Robert Gardner

Robert Gardner, a retired pharmacist, took up residence at No. 3 in 1912.¹ He lived there until his death on 27 December 1929.² He was born at Limekilns, Fife, on 28 July 1853, son of William Gardner, a marine pilot, and Catherine Bryce, and baptised on 21 August 1853 at United Association Burgh Seceders church.³ He registered as a chemist and druggist on 20 December 1876⁴ and for nearly three decades worked from premises in the High Street, Inverkeithing. He sold the business in 1906.⁵

Robert Gardner married Martha Simpson at Alloa, Clackmannan, on 09 March 1886.⁶ They had three children, who were all adults when Robert Gardner and Martha Simpson occupied No. 3, and were listed there in the Electoral Register of 1925-26.⁷ They were Mary Campbell Gardner, born at Inverkeithing in 1887;⁸ Katherine Bryce Gardner, born at Inverkeithing in 1889;⁹ and William Gardner, born at Inverkeithing in 1893.¹⁰ Both daughters were unmarried at the time of their father’s death.¹¹ Katherine B. Gardner was a piano, singing and elocution tutor.¹² and William Gardner served during the First World War from 1914 and was wounded twice.¹³ He survived his father and was a teacher.¹⁴

Martha Gardner, widow of Robert Gardner, remained at No. 3 after her husband’s death in 1929, until 1933.¹⁵ She was born in 1857 at Colmonell, Ayrshire,¹⁶ daughter of forester James Simpson and Mary Campbell. She died in Edinburgh in 1942.¹⁷

1. PO Directory 1912-13.
2. Testamentary records. England. London. 15 March 1930. GARDNER, Robert. Confirmation. National Probate Calendar. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 08 July 2021.
3. Baptisms (NCR) Scotland. Limekilns, Fife. 21 August 1853. GARDNER, Robert. https://familysearch.org: accessed 08 July 2021.
4. Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. (1919) Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists and Chemists and Druggists. London: Pharmaceutical Society. p. 133. https://archive.org: accessed 08 July 2021.
5. The Chemist and Druggist. 30 June 1906. p. 971. https://archive.org: accessed 08 July 2021.
6. Marriages index (SR) Scotland. Alloa, Clackmannan. 1886. GARDNER, Robert and SIMPSON, Martha. 465/ 18. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 08 July 2021. Marriage announcements. 1886. Dundee Courier. 12 March 1886. GARDNER, Robert and SIMPSON, Martha. p. 08, col. 08. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 08 July 2021.
7. Electoral register. Edinburgh. 1925-26. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 08 July 2021.
8. Births index (SR) Scotland. Inverkeithing, Fife. 1887. GARDNER, Mary Campbell. 432/ 109. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 08 July 2021.
9. Births index (SR) Scotland. Inverkeithing, Fife. 1889. GARDNER, Catherine Bryce. 432/ 38. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 08 July 2021.
10. Births index (SR) Scotland. Inverkeithing, Fife. 1893. GARDNER, William. 432/ 56. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 08 July 2021.
11. Testamentary records. England. London. 15 March 1930. GARDNER, Robert. Confirmation. National Probate Calendar. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 08 July 2021.
12. Advertisements. Edinburgh Evening News. 12 April 1913. p. 3, col. 5. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 04 March 2024.
13. Roll of Honour of the Pupils and Staff of Dunfermline High School. (1920) p. 13. https://digital.nls.uk/: accessed 08 July 2021.
14. Testamentary records. Scotland. Edinburgh. 13 February 1930. GARDNER, Robert. Confirmation. National Probate Index. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 08 July 2021.
15. PO Directories 1932-33 and 1933-34.
16. Births index (SR) Scotland. Colmonell, Ayrshire. 1857. GARDNER, Martha. 582/ 74. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 08 July 2021.
17. Deaths index (SR) Scotland. Haymarket, Edinburgh. 1942. GARDNER, Martha (aged 83). 685/1 119. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 08 July 2021.