Footnotes

Robert Gardner was born 1851 in Glasgow, to Robert Gardner, a horological supplies wholesaler. He was apprenticed to a clockmaker in Glasgow, and later, in 1871, to a London watchmaker, Troy Thomas. In 1875, his father died, and the business passed to Robert and his brother John. Robert returned from London to run the family business with John. Their partnership was short lived, however, and by 1878 Robert had established his own watchmaker's shop in Glasgow. Apparently, he was travelling extensively at this time, to both the Continent and the United States, all in the pursuit of discovering improved horological techniques.
In 1880, some ship owner friends in Glasgow commissioned him to go to London and buy them some chronometers for their ships. After his return, it seems he became fixated with chronometers and by 1885, he was again living in London; he was married that same year, to A--, who was 11 years his junior. In 1886 he had established his workshop in his home at 20 Lloyd Square, Clerkenwell Road; he gradually moved into marine chronometers, originally purchasing finished Kullberg chronometers, and then using the bought stock from James Nelson, who had since retired and moved to New Zealand. Eventually, Gardner began making his own chronometers, with one of his chronometers taking first place in the 1897/98 Greenwich Trials. His son, Malcolm, had been born the year before, in 1896.
Once he began making his own chronometers, he became increasingly engrossed in making the best chronometer balance with the optimum spring combination to ensure isochronism. This included fitting two and three in one balance springs, and also mercury compensated balances to attempt to overcome middle-temperature error. These balances built on the work of Le Roy and E. T. Loseby; in essence, a custom-made mercury filled bulb and stem were formed into a hook shape and attached to a partial metal rimmed balance. According to Loseby, this eliminated middle temperature error, and chronometers fitted with such mercury balances won Loseby first in the Greenwich trials for five consecutive years. Interestingly, Gardner finished several of Loseby's chronometers on the latter's death, including two which were given to Loseby's executors.
Purportedly, Gardner had contracts to supply chronometers to the Italian, Dutch and Thai governments, and he continued to submit chronometers to Greenwich up until WWI. He also frequently contributed technical articles to the Horological Journal, on various aspects of chronometer function and manufacture.
Around 1901, Gardner travelled to Fleurier, Switzerland to meet with Charles Edouard Guillaume, of 'Invar' and 'Elinvar' fame. Gardner successfully negotiated a contract with Guillaume, stating that he, Gardner, would become the only supplier of 'Guillaume balances' in the U.K. and Ireland. The contract specifies that the balances were to be sold for no less than £2 and were to be used in chronometers sold for no less than £25. Unfortunately, the contract was later cancelled through mutual agreement, as Gardner's frequent trips abroad and extensive work at home culminated in a nervous breakdown.
Gardner continued to work on his chronometers and the pursuit of 'middle temperature error' elimination, his workshop being moved to the third floor of the house as his eyesight deteriorated. He worked on improving chronometers, particularly investigating palladium springs and five bar cut balance wheels, right up until his death in 1931. A contributor to his obituary noted that 'what he did not know about chronometers was not worth knowing, but at the same time he always had his eyes and ears open for new ideas'. His wife died in 1943.
After his father's death, Malcolm Gardner, under the auspices of Courtenay Ilbert, established a horological bookselling business to clear out his father's extensive book collection. Malcolm rapidly became very well-known in the horological world, later dying in 1960. The majority of the books he sold eventually ended up in the British Horological Institute's Library.

The current chronometer, No. 5/4186, had a varied service life. It was purchased by the Admiralty in March 1899 for £44. Less then a year later it was used on board a ship bound for Sydney, and it spent more then a year on board. On its return, it was serviced by Usher & Cole; why Gardner did not service it is unknown, possibly he was too busy with manufacture and travel to worry much about servicing. In 1903, the chronometer was used by HMS Merlin, on the ship's maiden voyage to Australia, as part of the Royal Navy Survey Service. The chronometer was collected a year later from Bombay. After another Usher & Cole service, the chronometer was next used in 1907 on the Nimrod as part of Ernest Shackleton's 1907 Antarctic expedition to reach the South Pole. The team, lead by Shackleton, came to within 97 miles of the magnetic pole, before being forced to turn back due to bad weather. The expedition was the first to climb the southernmost volcano, Mt Erebus. A description of the expedition, written by Shackleton, notes that Jameson Boyd Adams, the Royal Navy Reserve Commander and the first to volunteer for the expedition, 'every morning, directly after breakfast, wound up the chronometers and chronometer watches, and rated the instruments'. Which chronometers these were, is unknown.
In 1909, the chronometer was returned to the admiralty and again serviced by Usher & Cole. In 1915, the chronometer was installed on HMS M19 a monitor ship seemingly stationed near Turkey during WWI. Shortly after the chronometer was installed, a 9.2" gun on board the ship exploded, causing a fatality and several injuries. The ship was then transformed to a crude oil carrier. The chronometer was returned to the admiralty in 1917. The chronometer was next transferred to the India office in 1920, being sold to said office the following year. The chronometer's movements after this date are unknown.

Copies of the ledger of Receipts and Issues of Chronometers from the Royal Observatory, Greenwich detailing the history of the chronometer from March 1899 to August 1920 are included with this lot.

Arnott, P. (2013) 'The Mercurial Chronometer Balances of Edward Thomas Loseby', Antiquarian Horology, Vol. 34 (1), pgs. 72-87.
Aked, C. K. (1990) 'Robert Gardner: An Addendum', Antiquarian Horology, Vol. 19 (2), pgs. 190-192.
British Horological Institute (1932) 'Robert Gardner', The Horological Journal, Vol. 74 (6), pgs. 98-99.
British Horological Institute (1944) 'Famous Chronometer Maker's Widow Passes', The Horological Journal, Vol. 86 (8), pg. 219.
Aked, C. K. (1990) 'More on Robert Gardner', Antiquarian Horology, Vol. 19 (1), pgs. 71-80.
Scott Polar Research Institute (2023) Meet the Pioneers: Jameson Boyd Adams. Available at: https://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum/shackleton/biographies/Adams,_Jameson_Boyd/
Antarctic Heritage Trust (2023) History of Shackleton's Expedition: The British Antarctic Expedition 1907-09 Cape Royds. Available at: https://nzaht.org/conserve/explorer-bases/shackletons-hut/history-of-shackletons-expedition/
Imperial War Museum (2023) Papers Concerning a Gun Explosion On Board M19, December 1915. Available at: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030009913
Buckey, C., Harley, S., Lovell, A. (2020) H.M.S. Merlin (1901). Available at: http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/H.M.S._Merlin_(1901)
Australia Navy (2023) HMAS Fantome. Available at: https://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-fantome