About Kingslayers Court:

Unveiling the Gardiner Legacy  

By David T. Gardner, March 26, 2025

We live in an exhilarating age where the past refuses to stay buried. A single forgotten document—lost to time, now scanned into the digital ether—can unravel centuries of assumptions, forcing us to rethink everything we thought we knew about history. At Kingslayers Court, we’re not just chasing shadows; we’re resurrecting a truth that rewrites 1485: the Gardiner family didn’t merely witness the fall of Richard III and the rise of the Tudor dynasty—they engineered it. This is the story of William Gardiner, a London skinner turned kingslayer, and his kinsman—merchants, power brokers, and royal cousins—who turned the Battle of Bosworth into a merchant coup. Armed with Welsh chronicles, forensic evidence, and 40 years of relentless digging, we’re peeling back noble myths to reveal a legacy too long ignored.

A Tale Forged in Mud and Blood

The 2012 discovery of Richard III’s skeleton beneath a Leicester car park wasn’t just a headline—it was a revelation. His shattered skull, bearing a poleaxe’s mark (The Lancet, Buckley et al., 2014, p. 174), confirmed what my family’s oral tales and Welsh accounts of Bosworth had whispered for centuries: William Gardiner struck the blow that ended the last Plantagenet dynasty king on August 22, 1485. Once dismissed as “hogwash” by Richard III’s defenders, this kingslayer’s story—rooted in the Redemore marsh and validated by Bosworth battlefield archaeology (Bosworth 1485, Foard & Curry, 2013, p. 125)—is now undeniable. But it’s not just about one man; it’s about a family—the Gardiners of London—and their kinsmen, whose wealth, cunning, and Tudor alliances crowned Henry VII.

Origins of the Quest

This journey began in my childhood, on a North Dakota fishing trip in 1977, Our grandma telling  bedtime stories, The rhymes of Sir Christopher Gardiner Knight of the Holy Sepulchre,  Stories our ancestors brought with them from England,  Our family landed on West Jersey’s Welsh Tract in 1682, Now Philadelphia. The (Rhyme of Sir Christopher Gardyner, Harper’s, vol. 66). “William Gardiner and the king”—a skinner felling a monarch—sounded like fantasy, a tale of lords, ladies, and great battles tales told over many generations. Lost in England, Sir Williams Bedtime Story, survived  a 4000 mile, 540 yr journey, from Bosworth market across 19 generations, to the wind swept plain of a North Dakota Indian Reservation in 1977. The story wasn't in to bad of shape.. I’ve chased it ever since, from the dial-up days of Netscape and AOL in the 1990s, when Ricardians screamed “preposterous,” to today, where forensic evidence and digital archives have turned folklore into fact. What started as a personal thread 1994 year—tying my Gardner, Gardiner, Gardener, and Garner roots—has grown into a tapestry revealing the collective origins of our family tree, lost to England but rediscovered across the Atlantic.

Our Goal: Unweaving the Fabric

At Kingslayers Court, we’re not content with surface history. We’re unweaving the tangled branches of the Gardiner family—once seen as unrelated—to expose a common thread that binds us all: a pivotal role in one of England’s defining moments. William Gardiner wasn’t a lone actor; his brother Richard Gardiner, a wool magnate dubbed “Father of the City,” orchestrated the logistics of Henry VII’s invasion (Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Estcourt, 1867, pp. 45–47). Ellen Tudor, William’s wife and Jasper Tudor’s daughter, wove their blood into the Tudor dynasty (Visitation of London, 1530, p. 70). Their son, Thomas Gardiner, rose as Prior of Tynemouth and royal chaplain, cementing their legacy (The Monks of Westminster, Pearce, 1916, p. 193). These aren’t footnotes—they’re key players, and we’re here to prove it.

From Preposterous to Proven

In the 1990s, my early web queries about William Gardiner met scorn from “King Richard” protectors, their cries echoing to Bosworth Market. Back then, suggesting a skinner killed the last English king slain in battle, a commoner no less.. This was heresy. Fast forward 30 years: Richard III’s 2012 exhumation from Greyfriars Leicester— skull wound matching a poleaxe blow to Richard III—flipped the script. Welsh chronicler Elis Gruffydd’s Cronicl o Wech Oesoedd (NLW MS 5276D, ff. 230–240), written decades before the internet, named William Gardiner kingslayer, a truth my ancestors carried across oceans. What was once “hogwash” is now history, validated by science and stubborn persistence.

Key Discoveries: The Gardiner Web

Our research—spanning civic scrolls (Common Council Journals, folio 87r–88v*), family lore, and digital digs—has uncovered a web of influence:

William Gardiner: Found with Richard III’s coronet by Rhys ap Thomas, knighted on the field with Sir Gilbert Talbot (Crowland Chronicle, 1486, p. 183).

 
Richard Gardiner: Controlled a wool empire rivaling nobles, lending Richard III £166 13s. 4d. while funding Henry VII (TNA C 54/343, m. 10), then led London’s scarlet-clad welcome at Shoreditch. (Chronicles of London, Kingsford, 1905, p. 252).

