Sir Richard Gardiner, Knight, (died 19 December 1489) was, in 1478, Lord Mayor of London

Lord Mayor of London

The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...

. He was Alderman of Walbrook

Walbrook

Walbrook is the name of a ward, a street and a subterranean river in the City of London.-Underground river:The river played a key role in the Roman settlement of Londinium, the city now known as London. It is thought that the river was named because it ran through or under the London Wall; another...

 Ward, and had been Sheriff of the City of London in 1469.

Gardiner's parents were John and Isabella Gardiner of Exning

Exning

Exning is a village in Suffolk, England.It lies just off the A14 trunk road, roughly east-northeast of Cambridge, and south-south-east of Ely...

, near Newmarket, Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

. He married Etheldreda (or Audria) (d.1505), daughter of William Cotton, Lord of the Manor

Lord of the Manor

The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...

 of Landwade, in Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...

, who survived him and married, secondly, Sir Gilbert Talbot

Gilbert Talbot (soldier)

Sir Gilbert Talbot of Grafton, KG was an English Tudor knight, a younger son of John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury and 2nd Earl of Waterford, and Elizabeth Butler.-Life:...

, Knight of the Garter, of Grafton

Grafton, Worcestershire

Grafton is a village in Worcestershire, England....

, Worcestershire

Worcestershire

Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...

). By Audria, Gardiner had one child, Mary, who in 1504 married Sir Giles Alington

Giles Alington

Sir Giles Alington, , knight, Lord of the Manor of Horseheath, Cambridgeshire, High Sheriff and MP for Cambridgeshire.-Family background:...

, Knt.

However, a manuscript compiled by Allan Stanier, entitled Lord Mayors of London and their Parentage &c., 1308-1798, lists, for the year, "1478, Sir Richard Gardyner, son of John Gardyner of Elsing, Norfolk". The location cited is an error.

"In his will, Richard Gardener [sic], Alderman of Walbrook Ward, left to Etheldreda or Audria, his wife, his lands, tenements, &c., in the parishes of St.Bartholomew the Less

St Bartholomew-the-Less

St Bartholomew-the-Less is an Anglican church in the City of London. It is the official church of St Bartholomew's Hospital and is located within the hospital grounds.-History:...

 [towards the Royal Exchange], St.Michael Queenhithe, and Holy Trinity the Less, for her life, with remainder to Mary, Lady Alington, his daughter in tail [sic]. In default of an heir he leaves the sum of ten pence 'per diem' to five poor men in honour of the five wounds of Jesus Christ, and to five poor women in honour of the five joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the said men and women being nominated by the Mayor and Recorder, and by the Master of the House or Hospital of St.Thomas de Acon

Hospital of St Thomas of Acre

The Hospital of St Thomas of Acre was the medieval London headquarters of the Knights of Saint Thomas. It was founded as a church in 1227 in the parish of St Mary Colechurch, birthplace of the order's patron saint, Saint Thomas Becket...

, in manner prescribed. The aforesaid tenements &c., to remain to the master of the house or hospital aforesaid and his successors subject to the above charge; remainder in case of default to the Chamberlain of the City of London on like condition. Dated 1 April 1488. Proved on Monday the Feast of St.Alphege, Bishop

Alphege

Ælfheah , officially remembered by the name Alphege within some churches, and also called Elphege, Alfege, or Godwine, was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Winchester, later Archbishop of Canterbury. He became an anchorite before being elected abbot of Bath Abbey...

, 19 April 1490."