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Frank Gardiner (1830 – c. 1882) was an Australian bushranger who became notorious for his lead role in the largest gold heist in Australian history, at Eugowra, New South Wales in June 1862. Gardiner and his gang, which included bushrangers Ben Hall, John O'Meally and John Gilbert, made off with a pile of cash and 77 kilograms of gold, worth about $10 million in modern Australian currency.
After the Eugowra robbery, Gardiner escaped to Queensland, where he ran a general store until he was tracked down by police in 1864. Following his arrest, he was tried at the Supreme Court of New South Wales and sentenced to 32 years imprisonment. In response to a petition for his release, he was pardoned after 10 years and exiled. He moved to the United States, where he died in or around 1882.
On 20 March 1851, Gardiner was part of a work party working outside Pentridge Prison when they rushed the guards and escaped. Most of the convicts were rounded up within days but Gardiner escaped and made his way to New South Wales, perhaps stopping at the station in central Victoria where his father and younger sisters were living. There are scattered reports of him having been arrested at the McIvor diggings on suspicion of robbing the gold escort the previous week. However, there is no record of him ever appearing in court in this matter.
It is likely that he moved up to NSW and teamed up with a youth named Prior to resume his horse stealing career. In February 1854 Gardiner (now calling himself Clarke) and Prior were caught trying to sell stolen horses at Yass. This time he was sentenced to fourteen years (seven years for each charge). While imprisoned on Cockatoo Island he met the bushranger John Peisley.
Frank Clarke was granted a ticket-of-leave in December 1859, conditional on him staying in the Carcoar district. Calling himself Frank Jones he opened a butcher shop at Spring Creek, Lambing Flat, but was arrested in May 1861 on a cattle-stealing charge and committed for trial but allowed bail. He then absconded, after which it was discovered he was a prisoner absent from his district. The Bushranger Gardiner, Empire (Sydney), 19 June 1862, page 4.White (1900), Chapter VI: 'Gardiner and Piesley'. Gardiner joined with Peisley for a short period and was briefly captured after a gunfight with two troopers at Fogg's hut near Reids Flat. Gardiner and Fogg managed to bribe one of the policemen to allow Gardiner to escape.Bradley, P. "Ben Hall, Stories from the hard road" (2013)
In 1872 a petition was organised by Gardiner's sisters seeking Gardiner's early release, prepared for presentation to the newly appointed Governor of New South Wales, Sir Hercules Robinson. The Governor, as representative of the English sovereign, had the power to exercise the Royal prerogative of mercy for felony cases not subject to the death penalty. By the time it reached the Governor in September 1872 it had attracted the signatures of a number of prominent public men, including members of parliament and the former Colonial Secretary, William Forster. After consideration, Robinson decided that Gardiner could be eligible for a pardon, but only after he had served ten years incarceration and providing his conduct in prison remained good, conditional upon him leaving the country on release and becoming an exile from the Australian colonies and New Zealand.White (1900), pages 322-330.
By 1882 he was reportedly bankrupt and homeless owing to an overextended credit to his clientele and an inability to pay his bills.Gardiner in California, Western Star and Roma Advertiser, 8 March 1882 page 3 There are numerous reports of his death having occurred in 1882 and that he was buried in a pauper's grave near the Legion of Honor park in San Francisco.
The circumstances of his death are not known with any degree of certainty, due in large part to the loss of records during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
There are many rumours about his life there, including a claim that he married a rich American widow and had two sons. Another rumour was that he died in Colorado in 1903. None have been proven.
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