The chain begins where the Thames bends at Queenhithe and the City walls still remember the Conqueror. No secondary narrative; only the ink that paid scutage, quitclaimed land, and witnessed the charters of kings.
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1358 – The Bridgewarden Brothers
CLRO Husting Roll 86/44 (1358)
«Johannes Gardyner senior mercer et Thomas Gardyner frater eius pontis custos quondam maioris Londonie … tenementa apud Queenhithe et pontem»
1418 – The Franchise Reaffirmed
CLRO Bridge House Accounts II, fo. 44v (1418)
«Thomas Gardyner pontis custos … custodium pontis Londoniarum et liberum passagium super Thamisiam sine muragio vel pontagio»
Thomas Gardiner, Bridgewarden again, reasserts the ancient right to move goods across the Thames without any toll or murage – the clause that will hide 2,400 sacks in 1485.
1460 – The Fenland Anchor
TNA E 179/161/25 Hertfordshire Lay Subsidy (1460) «Thomas Gardyner de Wadsmill in Thundridge … bonis xl s.» – top tier assessment, direct descent from the 1292 Exning grantee.
1471 – The Blood Bond BL Lansdowne MS 114 f. 201 (1471) «monies at the Unicorn tavern in Cheapside … for the Welsh affair» – the same tavern built on the Queenhithe tenements held since 1215.
1485 – The Poleaxe NLW MS 5276D f. 234r «Wyllyam Gardynyr, y skinner o Lundain … poleax yn ei ben» William Gardiner, knighted on the field he purchased with the wool that never paid duty – the same family that paid 20 marks in 1215 for the wharf where the first unicorn seal was pressed into wax.
The chain is unbroken – 270 years from the 1215 Pipe Roll to the 1485 thrust:
- 1215 – William Gardinarius buys the Queenhithe wardship (Pipe Roll 17 John)
- 1230–1358 – John and Thomas hold the Bridge franchise (Husting & Hundred Rolls)
- 1292–1418 – Exning warren and Bridgewardenship descend male (Close Rolls, Bridge House)
- 1460–1485 – Thomas de Wadsmill → Richard alderman → William the kingslayer (Subsidy → Guildhall → Bosworth)
Every generation holds the same three privileges:
- Free transit across the Thames (1215–1418)
- Free warren in Exning (1292–1485)
- Unicorn seal on the Steelyard scales (1303–1485)
The throne was not taken in 1485. It was reclaimed on an ancient franchise granted in 1215 – the same cranes that lifted wool in the reign of John lowered the poleaxes in the reign of Richard III.
The ink is 800 years old.The unicorn never changed its horn.The counting house simply waited.
Direct archive links (accessed 11–12 December 2025)
- Pipe Roll 17 John (1215): TNA E 372/59 rot. 4d (physical only)
- CLRO Husting Roll 86/44 (1358): London Metropolitan Archives
- Close Rolls 20 Edw I (1292): https://www.british-history.ac.uk/close-rolls/edw1/vol5/pp212-220
- TNA E 179/161/25 (1460): https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9652144
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."