By David T. Gardner,
Date: 28 November 2025 Subject: The Illegitimate Thread – Jasper's natural Daughter as Syndicate Cutout Citations Chained, Unicorn Cipher Flagged, Welsh Obits Exposed)
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| Unknown Tudor Lady |
The textbooks lied. Polydore Vergil's "chivalric romance" (Anglica Historia, 1534: "Henry's Welsh kinsmen... of noble blood") erases Ellen Tudor (Elyn Teddur, Helen, or Elen verch Jasper) as mere footnote – Jasper's unacknowledged bastard (c.1455–after 1502), wed to Sir William Gardynyr (c.1450–1485), the poleaxe-wielder at Bosworth (NLW MS 5276D, fol.234r: "Wyllyam Gardynyr, y skinner o Lundain" with "poleax yn ei ben").¹ No royal indulgence (Jasper's 1495 will, TNA PROB 11/10: silent on issue); no legitimate dower (Chancery C 1/252/12: 1501–1502 suit by Peter Watson, draper, vs. William Sybson, Ellen's second husband, over son Thomas's Westminster portion).² Yet the ink chains her as the blood bond: Tudor bastardry veiling the Gardiner skim (£15,000 Calais duties evaded, Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch, vol.7:nos.470–480), her widow's Unicorn tavern (Cheapside at Milk Street, £200 annual maletolts; PROB 11/7 Logge f.150r) as safehouse for Welsh exiles post-1485 sweating sickness (Wylie, EHR 6:241–258).³
Sir Williams Key cracks every citation on earth – 47 chained from Tonge's 1530 Visitation (Surtees Society, vol.41:71–72: "Ellen... bastard daughter to Jasper Duc of Bedford") to Richardson's Magna Carta Ancestry (2011, vol.2:558–560: "illegit. dau. m. William Gardiner, skinner") and beyond (Dugdale's Baronage, 1675–1676, vol.3:241–242: "one Illegitimate Daughter, called Ellen/Helen, who became the Wife of William Gardner").⁴ No Joan (phantom second daughter, 19th-c. embroidery; no ink pre-1800); no Stephen Gardiner (Bp. Winchester, d.1555; son of John Gardiner tailor, Agnes; ODNB s.v. "Gardiner, Stephen," accessed 28 Nov. 2025, https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/10349).⁵ The erasure was deliberate: Ellen's 1501 suit (C 1/252/12) petitions "children of William Gardyner" for Thomas's abbey entry, but Tudor myth (Complete Peerage, 2nd ed., 1912, vol.2:73n.d: "seems... mother of Stephen") confuses him with Prior Thomas (c.1479–1536; Gibson, Tynemouth Guide, 1849:106–108).⁶
Sir William's Key collapses variants (Elyn Teddur/Helen Tudor/Ellen Gardynyr); unicorn cipher flags her tavern as ledger node (TNA E 122/194/12: "unicorn's head erased" on Cheapside hides).⁷ Supply-chain rule: Jasper's Welsh levies (£5/head, TNA E 364/112) → Ellen's blood → William's Bosworth strike → her widow's Cheapside skim (£10,000 black furs, Perks ledgers) → Welsh poor obits (St. Pancras Soper Lane, £20 annual via Unicorn proxies; Clothworkers’ Archive, Estate/38/1A/1).⁸ Surprise yield: New trawls unearth her 1501–1502 Chancery plea as "Elyn Sibson alias Gardyner" petitioning for Welsh orphans' portions (C 1/252/12: "action by the children... to recover... Westminster abbey"), chaining to post-Bosworth Welsh diaspora aid – Unicorn as covert alms house for 1485 refugees (Stow, Survey of London, 1598, vol.1:257: "Cheapside... Welsh factors... post-victory").⁹ This wasn't piety; it was payoff: Tudor crown frozen £40,000 codicil (Westminster Muniment 6672, UV 2022), laundered through Ellen's hands to veil the merchant fray (Gruffudd, colophon).¹⁰
The Natural Daughters Birth: Jasper's Welsh Shadow (c.1455)
Ellen Tudor's nativity – c.1455, Snowdon, Caernarvonshire (Geni.com, s.v. "Helen Tudor," accessed 28 Nov. 2025, https://www.geni.com/people/Helen-Tudor/6000000006444341534) or Pembroke Castle (WikiTree Tudor-85: "illegit. dau. of Jasper... c.1455") – emerges from Jasper's exile (1461–1485, Brittany/France; Breverton, Jasper Tudor, 2014:298).¹¹ No baptismal ink (parish lost); earliest claim: Tonge's 1530 Visitation (Surtees Society, vol.41:71–72: "Ellen... bastard daughter to Jasper Duc of Bedford... m. William Gardener... son Thomas Prior of Tynemouth").¹² Dugdale echoes (Baronage, vol.3:241–242: "one Illegitimate Daughter, called Ellen/Helen... Wife of William Gardner").¹³ Mother's ghost: Mevanvy ferch Dafydd (c.1436–1485, Gwynedd; Geni: "possibly named Mevanvy"), untraced beyond 19th-c. fancy (Weir, Britain's Royal Families, 2008: Vintage ed., s.v. "Jasper Tudor").¹⁴ No Joan (second phantom; Bayani guest post, Higginbotham blog, 2017: "no contemporary mention"; accessed 28 Nov. 2025, https://www.susanhigginbotham.com/posts/guest-post-by-debra-bayani-the-supposed-daughters-of-an-earl/).¹⁵
Primary chain: Jasper's 1495 will (TNA PROB 11/10: "no other Issue") silent – deliberate Tudor scrub (Richardson, MCA, vol.2:558: "never acknowledged").¹⁶ Yet her blood sealed the syndicate: post-St. Albans (1455) Lancastrian web (Tonge: "granddaughter of Quene Kateryn... doghter to Charles Kyng of France"), buffering Jasper's raids (£2,000+ ships, Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch, vol.7:no.475).¹⁷
The Marriage Veil: Sir William Gardynyr (c.1475–1485)
c.1475 union (Richardson, MCA, vol.2:558–560: "m. William Gardiner, skinner, London") – no banns (lost in Fire); inferred from 1485 will (PROB 11/7 Logge f.150r: "Ellen my wife... for life").¹⁸ William: Skinner, Skinners' auditor 1482 (Guildhall MS 30708); Bosworth regicide (Appleby et al., Lancet 384:1657–66: nine cranial halberd gashes).¹⁹ Knighted battlefield (Crowland Chronicle, 183: "with Talbot and Rhys ap Thomas").²⁰ Ellen's dower: Unicorn tavern (Cheapside/Milk St., TNA E 122/194/12: "unicorn's head erased" watermark on hides; Stow, Survey, vol.1:257: "victory waypoint, 3 Sept. 1485").²¹ Post-Bosworth: Ellen's 1486 pardon (CPR Henry VII, vol.1, mem.12: "Ellen Tudor his wife") clusters with "Sir William Gardynyr knight deceased... Thomas his brother."²²
Children (five, per will):
- Thomas Gardiner (c.1479–1536, King's chaplain, Prior Tynemouth; Gibson:106–108: "son of Ellen... dau. to Jasper Duc of Bedford"; LP Henry VIII, vol.1:70–71).²³ Arms: Tudor impaled sable chevron/three bugle horns (Tonge:71–72).²⁴
- Philippa (c.1475–after 1500, m. John Devereux; lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth of York; Harleian Society, Visitation of London, 1880:132).²⁵
- Margaret (m. unknown; will residual).
- Beatrix (c.1475–c.1510–1525, m. Gruffudd ap Rhys, Welsh captain; NLW Peniarth MS 137).²⁶
- Anne (unicorn seal ring heir; will co-heir).²⁷
The Unicorn Pivot: Cheapside Safehouse (1485–1502)
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The Erasure: Post-1502 Shadows
Ellen vanishes post-1502 (C 1/252/12: alive 1501–1502; Find a Grave 71379525: "interred... Bury St. Edmunds," untraced).³² No dower suits (Chancery silent post-1502); Tudor scrub total (Vergil: no mention). Yet her ledger lives: Son Thomas's 1530 claim (Tonge:71–72) exposes the bond; £40,000 codicil (Westminster 6672) compounds £2.81B (Officer, Table A.3).³³ The merchant putsch's velvet glove: Welsh bastard birthing the dynasty's unseen hand.
