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James GARDINER (1798–1882)
His second wife Mrs Jane GARDINER, née Goodall (c.1806–1860)
His third wife Mrs Elizabeth GARDINER née Phipp (1817–1864)
St Michael section: Row 19, Grave D45

James Gardiner was born in Bletchingdon in 1798 and baptised there on 29 July. His parents were the mason John Gardiner and Ann Morris, who were married at Bletchingdon on 8 April 1787. He had three older siblings: Mary (born 1788), Hannah (born 1791) and William (born 1792).

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With first wife: Mary (possibly surnamed Farmer)

James Gardiner’s first wife, who was born outside Oxfordshire, was called Mary: she is probably the Mary Farmer who married James Gardiner at St Cross Church on 17 July 1821, with both being described as lodgers in that parish. James and Mary Gardiner had the following children:

• William James Gardiner (born at George Street in 1822 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 22 May;
  buried in its churchyard on 25 November 1823)
• James Gardiner (born at George Street in 1824 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 28 March;
  buried in its churchyard on 31 July 1828)
• Edwin Gardiner (born at George Street in 1828 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 20 April)
• John Job Gardiner (born at Walton Place (now Walton Street) in 1830 and baptised at St Mary Magdalen Church on 3 March)
• Mary Anne Gardiner (born at Walton Place (now Walton Street) in 1833 and baptised at St Thomas’s Church on 11 August; died in St Thomas’s parish aged 2 years 7 months and buried at St Mary Magdalen churchyard on 21 February 1836)
• Sarah Gardiner (born at Walton Place (now Walton Street) on 31 March 1835 and baptised at St Thomas’s Church on 30 November)
• Anne Gardiner (born at 8 George Street in 1841 and baptised at St Michael’s Church on 20 August).

James Gardiner and his first wife Mary lived in the part of George Street in St Mary Magdalen parish at the start of their marriage, but moved to Walton Place (now Walton Street) (which was then in St Thomas’s parish) at some point between August 1828 and early 1830.

On 23 June 1838 James Gardiner, Builder, inserted a notice in Jackson's Oxford Journal that he had taken to the building materials and effects of the late Joseph Banting, and had removed them to part of the premises of J. J. Coles, where he intended to carry on his building business. In the 1841 census his address was given as 8 George Street

At the time of the 1841 census James and Mary were living at 8 George Street (one of the first thirteen houses on the south-eastern side that fall in St Michael’s parish) with two of their children: Edwin (13) and Sarah (6).

In 1844 James Gardiner built the toll-house on Folly Bridge (right).

James’s first wife Mary Gardiner died at George Street on 14 January 1845 and three days later was buried in St Mary Magdalen churchyard (St Sepulchre’s not being open until 1848). She (like her little daughter who died in 1836) may have been buried in a family grave there, as the family was now actually living in St Michael’s parish. Her death notice in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 18 January 1845 read: “On Tuesday last, after a short but severe illness, aged 45, Mary, wife of Mr. James Gardiner, builder, of George-street, in this city; leaving a family of four children and a large circle of friends to lament their loss.”

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With second wife: Jane Goodall

On 11 May 1848 at Holy Trinity Church, St Ebbe’s, James Gardiner married his second wife Jane Goodall, who was born in Quinton in Gloucestershire (now part of Warwickshire) in c.1806 and was working as a servant in Oxford prior to her wedding.

Miss Goodall was aged 42 at the time of the wedding, and they had no children.

At the time of the 1851 census James Gardiner (52) was described as a builder employing 22 men. He was living at 8 George Street with Jane (45) and his two youngest children, Sarah (16) and Ann (9). His son John (21), who was a solicitor’s clerk, was paying a visit to the Bowerman family in Witney.

James Gardiner’s daughter Sarah was married in 1859:

• Near the beginning of 1859 in the Westminster district Sarah Gardiner became the second wife of John Figg.

James Gardiner’s second wife Jane died in 1860:

† Mrs Jane Gardiner née Goodall died at George Street at the age of 53 or 54 on 24 June 1860 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 28 June (burial recorded in the parish register of St Michael’s Church).

At the time of the 1861 census James Gardiner, a widower of about 61, was described as a builder employing eleven men. He was living at 8 George Street with his youngest daughter Anne (19) and their 14-year-old servant girl.

On 29 June 1861 it was announced in Jackson’s Oxford Journal that James Gardiner was to restore externally the church of St Mary the Virgin to the design of G. G. Scott.

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With third wife: Elizabeth Phipp

On 3 July 1861 at Rodbourne in Wiltshire, James Gardiner married his third wife Elizabeth Phipp, the daughter of the farmer Henry Phipp and his wife Sarah, who was born in Kempsford, Gloucestershire in 1817 and baptised there on 26 October. At the time of the 1861 census she was living at Lechlade with her cousin Joseph Phipp Pinnegar, a farmer of 200 acres, and his wife.

Their marriage announcement in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 13 July 1861 read: “July 3, at Rodbourne, by the Rev. S. A. Echalaz, Mr. James Gardiner, builder, of this city, to Miss Phipp, of Kempsford, Gloucestershire.”

Miss Phipp was aged about 44 at the time of her marriage, and they had no children.

James Gardiner’s third wife Elizabeth died in 1864, less than three years after her marriage:

† Mrs Elizabeth Gardiner née Phipp died at George Street at the age of 47 (vault wrongly says 46) on 14 February 1864 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 18 February (burial recorded in the parish register of St Michael’s Church).

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With fourth wife: Mary Cook

In 1869 in the Bromley district, James Gardiner married his fourth wife, Mary Cook (born in Oxford in c.1817), who was aged about 51 at the time of her marriage.

At the time of the 1871 census James Gardiner (71), now described as a retired builder, was living at 5 Clarendon Villas, Park Town with Mary (53) and one servant. They were still there in 1881, aged 82 and 63.

James Gardiner died in 1882:

† James Gardiner died at 5 Clarendon Villas, Park Town at the age of 83 on 27 April 1882 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 4 May (burial recorded in the parish register of St Michael’s Church).

The words “Builder of this City” on his gravestone are the same as those chosen for his son Edwin’s gravestone thirteen years earlier. James Gardiner’s death notice in Jackson’s Oxford Journal on 6 May 1882 read: “April 27, at his residence, 5, Clarendon Villas, Park Town, Oxford, Mr. James Gardiner, for many years a builder in this city, aged 83.”

His personal estate came to £5,866 13s. 7d., and his son John Job Gardiner was sole executor.

At the time of the 1891 census James Gardiner’s fourth wife Mary (67) was living at 5 Clarendon Villas with her two nieces Gertrude and Henrietta Cook.

Mary Gardiner died at 5 Clarendon Villas, Park Town at the age of 79 on 27 August 1895, but does not appear to be buried in this vault. Her effects came to £6,655 11s. 6d. Her stepson John Job Gardiner, a bailiff who was one of her executors, moved into her house with his family.

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Children of James Gardiner and his first wife Mary

• Edwin Gardiner (born 1828) died thirteen years before his father: see separate grave
• John Job Gardiner (born 1830) married his first wife Harriet Fuller (born in Boxley, Kent in 1839/40) at Boxley on 22 August 1859. At the time of the 1861 census he was a Sergeant in the Staff Cavalry, living in Maidstone with Harriet and their daughter Sarah (1); their son Walter James was born in 1862 and John in 1864. He had moved back to Oxford by 1869, as his wife Harriet died there that year at the age of 29. He married his second wife Alice Anne Bloxham (born in Wardington in c.1833) in the Banbury district in the second quarter of 1870, and in the 1871 census John (41) was described as the Beadle of Oxford Market, living at 9 Market Street (Market House) with Alice (28), his children Sarah (11) and John (6) by his first wife, and his and Alice’s son William (one month). By 1881 John was described as the Bailiff of Oxford Market, again living at Market House with his wife and the three children by his first wife – Sarah (21), Walter (18), who was an ironmonger’s assistant,and John (16), who was a pupil teacher – and his seven young children by Alice: William (10), Percy (8), Mary (6), Vida (5), Evelyn (3), Dorothy (10), and James (three months). In 1891 the situation was much the same, except that there was another son, Louis. At the time of the 1901 census John Job Gardiner can be seen living in his father’s old house at 9 Clarendon Villas, Park Town with his wife and five of their children: he was still Market Bailiff at the age of 71. In 1911 he was retired, and living there with Alice and three of their children; four of their children were recorded as already dead. John Job Gardiner died at 5 Clarendon Villas, Park Town on 20 November 1911 at the age of 81. His effects came to £7,829 3s. 3d., and his executors were two of his sons: James Gardiner (a surveyor’s assistant) and Louis Gardiner (an auctioneer’s assistant). His widow Alice Ann died at Clarendon Cottage, Park Town on 28 July 1923 and her effects came to £298 18s. 10d.
• Sarah Gardiner, Mrs Figg (born 1835): see separate grave
• Anne Gardiner (born 1841) is hard to find after 1861, when she was looking after her father.