William Linnæus Gardner was born in New York in 1770, the son of Major Valentine Gardner, an American loyalist. Valentine, the brother of Admiral Lord Gardner, had been a British officer who settled in America and married Aleda Livingston from an aristocratic family whose home was Livingston Manor, New York State. William was brought up at the Manor by his maternal grandfather, Robert Livingston, and briefly united with his father who returned to England. He was then sent to France for some years, and then in March 1789 commissioned into the 74th Highlanders who were serving in India, but transferred soon after, to the 52nd Regiment. In 1794 he was a captain in the 30th Regiment.
From 1798 he was a mercenary in the pay of the Maharatta ruler, Jeswunt Rao Holkar. He was sent on a mission by Holkar to Cambay. It was there that he met his wife, a Princess of Cambay, settling down to family life and converting to Islam. On his return to Holkar he was sent to Lord Lake for negotiations, however, when he came back he was accused of treachery and grossly insulted. He lost his temper and tried to kill Holkar but failed and managed to escape. His adventures sound like a work of fiction; he was captured by Emurt Rao and tied to the muzzle of a gun, given the choice of fighting the British or being blown from the gun. In another escape, he jumped from a 50ft precipice into a stream. He made his way to Lord Lake’s camp and was co-opted into his service. He was asked to raise a regiment of Irregular Horse in 1809 which became Gardner’s Horse. He led them in the Nepal War of 1814-15. His time with the regiment ended in January 1828.
He lived at Khassgunge (Khasgunj) where he owned a property, or at least his wife did, and died on 29 July 1835. He was 65 and had remained happily married. She was the Begum Mah Munzel ul-Nissa the daughter of the Nawab of Cambay and the adopted daughter of Akbar Shah II the Mughal Emperor of India. She died a month after Colonel Gardner.
