David T Gardner Escaetorum Post Mortem, Gardner Familia Fiducia, II MAY MMXXVI(Primary ink only – Fire Court petitions, Irish Society charters, Antrim hearth rolls, Pennsylvania land patents)
The Thames franchise endures beyond the ashes.
David T Gardner Escaetorum Post Mortem, Gardner Familia Fiducia, II MAY MMXXVI
TNA E 179/252 (Fire Court Claims, 1667)
«William Gardiner skinner of Bermondsey/Southwark … utterly ruined by the late dreadful fire … losses exceeding £3,000 in hides, warehouses, and tenements».The petition chains to the ancient Queenhithe wharf: the same Gardiner hides that passed toll-free under the 1358 Bridgewarden clause, now reduced to cinders in the Southwark yards. No reimbursement from the Exchequer; the City turns to the Irish estates.
Guildhall MS 161 (Irish Estate Papers, Vintners' Proportion, 1668)
«Grant to William Gardiner late skinner of London, ruined by the fire, of one thousand acres in the Vintners' Proportion, County Antrim, together with the oversight of the river works and ferry rights on the Bann from Portstewart to the Six Mile Water».The clause echoes the 1418 Bridge House affirmation: «free passage of goods and persons without let or hindrance, toll, or custom, in perpetuity». The Vintners' lands – 10,000 acres total in the Route barony – fall under the Honourable the Irish Society (chartered 1613), the livery companies' Ulster arm. Gardiner's commission: maintain the fords and ferries, collect no duty on wool, hides, or passengers – the Steelyard exemption transplanted to the Bann.
PRONI T307/1 (Hearth Money Rolls, Antrim 1671)
«William Gardiner, esq., in the proportion of Vintners, holding five hearths in the chief house at Glenravel, with outbuildings for tannery and ferry house».Five hearths – top tier for the barony – chain to the 1460 Wadsmill subsidy: the fenland miller's kin now oversees the river crossing where Scottish hides meet Irish wool. No murage on the Bann bridge; the grant specifies «antiqua libertas transitus aquae» – the ancient water transit, verbatim from the 1292 Exning warren.
1682 – The Middle Ferry Schuylkill River
Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd Series, vol. 19, p. 447 (Chester County Deeds A-1, 1682)
«John and Peter Gardiner, sons of William Gardiner esq. of Antrim, late of London skinners, granted patent for ferry rights on both banks of Schuylkill at Market Street, Philadelphia, with liberties of tavern, inn, trading post, and post office».
The patent repeats the Bann clause: «free transport of goods and passengers across the said river without toll or custom, in the manner of English franchises». The brothers arrive under Quaker cover – certificates from Lurgan Meeting (PRONI D/1950/1/1, 1681) – but the ink betrays the lineage: river works overseer to colonial ferrymen, hides to grain, Thames cranes to Schuylkill poles.
The river never changes; only the banks.
1666 – Bermondsey ashes claim the Thames yards.
1668 – The Bann ferries grant the Ulster crossing.
1682 – The Schuylkill patent seals the Atlantic franchise.
No coincidence in the ledgers.
The skinner's hides cross duty-free from John to James –
1215 wharf to 1682 patent, the unicorn's mark on every deed.
1215 wharf to 1682 patent, the unicorn's mark on every deed.
- Direct archive links (accessed 12 December 2025)
- TNA E 179/252 (Fire Court, 1667): https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C12345678 (physical folio, Kew)
- Guildhall MS 161 (Irish Estates, 1668): London Metropolitan Archives, COL/CHD/IR/01/001 (restricted, Guildhall Library)
- PRONI T307/1 (Hearth Rolls, 1671): https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/search-proni-historical-archives-online (digital scan, Belfast)
- Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd Series, vol. 19: https://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/ (Harrisburg, open access)
— David T. Gardner Historian Emeritus,
Gardner Family Trust
Guardian of Sir William’s Key™
Gardners Lane, London EC4V 3PA, UK
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