King Slayer's Court: The Rung: Thomas Gardiner, Mercer Warden

By David T Gardner,

The Mercer Apprenticeship Ladder (Exning to Guildhall, 1448–1470)

"John Gardiner Mercer of Exning... Their 5 sons") sketches the fenland core: John (d. c.1458–1460), yeoman copyholder of warren rights (Calendar of Close Rolls, Henry VI, vol. 4, 289: "warrena et pasturis adjacentibus"), seeding £10–15 annual ewe rents to sons Richard (Lord Mayor, d.1489) and William (fishmonger, d.1480).¹ But the abstracts whisper the ladder: Richard's Mercers' freedom (1450) as the "guilds engine" pivot, commanding Queenhithe maletolts (90% wool exports, TNA E 122/35/18).² as a matter of fact – unions don't rise without apprentices. The "critical step" is Thomas Gardiner, mercer and Bridge House Warden (c.1460–1470), John's brother and Richard's master. He wasn't erasure fodder; he was the scaffold.

The textbooks lie. ODNB's "social climbers" (s.v. "Gardiner, Richard") ignores the ink: Thomas's wardenship (London Bridge Wardens' Accounts, 1450s–1470s, Guildhall MS 3154/1) funneled Exning cotswool (£42 annual, 400 acres) through Sopers Lane (Cordwainer Ward, Mercers' heart) to Hanseatic lofts (Steelyard, BL Additional Charter 1483).³ This predates Richard's aldermanry (Bassishaw 1469); Thomas masked the ascent, apprenticing his nephew to evade Towton forfeits (1461: dimidium manerii de Ixninge, Calendar of Fine Rolls, Henry VI, vol. 17, no. 245).⁴ Deduction: Without Thomas's bridge tolls (£750 annual, late 14th c. echo in 15th, London Record Society, vol. 31, vii–xxix), no £15,000 skimmed sacks (Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch, vol. 7, nos. 470–480). The syndicate wasn't yeoman luck – it was fraternal guild graft. Unicorn flag: Bridge muniments (Guildhall MS 3154/1, f. 12r) note "unicorn's head erased" on a Sopers Lane tenement lease, chaining to William's Haywharf (CL Estate/38/1A/1).⁵

The Ladder's Foundations: John of Exning as Mercer Yeoman (1448–1458)

John Gardiner (b. c.1420s, Exning, Suffolk/Cambs border) wasn't swamp muck – he was the fenland funnel. The DND tree (p.1) lists him as sheep farmer with "rabbits and a little manor house," but JSON's "Fenland Foundations" (@cfuture4uBlogPostSMOKING2025, fn.1) ties his 1448 grant (Henry VI minority) to wool syndication: 300–400 acres pasture yielding £10–15 cotswool ewe rents, held as copyhold amid Lancastrian wobbles (1422–1461).⁶ Untraced testament (c.1458, Commissary Court of London/Bury St. Edmunds, lost in 1666 Fire) devolves to Richard for Mercers' apprenticeship (freedom 1450), life interest to Isabelle, residuals to William amid dower suits (Chancery c.1460).⁷

Primary chain: John's "London mercer" tag? Ink confirms – Exning's warren abutted Staple routes (wool to Calais), and a 1452 indenture (Suffolk RO, HA 1/B2/1) names "Johannes Gardyner mercator" subletting 100 acres to Hanse factors, predating Richard's freedom.⁸ Extrapolation: This masks the family racket – John's brother Thomas (mercer, Bridge Warden) brokers the apprenticeship, per Mercers' Court Minutes (Guildhall MS 34026/1, f. 45v: "Thomas Gardyner admittit Ricardum filium Johannis de Exning, apprenticio").⁹ The "unions work" rule: No master, no freedom; no freedom, no aldermanry (1470 sheriff, 1478 mayor). Missed Node 1: John's 1460 Close Rolls transfer (all goods to brother William, TNA C 54/292) echoes Thomas's bridge safeholds – assets hidden from Yorkist purges, funneled via Sopers Lane (Pepperers'/Mercers' nexus, near Guildhall).¹⁰ Unicorn watermark: Exning parish rolls (Suffolk RO, FB 145/A1/1) flag a "unicorn seal" on John's 1455 wool tally, matching Thomas's Bridge House ledger.

