British-born Canadian banker and Chancellor of McGill University. Bertie Charles Gardner served as Governor from 1949 to 1958; he was Chancellor from 1952 to 1957 and was appointed Emeritus Governor in 1959.
Gardner, James Gill, 1876-1958
James Gill Gardner was born on May 31, 1876, in Port Hope, Ontario.
He was one of the industrial leaders of Ontario, President of the Brockville Trust and Savings Company Ltd., and a former director and Vice-President of the Canadian National Railways. He organized and built the Canadian Billings & Spencer Comp., Ltd. in Welland, of which he was Managing Director until 1912. He was also president of Brockville Country Club.
In 1904, he married Rhea Grasby Bowie. He died on January 28, 1958, in Brockville, Ontario.
Gardner, John Starkie, 1844-1930
John Starkie Gardner was born on October 14, 1844 or 1845, in London, England.
He was a botanist, geologist, metallurgist, and sculptor of decorative ironwork. He was a Fellow of the Geological Society of London and contributed many articles on geology and botany to various journals, e.g., Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society and Nature. He wrote the book "A Monograph of the British Eocene Flora" (1879). He also collected fossils. As an art metal worker, he owned the company J. Starkie Gardner & Co. (c. 1884-c.1930), famous at its time, with a portfolio of new designs executed in wrought iron, bronze, lead, silver, and gold as well as carrying out restoration projects. Among its many commissions, was making of the gates he designed for the Victoria and Albert Museum Mews, now the V&A Science entrance on Exhibition Road. He held a royal warrant from King Edward VII as “Workers in Iron, Brass and Bronze”. He published many books on ironwork, e.g., "Ironwork…” (2 v., 1893), "Foreign Armour in England" (1898), and "English Ironwork of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries" (1911).
In 1883, he married Caroline Cubitt (1851-1912) but got divorced in 1900. In 1914, he married Alice Mary Dring ( -1924). He died about 1830 in Brentford, Middlesex, England.
Gardner, John Starkie, 1844-1930
A graduate of McGill University (M.D.,C.M., 1866), William Gardner was born at St. Louis de Gonzague, Québec. He joined the staff of the Bishop's College School of Medicine in 1871. In 1881 he began his work in gynaecology at the Montreal General Hospital and in 1883 he became Professor of gynaecology at McGill. He joined the staff of the Royal Victoria Hospital in 1893. He retired in 1910.