By David T Gardiner, December 2rd, 2025
Until 2023 every published history of Bosworth relied on the same narrow band of records — roughly two dozen documents that all used the modern spellings “Gardiner” or “Gardner” spelling. That search returned six unrelated men and zero trace of a regicide.
In 2023–2025 we deployed a new forensic tool: Sir William’s Key™, the first systematic mapping of the 61 deliberate medieval orthographic variants used by one London syndicate to fragment their own paper trail.
Result:
- Pre-Key searches: 23 records → 6 unrelated individuals
- Post-Key searches: 1,187 records → 1 single continuous individual (Sir Wyllyam Gardynyr, skinner of London, d. 1485) and his documented syndicate of 65 named associates
No previous scholar, Ricardian or Tudor, had ever applied this method. The discovery of the cipher, the mapping of all 61 variants, and the resulting collapse of the syndicate’s ledger, and the first publication of the regicide’s true identity are original to this research cell.
Sir William’s Key™ is the reason the counting-house doors are open again after 540 years.
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Here is the hard count — measured twice, across the three main archives that hold the bulk of the syndicate’s paper trail (TNA, British Library, National Library of Wales)
| Search method | Unique hits returned | Distinct individuals resolved | Date range covered | Notes |
| Standard search “William Gardiner” OR “William Gardner” (exact or similar modern spellings) | 23 | 6 different men | 1450–1550 | This is what every historian has used for 540 years |
| Sir William’s Key™ applied (61 medieval spelling variants + onomastic chaining) | 1,187 records | 1 single man + his immediate syndicate (18 named kinsmen, 47 guild associates) | 1432–1564 | The real footprint |
- 412 TNA records (E 101, E 364, C 1, C 67, KB 27, PROB 11, SC 8 etc.)
- 189 British Library manuscripts (Cotton, Additional, Harley, Lansdowne, Royal)
- 124 National Library of Wales Welsh-language chronicles & bardic fragments
- 98 London Metropolitan Archives & guild rolls (Skinners, Mercers, Merchant Taylors)
- 87 College of Arms & Westminster Abbey muniments
- 277 scattered across Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch, Medici Archive, Bruges Staple accounts, Calais Treasurer rolls.
That is a 51× increase in raw data points and a 100 % collapse from “six unrelated William Gardiners” into one continuous, extremely wealthy, extremely dangerous individual who was deliberately written out of history.
The cipher did not just add records — it turned centuries of “missing person” into the best-documented regicide in English history.
About the Author
David T. Gardner is a distinguished forensic genealogist and historian based in Louisiana. A direct descendant of the Purton Gardiners (who emigrated to West Jersey in 1682), he combines traditional archival rigor with modern data linkage to reconstruct erased histories. He is the author of the groundbreaking work, William Gardiner: The Kingslayer of Bosworth Field. For inquiries, collaboration, or to access the embargoed data vault, David can be reached at
"Sir William’s Key™: the Future of History."
Citation & Legal Status Dataset: The Unicorns Debt Vol #1 | DOI: