Frank (Christie) Gardiner
Privacy Level: Open (White)

Francis (Christie) Gardiner (1830 - abt. 1904)

Francis (Frank) Gardiner formerly Christie aka Clarke
Born in Ross-shire, Scotland, United Kingdommap
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died about at about age 74 in San Francisco, California, United Statesmap [uncertain]
Problems/Questions Profile manager: Australia Project WikiTree private message [send private message]
Profile last modified | Created 30 Jan 2014
This page has been accessed 4,132 times.
WikiTree Australian Bushrangers
Frank Gardiner - Ben Hall Gang
Australian 1788
Frank (Christie) Gardiner is managed by the Australia Project.
Join: Australia Project
Discuss: australia



Francis Christie aka Frank Gardiner

Biography

Scottish flag
Frank (Christie) Gardiner was born in Scotland.
Frank (Christie) Gardiner came free to the Colony of New South Wales (1788-1900)
Frank (Christie) Gardiner arrived with a Bounty Immigrant to New South Wales.
Frank (Christie) Gardiner was an Australian Bushranger


Frank Gardiner was one of the few bushrangers who didn’t end up dying in prison or by being shot or hanged he was part of Ben Hall's Gang

Frank Gardiner's correct name was Francis Christie he was born to Charles and Jane Christie in Ross shire, Scotland, his father was an agriculturalist, who arrived in Australia as a bounty migrant with his wife and five children on the ship [1] "James" on 17th November 1834. Francis Christie often used other aliases including Gardiner, Clarke or Christie he supposedly took the name Gardiner after a man who lived for some years with his family and who had taught him how to ride and break in horse.

His first crime was in Victoria in 1850, Gardiner moved to Victoria and there with two accomplices stole 24 horses from William Morton's station in the Loddon Valley they planned to sell the horses in Portland they were arrested at Bilson's Inn, near Heyfield. Gardiner was tried at Geelong in October 1850 and sentenced to five years hard labour. On 20th March,1851 Gardiner was part of a work party working outside Pentridge Prison when they rushed the guards and escaped most of the convicts were rounded up within days but Gardiner escaped and returned to the Goulbourn District of New South Wales in March1854, using the alias of "Clarke", he was arrested again for stealing horses near Yass and sent to Cockatoo Island he was sentenced to fourteen years ( seven years for each charge) while imprisoned on Cockatoo Island he met the bushranger John Peisley.

Granted a ticket of leave in 1860 on the condition of staying in the district he joined Peisley who was lone highwayman his ticket of leave was revoked and a warrant for his arrest for cattle stealing was issued. Captured after a gunfight with two troopers at Foggs hut near Reids Flat, Gardiner and Fogg managed to bribe one of the policemen to allow Gardiner to escape

In June 1862, Frank masterminded [2]the gold escort robbery at Eugowra Rock along with Ben Hall, Dan Charters and Johnny Gilbert it was the biggest robbery in bushranging history in Australia the booty of 2,700 ounces of gold plus cash totalled 14,000 pounds! Although several of the men were apprehended, and just over half of the gold and cash found, their leader disappeared, leaving his gang under the leadership of his devoted friend, Ben Hall Ben was married to Bridget ("Biddy") Walsh, whose younger sister Catherine ("Kitty") left her husband John Brown for her lover, Frank Gardiner and disappeared with him.

Frank Gardiner and John Gilbert

In early 1864, a man named Mark Brown recognized Frank Gardiner who was living with his mistress Kitty as Mr and Mrs Christie, the shopkeepers at [3]Apis Creek near [1] Rockhampton he reported the matter to the police [4] was found , tried in Sydney, and sentenced to thirty two years imprisonment. In 1867 Kitty gave up waiting for him and moved in with Richard Taylor, the brother of James Taylor.In 1868 she passed away at Waipatukaha at the age of twenty-five.

Gardiner served only 10 years of his sentence after appeals by his two sisters he was granted an early release, conditional on his leaving the country he was taken to Newcastle and put on a ship to Hong Kong, next he was heard of in San Francisco, where he became a saloon proprietor Gardiner he owned the Twilight Star Saloon on Kearny Street in the Barbary Coast area of [5] San Francisco ,there are many rumours about his life including a claim he married a rich widow who bore him two sons none have been proven.The circumstances of his death are not known there were many unsubstantiated rumours, one that he died of pneumonia in 1904, but no records were found due in large part by the destruction caused during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake there are various reports of his death ranging from the early 1880s to 1904 but it is not known for sure.

DNA

  • As at 10 September 2019, no DNA testers are noted on this profile. If you are a descendant and have had your DNA tested, we encourage you to add your lineage to WIkitree!
  • Any descendants who tested at AncestryDNA are encouraged to upload their results to GEDmatch so that they can be compared to other testers.
Please direct any questions about the DNA analysis or any DNA confirmation data to Veronica Williams 21:37, 10 September 2019 (UTC)


Sources

  1. Immigrant Ships - Steerage Passengers Barque "James"
  2. The Courier (Hobart, Tas. : 1840 - 1859) p.2; 3rd August 1853 Article THE ESCORT ROBBERY
  3. Newspaper article - Frank Gardiner living at Apis Creek, with his mistress as Mr and Mrs Christie
  4. The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) p.12; 21st March, 1864 Article Capture of Frank Gardnier the Highwayman
  5. Newspaper article- Frank Gardiner in San Francisco
  • Edgar F. Penzig, 'Gardiner, Francis (Frank) (1830–1903)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, <http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/gardiner-francis-frank-3589/text5561> published first in hardcopy 1972, accessed online 20 May 2019. This article was first published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, (MUP), 1972









Is Frank your ancestor? Please don't go away!
 star icon Login to collaborate or comment, or
 star icon contact private message the profile manager, or
 star icon ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com

DNA
No known carriers of Frank's ancestors' DNA have taken a DNA test.

Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.



Comments

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.

Rejected matches › Francis Alonzo Gardner (1829-1904)