Arthur Ralph Gardiner^[1]

1829 - 1927  (98 years)

• Name	Arthur Ralph Gardiner
  Born	21 May 1829	Bourton-on-the-Hill, Gloucestershire, England
  Christened	31 May 1829	Bourton-on-the-Hill, Gloucestershire, England
  Gender	Male
  Died	9 Aug 1927	Napier, New Zealand
  Buried	Wairoa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
  Person ID	I500226	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	16 May 2021

  
  

  Family	Margaret Robson,   b. 13 Nov 1831, Dumfries, Scotland ,   d. 17 Aug 1889, Wairoa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand  (Age 57 years)
  Married	1 Jan 1856	Wellington, New Zealand
  Children	1. Jane Elizabeth Gardiner,   b. 26 Mar 1859, Wellington, New Zealand ,   d. 27 Oct 1938, Napier, New Zealand  (Age 79 years)
  Last Modified	16 May 2021
  Family ID	F500125	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Ralph came to NZ as part of the defence force in the British Army. He was an engineer. His detachment was originally posted to India and was diverted to Napier for the feared uprising in 1853 or there about. Ralphs mate in the army was engaged to Margaret Roboson and gave Ralph a letter to her .. Ralph apparently met her in Wellington and did not deliver the letter. He courted her and married her in 1856 about the time of the large Earthquake in Wellington. The story says she discovered the letter in the attic of the house in 1872 and from that day never spoke to Ralph until she died. This anecdote came to me from two different sources in slightly diffeerrnt formats but essentially the same. Ralph was reputed to have been instrumental in the construction of the Jail on Bluff Hill in Napier and also the layout and construction of Wairoa. He lived at Mohaka and also was the county engineer and later dog catcher and general factotum for the Wairoa County. Both Ralph and one of his sons worked for the county making and repairing bridges. The county meeting minutes as replete with refeernces to them both. Arrived in New Zealand with a party of Royal Engineers (Rank of Corporal) on the Lord William Bentinck in 1850. Owned a house with a quarter acre section in Napier in 1860. A Ralph Gardiner is shown in the Napier Electoral Roll for 1865 listed as a Freeholder but with no address. Left Napier for Wairoa with his wife and 4 children on board the Vivid on 29 September 1865. Showing on the 1890 East Coast Electoral Roll as a Road Overseer living at Wairoa. Ralph came to NZ as part of the defence force in the British Army. He was an engineer. His detachment was originally posted to India and was diverted to Napier for the feared uprising in 1853 or the re about. Ralphs mate in the army was engaged to Margaret Roboson and gave Ralph a letter to her .. Ralph apparently met her in Wellington and did not deliver the letter. He courted her and married her in 1856 about the time of the large Earthquake in Wellington. The story says she discovered the letter in the attic of the house in 1872 and from that day never spoke to Ralph until she died. T his anecdote came to me from two different sources in slightly diffeerrnt formats but essentially the same. Ralph was reputed to have been instrumental in the construction of the Jail on Bluff Hill in Napier and also the layout and construction of Wairoa. He lived at Mohaka and also was the county engineer and later dog catcher and general factotum for the Wairoa County. Both Ralph and one of his sons worked for the county making and repairing bridges. The county meeting minutes as replete with refe ernces to them both. Arrived in New Zealand with a party of Royal Engineers (Rank of Corporal) on the "Lord William Bentinck" in 1850. A Ralph Gardiner is shown in the Napier Electoral Roll for 1865 listed as a Freeholder but with no address.

  
  

• Sources

  [S1] Valentine Web Site, John Valentine (Reliability: 3), 20 Jul 2015. Added via an Instant Discovery™