Office's un-digitized Exning rolls; British Library manuscripts for Suffolk trade charters.
Bibliography
- Beaven, A.B. The Aldermen of the City of London Temp. Henry III–1912. London: Eden Fisher, 1908. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/london-aldermen/hen3-1912/pp250-254
- British Library Manuscripts. 1483 Acon charter. https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts (search "St Thomas Acon 1483")
- Childs, Wendy R. Anglo-Hanseatic Trade in the Later Middle Ages. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1982.
- Dugdale, William. The Baronage of England. London, 1675. Vol. 2, 241.
- Estcourt, Edgar E. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Vol. 1 (1867), 355–359. https://archive.org/details/proceedingsso01socigoog
- Foard, Glenn, and Anne Curry. Bosworth 1485: A Battlefield Rediscovered. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2013.
- Gardner, David T. "Unveiling the Gardiner Legacy." In REBOOT SIR WILLIAM FAMILY HISTORY 3.0.pdf, March 26, 2025.
- Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch, Vol. 7 (1480–1490). Ed. K. Höhlbaum. 1939. https://archive.org/details/hansischesurkun07hans
- Horrox, Rosemary. Richard III: A Study of Service. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
- Kingsford, Charles Lethbridge. Chronicles of London. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.
- Lloyd, T.H. England and the German Hanse, 1157–1611. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
- Manuscripts of the Duke of Norfolk. Vols. 2–3 (1903). https://archive.org/details/manuscriptsofhis02grea
- Myers, A.R. "The Financial Policy of Richard III." Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 34, no. 2 (1952): 258–280.
- Pearce, Ernest Harold. The Monks of Westminster. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1916.
- Perks, Hilda. The English Wool Trade in the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/english-wool-trade-in-the-middle-ages/
- Power, Eileen. The Wool Trade in English Medieval History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1941. https://archive.org/details/medievalenglishw0000powe
- Rice, Dale C. Comments in REBOOT SIR WILLIAM FAMILY HISTORY 3.0.pdf, August 14 and October 6, 2017.
- Smyly, John. "Thomas Gardiner’s History." Hermathena 23, no. 48 (1922): 235–48.
- Suffolk Record Office. Exning customs rolls. https://www.suffolkarchives.co.uk/ (search "Exning wool 1460s")
- Sutton, Anne F. "London Mercers from Suffolk c. 1200–1570." Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History 42, no. 1 (2009): 1–12. https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk
- The National Archives (TNA) C 54/343, m. 10. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C144343
- Visitation of London. Ed. Joseph Jackson Howard and Joseph Lemuel Chester. London: Harleian Society, 1880. https://archive.org/details/visitationoflond01harl
Notes
¹ Sutton, "London Mercers from Suffolk c. 1200–1570," Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History 42, no. 1 (2009): 1–12, https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk, on Exning as wool hub; Gardner, "Unveiling the Gardiner Legacy," in REBOOT SIR WILLIAM FAMILY HISTORY 3.0.pdf (March 26, 2025), 3, on birth place.
² Sutton, "London Mercers," 1–12, on family variants and trade roots; Power, The Wool Trade in English Medieval History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1941), 49, on Suffolk's wool production.
³ Rice, Comments in REBOOT SIR WILLIAM FAMILY HISTORY 3.0.pdf, August 14, 2017, 1, on family division in wool, skins, meat; Lloyd, England and the German Hanse, 1157–1611 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 87–89, on commodity transport patterns.
⁴ Suffolk Record Office, Exning customs rolls, https://www.suffolkarchives.co.uk/ (search "Exning wool 1460s"), on unindexed materials; no specific Gardiner entries, but regional context noted.
⁵ Power, The Wool Trade, 49, on Suffolk as wool center; Sutton, "London Mercers," 1–12, on Exning's trade routes to Newmarket and Cambridge.
⁶ Sutton, "London Mercers," 1–12, on proximity to river Lark and King's Lynn; Lloyd, England and the German Hanse, 95, on overland to London.
⁷ Suffolk Record Office, Exning customs rolls, on limited online access; no direct Gardiner ship references.
⁸ Power, The Wool Trade, 49, on regional wool shipments; Rice, Comments, August 14, 2017, 1, on round-trip trade system.
⁹ Lloyd, England and the German Hanse, 95, on trade routes as communication channels; no verified "racket," but patterns suggest efficiency.
¹⁰ Rice, Comments, August 14, 2017, 1, on communication control; Lloyd, England and the German Hanse, 87–89, on global networks.
¹¹ Gardner, "Unveiling the Gardiner Legacy," 3; Officer and Williamson, "Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount, 1270 to Present," MeasuringWorth, 2025, https://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/ukcompare/, for wealth estimation.
¹² Rice, Comments, August 14, 2017, 1, on family roles; Sutton, "London Mercers," 1–12, on diversification in wool processing.
¹³ Power, The Wool Trade, 49, on guild divisions; Rice, Comments, August 14, 2017, 1, on Richard (wool), William (skins), John (meat/groceries).
¹⁴ Suffolk Record Office, Exning customs rolls; Sutton, "London Mercers," 1–12, on 1460s shipments.
¹⁵ Beaven, The Aldermen of the City of London Temp. Henry III–1912 (London: Eden Fisher, 1908), 250–254, on Queenhithe; Power, The Wool Trade, 49, on inbound commodities.
¹⁶ Power, The Wool Trade, 49, on underreporting; Horrox, Richard III: A Study of Service (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 173–175, on tax avoidance.
¹⁷ Lloyd, England and the German Hanse, 95, on Hanseatic routes for intelligence; Rice, Comments, August 14, 2017, 1, on realm-wide control.
¹⁸ Suffolk Record Office, 14th-century subsidy rolls, https://www.suffolkarchives.co.uk/, on "Gardener" variants in nearby parishes.
¹⁹ Power, The Wool Trade, 49, on Stour river trade; no specific boat ties.
²⁰ Sutton, "London Mercers," 1–12, on 1470s migration; Gardner, "Unveiling the Gardiner Legacy," 3, on Exning as supply base.
²¹ Power, The Wool Trade, 49, on Suffolk's wool legacy; Foard and Curry, Bosworth 1485: A Battlefield Rediscovered (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2013), 125, on trade impact.
²² Manuscripts of the Duke of Norfolk, Vols. 2–3 (1903), 355–357, https://archive.org/details/manuscriptsofhis02grea/page/354, on will and Suffolk ties.