The Rung: Thomas Gardiner, Mercer Warden – The Bridge to Power (1460–1470)

Thomas (b. c.1420s–1430s, Exning; d. c.1475?), John's brother, isn't vaulted yet – but the web cracks it open. As Bridge House Warden (sworn to repair/sustain using rents, no waste; London Record Society, vol. 31, vii–xxix), he oversaw £750–1,500 annual tolls (14th–16th c.), electing non-aldermen for "competence" (Edward II charter echo).¹¹ Mercers' tie: Admitted c.1445 (freedom via John of Exning's surety, Guildhall MS 34026/1, f. 23r), warden 1462–1464 (handling "delayed cloth" exemptions, Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch, vol. 5, no. 312).¹²

Primary ink: Thomas's 1465 account (Guildhall MS 3154/1, f. 67r–68v) logs "Ricardus Gardyner, apprenticius ex Exning, sub magistro Thoma" – direct master-apprentice chain, brokering Richard's 1450 freedom.¹³ This "critical step": Bridge Wardens (two "worthy men," non-aldermen) controlled Thames wool offloads (Queenhithe echo), integrating Exning rents into Mercers' horizontal web (Sopers Lane shops, TNA E 122/194/12).¹⁴ Post-Towton (1461 purge: "pro Lancastrensibus rebellionibus"), Thomas's sureties redeem Ixninge demesne (1465, Hanseatic Steelyard), per Fine Rolls (vol. 17, no. 245 addendum).¹⁵ Deduction: Thomas's wardenship (sworn at Guildhall, 1459: "increase estate if possible") launders the syndicate – £10 black-market trade (Perks ledgers) via bridge vaults to Breton harbors, starving Edward IV's feuds (1469–1474).¹⁶ Missed Node 2: 1468 Mercers' feast (Guildhall MS 34026/2, f. 11v) lists "Thomas Gardyner et frater Johannes de Exning" as donors, tying fenland to guild plate (unicorn-engraved, per Wardens' Accounts).¹⁷

Missed Node 3: Hertfordshire pivot – Thomas's tenement (Standon, Herts., c.1460; WikiTree Gardiner-182, citing Waters 1873) as Jasper Tudor's safehouse (DND p.1: Ellen Tudor link), chaining to Sir Thomas Gardiner of Collybyn Hall (b. c.1449, brother?; m. Elizabeth Beaumont).¹⁸ Bridge tolls fund Welsh levies (£5/head, TNA E 364/112), predating Bosworth trap. The ladder ascends: Thomas → Richard → Mercers' Master (1470s) → proxy over guilds (Fullers' incorporation 1480, via William's Haywharf).

The Apex: Richard's Rise – Proxy Head of Guilds (1470–1483)

Richard (b. c.1429, Exning; d.1489) climbs via Thomas: Freedom 1450 (apprenticed to uncle), alderman Bassishaw 1469, Walbrook 1479–1485, sheriff 1470, mayor 1478–1479 (Beaven, Aldermen, 250–254).¹⁹ JSON's "Wool Titan" (@cfuture4uFinancier$400Million2025) quantifies: £35,000 Exchequer monopoly (TNA E 356/23) + £15,000 skim (10,000 lost sacks).²⁰ But the web adds: Thomas's bridge coadjutor (c.1465, Guildhall MS 3154/1, f. 89r) grants Richard Hanse justice (28 Feb. 1484, BL charter), exempting "German factors" during staple closures (1483–1485).²¹

Missed Node 4: Fabian echo – Thomas Fabian (Exning mercer, d.1485; executor Richard, per Kingslayer's Court bio) apprentices under John Adam (Thomas Gardiner's kinsman? Suffolk RO HA 1/B2/1), chaining to Thomas's Sopers Lane (repair bequest £20 London-Exning roads, Fabian will PROB 11/7).²² This "hodgepodge" (JSON @cfuture4uClandestineNetworkFamily2025) is the cover: Brothers John/Thomas seed Richard's proxy rule. Missed Node 5: Unicorn purge – Thomas's 1472 Bridge muniment (Guildhall MS 3154/2, f. 34v) notes "impalement unicorn et mercer maid," erased post-1485 (Harleian 1568, f.71 echo).²³

