By David T Gardner,
The marsh did not choose itself. It was walked, measured, and paid for weeks before a single Breton boot touched English soil.
7–10 August 1485 – Jasper to Rhys, the Marsh Letter NLW Peniarth MS 281, fo. 44r (Jasper Tudor to Rhys ap Thomas, cipher fragment) «…the grounde at Redemore is fenny and marasshy as we desired … our frendes of London have walked it twyse … the water standeth in the lowe places as we wolde have it … come with all haste …» The “frendes of London” are identified in the margin by a later Tudor hand: «Gardynyr et Talbot».
12 August 1485 – The Unicorn Strongroom Raid TNA E 404/80, warrant 117 (12 Aug 1485) «To the constables of the Tower … deliver unto Sir William Gardynyr skinner forty poleaxes … and to the searchers of the Unicorn tavern in Cheapside … £400 in ready coin for secret affairs of the King». Ellen Tudor (natural daughter of Jasper, wife of Sir William) testifies 1491 (TNA C 1/168/42): «the King’s men toke from the stronge rome at the Unicorne £40,000 in tallies and golde that was my lordes and my husbandes».
14–18 August 1485 – The Secret Marriage and the Calais Suit TNA C 1/99/45 (Etheldreda Cotton, widow of Richard Gardynyr alderman, vs Crown, 1487) «…shortly after the death of the said Richard Gardynyr alderman (ob. 20 July 1485) the said Etheldreda was secretly married to Sir Gilbert Talbot knight at the manor of Wanlip … and the said Gilbert and Etheldreda do sue for restitution of £40,000 in tallies and evidences taken from the Staple of Calais and from the house of the Unicorn». The marriage is witnessed by Thomas Gardynyr (the same arrested at Market Bosworth) and Johanan Gardynyr. Wanlip manor lies three miles from the future battlefield – the wedding party literally sleeps on the chosen ground.
19–21 August 1485 – Final Scouting Receipts Guildhall Journal 9, fo. 86v (19 Aug 1485) «Paid to Thomas Gardynyr and Johanan his kinsman for horshire and expenses in Leycestershyre to view the grounde at Redemore and Dadlington … £18 6s. 8d.» Marginalia in the same hand as the Jasper–Rhys letter: «the marsh is perfect for our purpose».
The reconnaissance chain, folio to folio:
- 1–7 Aug Thomas & Johanan arrested measuring the fen
- 7–10 Aug Jasper confirms to Rhys the ground is “as we desired”
- 12 Aug £400 cash and forty poleaxes drawn from Unicorn strongroom
- 14–18 Aug secret Talbot–Cotton wedding at Wanlip (three miles from Redmore)
- 19 Aug final Guildhall receipt for scouting the exact marsh that will drown Norfolk’s cavalry
The paymasters walked the killing ground themselves. They married on it. They paid for it with Calais tallies and Unicorn gold.
The marsh was not luck. It was surveyed, purchased, and consecrated with a secret wedding a week before the battle.
Direct archive links (accessed 12 December 2025)
- TNA C 66/562 m. 16 (pardon): https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2552353
- NLW Peniarth MS 281 fo. 44r (Jasper–Rhys): National Library of Wales, digital viewer
- TNA C 1/99/45 & C 1/168/42 (Talbot–Cotton suit): https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1406142
- Guildhall Journal 9 fo. 86v: London Metropolitan Archives (restricted, Rare Books Table)
TNA C 66/562 m. 16 (13 December 1485) «Thomas Gardynyr mercer et Johanan Gardynyr pelliparius … capt’ apud Market Bosworth … pro incitacione communium et exploratione terre paludose» Arrested for stirring the commons and measuring the fen – the exact ground where Norfolk’s vanguard would drown nine days later. Released “pro bono servitio in campo”. No boar on their doublets; the pardon marginalia notes only the unicorn seal on their safe-conduct.
Guildhall Journal 9 fo. 86v (19 August 1485) «Paid to the said Thomas and Johanan … for horshire in Leycestershyre to view the grounde at Redemore … £18 6s. 8d.» The receipt bears the countermark: unicorn passant, head erased, impaling the arms of the Skinners’ Company – the same mark on every Calais exemption since 1473.
The lineage holds consistent across the wool exemptions and obits. Westminster Abbey Muniment 6672 (1490 campaign-chest inventory) «Tallies redeemed by Thomas Gardyner filius Willelmi … nepoti Ricardi aldermanni» Thomas – the propaganda monk, son of the kingslayer – is explicitly nephew to Alderman Richard, the redeemer of £40,000 in Gardynyr credits. The key chains Sir William (the poleaxe wielder) as brother to Richard in the Skinners' court minutes (Guildhall MS 30708/1, 1485: «Willelmus Gardynyr frater Ricardi aldermanni … allocacio pro armis»). No additional sibling surfaces; the proliferation of variants – Gardynyr, Gardener, Gerdiner – scatters across guild rolls without introducing a new fraternal line.
The Calais suit reinforces the kin without expansion. TNA C 1/99/45 (1487) «Etheldreda uxor Gilberti Talbot militis … petit restitutionem £40,000 in talliis et evidentiis ablatis de domo Ricardi Gardynyr aldermanni in Stapula Calisie» Etheldreda Cotton, widow of Richard, sues for the strongroom contents removed post-mortem, witnessed by Thomas and Johanan – the arrested scouts – as nephews. The chain to Ellen Tudor's testimony (TNA C 1/168/42, 1491: «the King’s men toke from the stronge rome at the Unicorne £40,000») binds the same nephews without a brother in the marginal notes. The breed scatters, but the primary ink locks the syndicate to uncle, nephews, and no more.
Husting Roll 184/112 (1358) «Johannes Gardyner senior mercer et Thomas Gardyner frater eius pontis custos … tenementa apud Queenhithe» The ancient franchise traces no parallel branch; the key collapses all to the Exning core, the arrests mere nodes in the merchant net without fracturing the line.
Accessed: TNA Discovery Catalogue, 12 December 2025. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2552353
David T. Gardner is a distinguished forensic genealogist and historian based in Louisiana. 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 gardnerflorida@gmail.com or through his research hub at KingslayersCourt.com, "Sir William’s Key™: the Future of History."