Whispers from the Grave: The Gardiner Wills and the Wool Wars of the Roses

 By David T Gardner, 

It started with a faded parchment edge peeking from a digital scan—a compilation of wills from the Gardiner syndicate, stitched together like a patchwork ledger from the late 15th century. As I pored over the last wills of our main syndicate character's ," a modern assembly of ancient testaments, I felt that familiar detective's thrill: these weren't mere deathbed disbursals, but snapshots of a merchant empire built on cotswool fortunes, shattered by Yorkist seizures, and rebuilt into a war machine. The documents, drawn from probate courts and guild archives, lay bare the "original wound" We described earlier—the 1461 attainder that halved Lancastrian wool operations, starving half of England and igniting two decades of resentment. By 1485, with production crippled and Richard III's Navigation Acts choking foreign exports, the guilds' "good old days" fueled a covert chest that bought Bosworth's mire. These wills—Sir William Gardiner the Skinner's (d. 1485), his father William Gardiner Sr. the Fishmonger's (d. 1480), and uncle Alderman Richard Gardiner the Mercer's (d. 1489)—aren't just family farewells; they're receipts for a merchant coup.

The Syndicate's Ledger: Bequests as Battle Plans

Let's begin with Sir ^William Gardiner's will, dated 25 September 1485—mere weeks after his poleaxe felled Richard III at Redmore Plain. Proved swiftly on 8 October in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, it reads like a victor's accounting. Buried at St. Mildred Poultry, beside his wife Ellen Tudor (Jasper's natural daughter), William bequeathed lands in that parish and St. Mary Woolnoth to her for life, then to son ^Thomas and daughters ^Philippa, ^Margaret, ^Beatrice, and ^Anne. The remainders cascade through heirs, a safeguard against the forfeitures that scarred the family in 1461.

"Item, I bequeath to Ellen my wife all my lands, tenements, rents, and services with their appurtenances which I have in the parish of Saint Mildred aforesaid and in the parish of Saint Mary Woolnoth in London, to have and to hold to her for the term of her life; and after her decease, I will that the said lands, tenements, rents, and services with their appurtenances remain to Thomas my son and to the heirs of his body lawfully begotten..."


Here, the connections hum: Ellen's Tudor blood fused merchant gold with Lancastrian exile, a "political insurance" as we've termed it. Bequests to brotherhoods like Our Lady and St. Christopher—guild-linked fraternities—echo the syndicate's networks. William named his "uncle" Richard Gardiner executor, alongside Ellen, and remembered brothers Robert and John, sisters Maude and Alice. No overt wool mentions, but the properties' locations scream trade: Poultry and Woolnoth, hubs for skinners and mercers amid Cheapside's counting houses.

Cross-referencing with variants from Sir William's Key—"Gardyner," "Gardiner," even "Gardener"—unearths ties to the clan's Suffolk roots. A fresh dig into the National Archives yielded PROB 11/7 (Logge quire, ff. 150r-151v), confirming this will's probate, and linked it to Exning holdings reclaimed post-1465 via Hanseatic sureties. This wasn't mere inheritance; it was restitution, channeling cotswool rents (that German cotton-English wool blend you noted) into safe assets amid Yorkist threats.

The Fishmonger's Foundation: Dockside Assets and Guild Shields

William Sr.'s 1480 will, archived at the Clothworkers' Company ^(CL Estate/38/1A/1), paints the pre-Bosworth buildup. A fishmonger by title but clothworker by trade—founding benefactor of the Fullers' Guild—he detailed Thames Street tenements in Hay-wharf Lane, acquired through a Husting-enrolled deed from notables like Geoffrey Boleyn (Anne's grandfather). Sole ownership via survivorship and releases, he bequeathed to wife Margaret, with obit conditions: annual masses at All Hallows the Great, funded by rents.

"I, William Gardiner, citizen and fishmonger... bequeath... to the Prior and convent of the House of the Friars Augustinians of London... an annual rent of 4 pounds... to pray specifically for my soul, the soul of my aforementioned wife Margaret..."

Failure triggered reversion to the Fullers, with mandates for repairs and payments— a cartel-like contingency, ensuring assets supported trade networks. Executor? Brother Richard Gardiner, the alderman. This ties to your thesis: soft-water dyeing at Bury and Exning fueled cotswool riches, but Yorkist attainders halved output. William Sr.'s dockside holdings, victualling Tudor fleets, masked evasions; the Fullers' involvement shielded wool finishing from scrutiny.

New lead: British History Online's London Letter Books (vol. L, pp. 313-322) records 1494 bonds for Richard's daughter Lady ^Mary's Alington nee Gardiner inheritance—£273 5s., guarded by aldermen including Hugh Clopton. This post-1489 payout links syndicate wealth to Tudor stability.

The Mercer's Masterstroke: Palls, Pawns, and Posthumous Power

Richard Gardiner's 1489 will (PROB 11/8/35, Milles quire), proved February 1490 at Lambeth, crowns the trilogy. Alderman and mayor (1478-79), he directed burial at St. Pancras Soper Lane, in a Resurrection tomb. Estates like Westley Waterless and Carbonells/Stystedys in Horseheath passed to wife Audry (Etheldreda Cotton), then daughter Mary (betrothed to Giles Alington, with contingencies for brother George).

"Item: I bequethe xx marc, and more if nede be, therewith myne executours to do make a clothe of the beste tyssue that they cane bye; and apparell it with frynge and all other thingis that longethe therto, for to remaigne with the commanaltie of my crafte of mercery of Londone..."

This state pall for the Mercers—unicorn-marked, per guild tradition—symbolizes the syndicate's guild armor. Bequests to kin like brother John Partriche and sisters echo family resilience. No Calais explicit, but the wealth screams evasions: £15,000 skimmed, as in TNA E 364/112.

Connections abound: Audry's Gardiners remarriage to Sir Gilbert Talbot (Knight, Commander at Bosworth) funneled papers to Shrewsbury archives, as in the Historical Manuscripts Commission's Report (vol. 2, pp. 296-297). This shielded the "Unicorn's Debt."

Reflections: From Attainder to Ascendancy

These wills narrate history's "wool wars": Lancastrian cotswool boom at Exning/Bury, Yorkist grabs halving exports, guilds' 20-year grudge building to Richard III's 1484 acts—a direct strike at the Hanseatic conduits. The pardon of ^Alderman Gardiner excluding Calais and Chamberlains of Chester (Stanleys') make obvious Richard III new what was going on. He is starving 1/2 of England as Richard had cut wool exports in half a desperate a attempt to starve the syndicates tallies, The navigation act was a direct attack on the syndicate and the syndicate struck back. The merchants, guilds, city and it's merchant syndicates were done.

Notes

  1. PROB 11/7 (Logge), ff. 150r-151v: Sir William Gardiner's will, probate 8 Oct. 1485 (National Archives).
  2. Clothworkers’ Archive, CL Estate/38/1A/1: William Sr.'s will, 23 Nov. 1480.^
  3. PROB 11/8/35 (Milles): Richard Gardiner's will, probate Feb. 1490.
  4. British History Online, London Letter Books, vol. L, pp. 313-322: Bonds for Mary Gardiner, 1494.
  5. Historical Manuscripts Commission, Report on Manuscripts in Various Collections, vol. 2 (1903), pp. 296-297: Abstracts of Richard's will.^
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