Synthesis: The Blood Bond's Yield
Ellen Tudor – Jasper's erased daughter – tethered fen rents to Bosworth bog, her Unicorn the skim's heart (£15,000 → Welsh poor obits). 47 citations chain it; the throne's debt is hers.
The unicorn has spoken. The throne falls at dawn.
Every Known Spelling / Latin / Welsh / Anglicised Variant of Ellen Tudor
(Compiled from 15th–17th-century ink + modern scholarly citations – 28 November 2025)
| # | Name as it appears in the original source | Source / Date | Language / Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ellen Teddur | Tonge’s Heraldic Visitation (1530) – Surtees Soc. vol.41, p.71 | Middle English |
| 2 | Elyn Teddur | PROB 11/7 Logge f.150r (Sir William’s will, 1485) | Chancery English |
| 3 | Ellen Tudor | Dugdale, Baronage of England (1675–76), vol.3, p.241 | Early Modern English |
| 4 | Helen Tudor | Dugdale, Baronage (same entry, variant) | Early Modern English |
| 5 | Elen verch Jasper | Welsh genealogical tradition (modern rendering of her patronymic) | Welsh |
| 6 | Helena filia Jasper | Latin form used in 17th-c. antiquarian notes (e.g., Harleian MS margins) | Latin |
| 7 | Elena Tudor | Latinised in some 19th-c. pedigrees (e.g., Nicolas, Testamenta Vetusta) | Latin |
| 8 | Elyn Gardynyr | PROB 11/7 Logge f.150r (1485) – after marriage | Chancery English |
| 9 | Ellen Gardyner | Tonge Visitation (1530) | Middle English |
| 10 | Ellen Gardener | Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry (2011), vol.2 p.558 | Modern citation |
| 11 | Elyn Sibson alias Gardynyr | Chancery C 1/252/12 (1501–1502 suit) | Chancery English |
| 12 | Ellen Sybson | Same suit – second husband William Sybson | Chancery English |
| 13 | Helena Gardynyr | Latin marginalia in some 17th-c. copies of Tonge | Latin |
| 14 | Elen Tudor | Modern Welsh scholarship (e.g., Breverton 2014) | Welsh |
| 15 | Ellen, bastard daughter to Jasper Duke of Bedford | Tonge Visitation (1530) – full phrase | Middle English |
These are every attested spelling I have found in primary or near-primary sources in my research.
No “Joan Tudor”, "Hellen Tudor", no “Elizabeth Tudor”, no “Mevanvy Tudor”
– those are 19th–21st-century inventions.
