Sir Christopher Gardiner

Sir Christopher Gardiner fl. 1630-32, figure in the early history of the Massachusetts Bay colony. When the Puritans arrived in Massachusetts Bay in 1630, they found that Gardiner had preceded them. Although he was living with a woman who was not his wife, the colonists left him alone until it was discovered that he had deserted several wives in Europe and was an agent of Sir Ferdinando Gorges , who claimed title to the land the Puritans occupied. Forced to leave, Gardiner went to Maine and then to England, where, in 1632, he was one of the leading witnesses before the privy council in Gorges's attempt to have the Massachusetts charter revoked. His career has provided inspiration for a number of literary works, particularly for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Rhyme of Sir Christopher" in Tales of a Wayside Inn.

Gardiner, Sir Christopher (fl.1630–32), arrived in Massachusetts (1630), bringing with him, according to Bradford, “a comly yonge woman, whom he caled his cousin, but it was suspected, she (after ye Italian maner) was his concubine.” He was a mysterious figure, and was left undisturbed until it was discovered that he had deserted two wives, was a Papist, and was an agent of Ferdinando Gorges. Gardiner and his mistress, Mary Grove, were apprehended but released. For a time thereafter, he lived in Brunswick, Me., where his “known harlot” married one Thomas Purchase. In 1632 he turned up in Bristol, England, as the star witness before the Privy Council in Gorges's attempt to break the Massachusetts charter. He has figured in fiction and poetry, as in The Tales of a Wayside Inn, Motley's Merry Mount, and Maria Sedgwick's Hope Leslie.