Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner

Admiral Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner (12 February 1742 – 1 January 1809) was a British Royal Navy officer and peer of the realm. He was regarded by some as one of the Georgian era's most dashing frigate captains and, ultimately, a respected senior admiral.

Naval career
Gardner joined the Royal Navy in 1755. Promoted to Captain in 1766, his first command was the fireship HMS Raven. He commanded a number of frigates before being promoted to a ship of the line. In 1782 he commanded a ship at the Battle of the Saintes and in 1786, as Commodore of the American Squadron (consisting of HMS Europa and HMS Experiment (1784)), he suppressed smuggling in the Gulf of Mexico and ordered detailed hydrographic surveys of Caribbean locations of interest to the Navy. During this time, he commanded and probably mentored future famous officers such as George Vancouver, Peter Puget and Joseph Whidbey.

He was a Member of the Board of Admiralty from 1790 to 1795 and was then promoted to full Admiral in 1795. During the Mutiny at Spithead in 1797, Gardner negotiated directly with the mutineers, until he lost his temper, seized a mutineer by the throat and threatened to hang the lot. This nearly led to his own demise at the hands of the mutineers, but cooler heads prevailed.

In 1800 he became Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Station. That year he was also created Baron Gardner, of Uttoxeter, in the Peerage of Ireland and in 1806 the title of Baron Gardner in the Peerage of the United Kingdom was created for him. He was Member of Parliament for Plymouth and, later, Westminster. He was briefly Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth from March to June 1803. In 1807 he was made Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet and he died in office on 1 January 1809.

Family
Gardner was born in Uttoxeter. He married Susannah Hyde Gale (c. 1760 - 20 April 1823) on 20 May 1769. They had two sons. The older son, Alan Hyde Gardner, 2nd Baron Gardner, and their nephew, Robert Barrie, became Admirals in the Royal Navy. Gale was a Jamaican heiress and the daughter of Francis Gale, a plantation owner, and Susanna Hall.

Through his brother, Major Valentine Gardner, he was the uncle of Colonel William Linnæus Gardner, an Indian officer.

Legacy
Capt. George Vancouver named several locations after Gardner: Mount Gardner in Australia, the Gardner Channel in Canada, and Port Gardner Bay in Puget Sound. Also in Puget Sound, Port Susan is named for his wife, Susannah.

An East Indiaman was named after Admiral Gardner; it was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands, 24 January 1809. It was carrying a large number of copper 10 and 20 cash coins minted by the East India Company for circulation in the Madras Presidency. Preserved in tightly sealed barrels, large numbers were retrieved around 1986. They are frequently packaged and sold as very inexpensive "shipwreck coins."