Gavin F. Gardner
Gavin Forrest Gardner was a founder and longtime director of the Adelaide Stock Exchange.
History
Gardner was born in Birkenhead, England, to the Rev. John Gardner and his wife Catherine Gardner née Forrest.Gardner was educated at J. L. Young's Adelaide Educational Institution and found employment in 1867 at the English, Scottish and Australian Bank, first at Adelaide, then at Port Darwin, and later at Mount Gambier.
He left the bank to go into business on his own account, and served as secretary to various companies. At the formation of the Adelaide Stock Exchange in 1887 he was one of the original 50 members, of which number only S. E. Beach, D. Fotheringham, A. F. Weaver, and S. Wills outlasted him. He had an office in the Royal Exchange building, 96 King [William Street, Adelaide|King William Street], from 1888 to 1917.
At that meeting he was appointed hon. secretary and treasurer pro tem under president Henry Bellingham, and in March 1889 he was elected to the committee under George Sydney Aldridge, which seat he retained for four years. In 1896 he severed his connection with the exchange, but purchased a seat again in 1911, and continued to be a member up to the time of his death. His close involvement with the minutiae of stock trading made him something of an authority, and his advice was frequently sought and freely given.
As a young man Gardner was a keen horseman, and in later years gardening was his chief recreation. He was a noted collector of fine china and works of art, on which he was considered an authority.
He died after a long illness at his home "Airlie" at 9 Trinity Street, College Park, South Australia. The Exchange suspended trading for a quarter of an hour as a mark of respect, and a letter of consolation sent to his widow by the president, Mr. W. B. Carr.
Family
Gavin Forrest Gardner married Mary Josephine Brown in 1882. Their children were:- George Gavin Forrest Gardner, Mus. Bac., organist and school master at St Peter's College
- Dr. John Forrest Gardner, M.B., B.S. married Josephine Florey, M.B., B.S. on 17 February 1917. She was a daughter of Joseph Florey, lived in Melbourne
- Catherine Forrest Gardner married Gordon Edward Sunter in 1909
- Edith Josephine Gardner married Cuthbert Viner Smith in 1910
- Mary Beatrice Gardner married John Eric McGlashan in 1915, lived in Adelaide
- Rita Elizabeth Gardner married Keith McEwin in 1914, lived in Balaklava
- Ethel F. Gardner married Keith Rogers Scarfe on 25 September 1919, lived in Adelaide