| Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 The Story of the Gardner Family  Ann and Phil Gardner were interested in researching their family history starting with Philip’s grandfather -William Walter Gardner. William Walter Gardner was born on 27th April 1896 in Long Itchington, Warwickshire. The sixth child of Charles and Phoebe Gardner.
William married Maria Monk on 8th December 1915 at the Register Office in Warwick. From their marriage certificate we know that William was a canal boatman. As was his father and father-in-law. Is it interesting to note that William was unable to sign his name, making a mark instead. He also confused his age declaring he was 21, although he was in fact only 19 years old. During the First World War, William served in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. He was demobbed 17th April 1919 after serving for 1 year and 262 days and returned to the boats after the war. 
Copy of Marriage Certificate for William Gardner and Maria Monk, 1915. William and Maria had four children: Lily born in 1916, Richard Henry in 1917, William in 1920 (after his father’s return from France) and Lucy in 1922. Lucy remembers all that she was about 10 and her brother Richard was 14 when they came off the boats. The family moved to Long Itchington, and lived in a house next to the canal. William’s parents Charles Gardner and Phoebe Clifton were married on 5th December 1882. Their marriage certificate also shows boatmen on both sides of the family. 
Charles and Phoebe Gardner had six other children: Elizabeth born in 1886 at Stockton Warwickshire, Charles in 1887 and Joseph in 1889 at Braunston, Northamptonshire, Thomas in 1890 and Maria Lucy in January 1891 in Stockton, and Horace in 1901 at Long Itchington, near Stockton, Warwickshire. The children were born in different locations depending on where the family boat was moored at the time. Related Gardner families often boated together. The 1901 census shows Charles and Phoebe on a barge working for Nelson’s Cement Works, with son Charles (14) and daughter Maria (9) on board. Charles’ brother Thomas and his wife Harriet were moored alongside with Charles and Phoebe’s sons Joseph (12) and William (4) on board. While Charles and Phoebe’s eldest daughter can be found on board Tomas Harriet’s son George’s boat five miles away. Phoebe Clifton’s Family Phoebe was born in Northamptonshire in 1864 to Benjamin and Eliza Clifton (formerly Daniels). Her mother died two years later in 1866 of peritonitis, probably after childbirth. By 1871, Phoebe and her brother, Benjamin, who was eight, were living with their grandparents James and Hannah Clifton in Northampton. Their father, Benjamin, was moored nearby on the boat ‘The Industry’. He was captain with his eleven year old son James as cabin boy. It was very common for children to be brought up by grandparents or aunts and uncles after the death of a parent. 
Copy of Eliza Clifton’s death certificate, 1866. It is possible to trace the Gardner family back one further generation. Charles’s birth certificate shows that his parents were Joseph and Elizabeth Gardner. Joseph and Elizabeth (nee Dyer) were married on December 28th 1840 at Holy Trinity Parish Church in Stratford upon Avon. 
Copy of marriage certificate for Joseph Gardner and Elizabeth Dyer, 1840. The Parish Registers show that 11 of their children including Charles were baptised at the church between 1841 and 1864. Maria (1841), Joseph (1843), Joseph (1847), William (1847), Thomas (1848), Mary Ann (1850), Charles (1859), Elizabeth (1859), Alice (1859), Albert (1864) and Temperance Lucy (1864)! Where the dates are the same they were christened on the same day - not necessarily twins or triplets!! Many children did not survive infancy - a second Joseph (1847) implies that the Joseph (1843) had died. At various times of his children’s baptisms, Joseph was a labourer and a boatman. It seems that when he couldn‘t get labourer work locally, he went on the boats - or vice versa. This probably accounts for the fact that the family stayed based around Stratford and kept a home there. It seems likely that Joseph is the first boatman in the Gardner family. Joseph’s marriage certificate classes his father Thomas as a labourer. As yet Ann & Philip have been unable to discover any more about him. Further research is needed. That’s the thing with Family history once you start you just can’t stop... Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7
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