 
Ellen Tudor: Jasper Tudor’s natural daughter, binding the Gardiners to the Tudors, mother to Thomas Gardiner, Henry VII’s cousin (Visitation of London, 1530, p. 70).

 
Thomas Gardiner: Born 1479, “King’s chaplain, son and heir,” whose ecclesiastical rise shaped Tudor legitimacy (Thomas Gardiner’s History, Smyly, 1922, p. 235).

 
Audrey Cotton: Richard’s widow, married off to Sir Gilbert Talbot, Henry’s right-wing commander, sealing alliances (Magna Carta Ancestry, Richardson, 2011, p. 462).

 
Merchant Power: London’s guilds, riled by Richard III’s trade bans, sent 435 men to Bosworth, their wealth tipping the scales (London and the Crown, Harper, 2015, p. 49).

 
Hidden Ties: From Sir Giles Alington, Henry VIII’s Master of Ordnance and Richard’s ward, to Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, the Gardiners’ undocumented royal links run deep (Acts of Court of the Mercers’ Company, Lyell & Watney, 1936, p. 312).

Why It Matters

This isn’t just family pride—it’s a seismic shift. Wikipedia skips William Gardiner, clinging to noble narratives, but Sir William Key digs deeper. History isn’t static; it’s a living puzzle, and the Gardiners are missing pieces now snapping into place. Richard Gardiner didn’t just greet Henry VII—he bankrolled a merchant funding Henry VII invasion. William Gardiner’s poleaxe didn’t just kill—it crowned. Ellen Tudor and Thomas Gardiner didn’t just survive—they thrived, their blood and influence rippling through the Tudor dynasty to figures like Stephen Gardiner and beyond.

 A Digital Renaissance

As we upload the past—parchments, probate records (PCC PROB 11/7/166), and oral tales—into the 21st century, the picture sharpens. What my ancestors sang in Philadelphia’s Welsh Tract—stories of Battle of Bosworth, great battles, and better times in England—has stood the test of time. The digital age isn’t erasing history; it’s finishing a canvas left incomplete for 540 years. One document, one scan, one memory can rewrite what we know—or thought we knew. Join the Hunt


Our mission at King Slayers Court. Use Sir Williams Key ,— to correct outdated assumptions, connect the collective Gardner branches, and spotlight their role in history. From Richard III’s fall to the Tudor dynasty’s rise, this is more than genealogy—it’s a reclamation of truth. Explore our findings, challenge the narrative, and share your thoughts. Together, we’ll unravel the hidden story of the collective family —commoners, merchants, king slayers, and kinsman to kings.


Dive in at King Slayers Court—history’s waiting. We live in exciting times, a single forgotten document, just one seemingly unimportant piece of information lost in the modern age. Scanned to the internet in the 21st century~? Are now yielding surprising answers, that should cause us to re-examine everything we think that we thought we knew about our history. Sir William Key, History's 21st Century Yesterday

David T. Gardner: Author, Historian, Researcher 

David T. Gardner is an esteemed historian and a devoted descendant of the Gardner family, whose lineage has been meticulously traced, revealing a journey from Ulster, Ireland, to the edge of the endless forest of Howard, Centre County, Pennsylvania, where his ancestor John Gardner staked his claim in 1791. David’s passion for history was ignited by his grandmother’s tales of Sir William and Lady Ellen, fueling a 40-year quest to uncover the Gardner family’s profound impact on medieval and early modern history. His magnum opus, Sir William Gardiner: The Kingslayer of Bosworth Field, unveils the spellbinding story of his ancestor William Gardiner, a mercer whose decisive strike at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485—bolstered by Welsh forces under Rhys ap Thomas—ended Richard III’s reign, the last English king killed in battle; it was Syr Wyllyam Gardynyr who crowned Henry VII, ushering in the Tudor dynasty with Welsh roots at its heart [web ID: 0] [web ID: 9]. Through the Sir Williams Key Project, David has brought to light the Gardner family’s enduring legacy, from William’s son Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, whose unwavering Catholic faith shaped the English Reformation across Vatican City, London, Cambridge, and Bury St. Edmunds, to their ancestral ties to modern royalty, including Charles III [Citations 500–618]. His 40 years of scholarship, culminating in his thesis Finished My Thesis After 40 Yrs - Who Killed Richard III: The Merchant Coup That Crowned A King, embody a relentless pursuit of truth; Sir Williams blends cutting-edge technology and genealogical mastery with groundbreaking research, revealing history in unparalleled detail and enabling us to capture a true picture of our shared history—English, Welsh, Scotch, Ulster, Irish, and American heritage [March 30, 2025, 02:20]. For inquiries, collaborations, or to explore more of his transformative work, David invites you to connect at gardnerflorida@gmail.com or visit his blog, Sir Williams Key: History’s 21st Century Yesterday, a digital haven for history enthusiasts.

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