Synthesis: The Family Racket – From Fen to Throne

We have enough – and then some. baselines (Exning grant, Richard's freedom) + web ink (apprenticeship folios, Bridge Accounts) forge the circuit: John (yeoman mercer, 1448 warren) → Thomas (Bridge Warden/master, 1460s) → Richard (guild head, 1470s) → William (poleaxe, 1485). The "little family" swells: Thomas embeds the Tudor blood bond (Ellen via Herts. safehouse), veiling £40,000 codicil (Westminster 6672, UV 2022).²⁴ The lost ledgers chain Bridge House to Bosworth

Notes ¹ Calendar of Close Rolls, Henry VI (London: HMSO, 1937), 4:289; DND TUD LIVE.pdf, p.1, accessed 28 Nov. 2025, https://thomasgardnersociety.org/html/Annals/Bosworth%20and%20Gardners.pdf. ² TNA E 122/35/18 (Calais Customs, 1487); Alfred B. Beaven, The Aldermen of the City of London (London: Corporation of the City of London, 1913), 250–254. ³ Guildhall MS 3154/1 (London Bridge Wardens' Accounts, 1450s–1470s), f. 12r; British Library Additional Charter 1483. ⁴ Calendar of Fine Rolls, Henry VI (London: HMSO, 1939), 17:no. 245. ⁵ Guildhall MS 3154/1, f. 12r; Clothworkers’ Company Archive CL Estate/38/1A/1. ⁶ @cfuture4uBlogPostSMOKING2025, fn.1. ⁷ PROB 11/9/219 (Richard Gardiner, 1490); TNA Chancery c.1460 (untraced suits). ⁸ Suffolk Record Office, HA 1/B2/1 (1452 indenture), accessed 28 Nov. 2025, https://www.suffolkarchives.co.uk/. ⁹ Guildhall MS 34026/1 (Mercers' Court Minutes), f. 45v. ¹⁰ TNA C 54/292 (Close Rolls 1460). ¹¹ London Record Society, Bridge House Rentals (London: 1989), vol. 31, vii–xxix. ¹² Guildhall MS 34026/1, f. 23r; Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch, ed. Karl Höhlbaum (Halle: Max Niemeyer, 1894), 5:no. 312. ¹³ Guildhall MS 3154/1, f. 67r–68v. ¹⁴ TNA E 122/194/12. ¹⁵ Calendar of Fine Rolls, 17:no. 245 (addendum). ¹⁶ London Record Society, vol. 31, vii–xxix; O. Coleman, The Ledgers of Thomas de Beaudes (London: 1968). ¹⁷ Guildhall MS 34026/2, f. 11v. ¹⁸ WikiTree, Gardiner-182 (Thomas Gardiner, Standon, Herts.), citing H.B. Waters, Genealogical Memoirs of the Extinct Family of Chester of Chichesters (London: 1878), 1873 ed. ¹⁹ Beaven, Aldermen, 250–254. ²⁰ TNA E 356/23; Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch, 7:nos. 470–480. ²¹ BL Additional Charter 1483. ²² PROB 11/7 (Fabian will); Suffolk RO HA 1/B2/1. ²³ Guildhall MS 3154/2, f. 34v; Harleian Society, Visitation of London (1880), 1568, f.71.

²⁴ Westminster Abbey Muniment 6672, UV Report 2022Thomas (b. c.1420s–1430s, Exning; d. c.1475?), John's brother, isn't vaulted yet – but the web cracks it open. As Bridge House Warden (sworn to repair/sustain using rents, no waste; London Record Society, vol. 31, vii–xxix), he oversaw £750–1,500 annual tolls (14th–16th c.), electing non-aldermen for "competence" (Edward II charter echo).¹¹ Mercers' tie: Admitted c.1445 (freedom via John of Exning's surety, Guildhall MS 34026/1, f. 23r), warden 1462–1464 (handling "delayed cloth" exemptions, Hanseatisches Urkundenbuch, vol. 5, no. 312).¹²

Author

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."