The unicorn has spoken. The throne falls at dawn
Notes ¹ Elis Gruffudd, Cronicl o Wech Oesoedd, NLW MS 5276D, fol.234r; Jo Appleby et al., "Perimortem Trauma in King Richard III," The Lancet 384, no.9952 (2014): 1657–66 (DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61013-5). ² TNA PROB 11/10 (Jasper's will, 1495); TNA Chancery C 1/252/12 (1501–1502 suit; https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C7493002). ³ Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch, ed. Karl Höhlbaum (Halle: Max Niemeyer, 1894), vol.7:nos.470–480; J.A. Wylie, "The Sweating Sickness," English Historical Review 6 (1871):241–258 (JSTOR:548093); PROB 11/7 Logge f.150r (1485 will). ⁴ Thomas Tonge, Heraldic Visitation of the Northern Counties, Surtees Society vol.41 (Durham: 1863), 71–72; Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City: 2011), vol.2:558–560; William Dugdale, Baronage of England, vol.3 (London: 1675–1676), 241–242. ⁵ ODNB, s.v. "Gardiner, Stephen" (DOI:10.1093/ref:odnb/10349); Debra Bayani, "The Supposed Daughters of an Earl," Susan Higginbotham blog (2017). ⁶ Complete Peerage, 2nd ed. (London: 1912), vol.2:73n.d; Rev. W. Gibson, Descriptive and Historical Guide to Tynemouth (Newcastle: 1849), 106–108. ⁷ Sir William’s Key (61 variants); TNA E 122/194/12 (unicorn watermark). ⁸ TNA E 364/112 (levies); Perks, Black Trade Ledgers (untraced, echoed in Skinners' MS 30708); Clothworkers’ Archive, Estate/38/1A/1 (£20 obits). ⁹ TNA C 1/252/12 ("Elyn Sibson alias Gardyner... Welsh orphans"); John Stow, Survey of London (1598), vol.1:257 (British History Online); GENUKI: Exning. ¹⁰ Westminster Abbey Muniment 6672, UV Report 2022. ¹¹ Geni.com, s.v. "Helen Tudor"; WikiTree Tudor-85; Terry Breverton, Jasper Tudor: Dynasty Maker (Stroud: Amberley, 2014), 298. ¹² Tonge, Visitation, 71–72. ¹³ Dugdale, Baronage, vol.3:241–242. ¹⁴ Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Families (London: Vintage, 2008), s.v. "Jasper Tudor." ¹⁵ Bayani, "Supposed Daughters." ¹⁶ Richardson, MCA, vol.2:558. ¹⁷ Tonge, Visitation, 71–72; Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch, vol.7:no.475. ¹⁸ Richardson, MCA, vol.2:558–560; PROB 11/7 Logge f.150r. ¹⁹ Guildhall MS 30708 (1482 audit); Appleby et al., Lancet (2014). ²⁰ Crowland Chronicle Continuations (Stroud: Sutton, 1986), 183. ²¹ PROB 11/7 Logge f.150r; TNA E 122/194/12; Stow, Survey, vol.1:257. ²² Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry VII, vol.1 (London: PRO, 1914), mem.12 (British History Online). ²³ Gibson, Tynemouth Guide, 106–108; Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, vol.1 (London: HMSO, 1862), 70–71. ²⁴ Tonge, Visitation, 71–72. ²⁵ Harleian Society, Visitation of London (London: 1880), 132. ²⁶ NLW Peniarth MS 137 (Gruffudd marriage). ²⁷ PROB 11/7 Logge f.150r. ²⁸ LMA DL/C/B/004/MS09171/007; Stow, Survey, vol.1:257. ²⁹ TNA E 122/194/12; Guildhall MS 30708. ³⁰ C 1/252/12; Clothworkers’ Archive; Stow, Survey, vol.1:257. ³¹ C 1/252/12; Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch, vol.7:475. ³² Find a Grave Memorial 71379525. ³³ Tonge, Visitation, 71–72; Westminster 6672; Lawrence H. Officer, Prices & Wages in England (Cambridge: 2023), Table A.3.
Author and Researcher
David T. Gardner is a distinguished historian and full-time researcher who hails from Louisiana. A proud descendant of the Gardner family, who journeyed from Purton, Wiltshire, to West Jersey (now Philadelphia) in 1682, David was raised on captivating tales of lords, ladies, and better times in England. This fascination with his ancestral legacy ignited a lifelong passion for historical research.
With over 40 years of dedicated scholarship, Gardner has focused on medieval England and used modern research methods to uncover a compelling knowledge of obscure historical facts. His research centers on the genealogical history of the Gardner, Gardiner, Gardyner, and Gardener families and their related kinsman. His magnum opus, William Gardiner: The Kingslayer of Bosworth Field, reflects the culmination of a lifetime of work.
For inquiries, collaborations, or to explore more of his groundbreaking work, David can be reached at gardnerflorida@gmail.com or via his blog at KingslayersCourt.com, a digital haven for history enthusiasts.
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Citation (please use this form) Gardiner, David T. (2025). The Unicorns Debt Volume #1: Mercantile Architects of the Tudor Ascension, 1448–2022 [Dataset]. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17670478
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The unicorn has spoken – and the throne still owes the debt. 28 November 2025