stanhope, england
John Gardiner, his son Thomas, and daughter Mary (aka Molly) arrived in Ontario from Stanhope, England in 1817. In England the Gardiners were part time farmers and lead miners. After the Battle of Waterloo (June 18th, 1815) the demand for lead bullets crashed as did prices, which resulted in lead mines being closed. At the same time there was a major volcanic eruption in Indonesia (Mt. Tambora - April 10th, 1815), one of the largest ever recorded. This caused several summers of “no sun” in England, which resulted in failed harvests. The combination of lead mines closing and poor harvests meant hard times for the Gardiners. So they undertook a difficult ocean voyage to begin their new life in Canada.
Through Ancestry.com Russ Mason contacted Lewis Jackson, who lives in Ontario and whose wife is a descendent of John Gardiner (and therefore a distant relative of ours), and Lewis shared a wealth of information about the Gardiners, including numerous photos.
From Lewis Jackson's October 6th, 2013 email: "I thought that you might like to see the house where John Gardiner lived in the Weardale Valley. It was called 'Spot House'. The Gardiners were part time farmers and lead miners. The photos give you an idea of the kind of land they were farming and the picture of the lead mine is likely where they worked, as it is just a short walk up the hill from Spot House."
From Lewis Jackson's October 6th, 2013 email: "I thought that you might like to see the house where John Gardiner lived in the Weardale Valley. It was called 'Spot House'. The Gardiners were part time farmers and lead miners. The photos give you an idea of the kind of land they were farming and the picture of the lead mine is likely where they worked, as it is just a short walk up the hill from Spot House."
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