John Starkie Gardner
1844–1930
Metalworker, fossil collector, and writer on geology and botany. Educated abroad. Collected fossils until around 1876, when he began to sell off his collections, mainly to the British Museum; wrote on fossil plants. Part of his collection was purchased in 1887 by Bolton Museum. In 1883, founded a metal works in London; published articles on armour, silver work, seventeenth and eighteenth century ironwork, and modern metalworking. Commissioned to make the gates of Holyrood Palace for King Edward VII.
Sources
Bolton Library and Museum Services, Museum collection highlights, http://www.boltonlams.co.uk/museum/museum-collection-highlights/geology/j-starkie-gardner (accessed 6 May 2019)
R. Desmond 1994
Bibliography
Desmond, Ray. 1994. Dictionary of British and Irish botanists and horticulturists including plant collectors, flower painters and garden designers. New edition, revised with the assistance of Christine Ellwood. London: Taylor & Francis and the Natural History Museum. Bristol, Pa.: Taylor & Francis.
