William Charles Gardiner

William Charles Gardiner was found dead in the River Thames at Woolwich on Saturday 2 November 1907.

He was a chief engineer of the steamer Southwood and was from Aberdeen and an inventor. He had lived at 17 St Clemment Street in Aberdeen.

He had been in high spirits after he had just been offered £8,000 for the patent of a reversible turbine that he had invented which it was said he would be due to receive within a few days. It was noted that the reversable turbine was the only reversable turbine known and that he had been working on it for seven years. The turbine had been patented in England, Germany, France and America. William Gardiner had had a partner in his business.

The Southwood had been lying off Woolwich Arsenal on 22 October 1907 when he was last seen to leave it in high spirits, stating that he wouldn't be long.

He was next seen at the Salutation public house by a potman who said that when William Gardiner left he had been sober and told him that he was going back to his ship, however, nothing more was known of him until he was found dead in the river ten days later.

Several Arsenal police constables said that William Gardiner did not pass through the gates back to the ship on 22 October.

An open verdict was returned at his inquest, although it was noted that there was no suggestion of foul play.

His cause of death was given as drowning.

However, his death was described as mysterious. It was heard that he had no trouble and had been a man of steady habits who spent the greater part of his time and money on his patent.

At his inquest, a juror remarked that it was strange, seeing that William Gardiner had been working for five or six years on his patent without receiving any money for it, for him to be drowned just when he had a good offer for it, noting that William Gardiner had been a good swimmer.

It was later noted by his friends that two other inventers engaged in similar work had also met with mysterious deaths, they being a Russian named Omni Levantin, who was killed as the result of a strange explosion in Gracechurch Street where he had been experimenting with a turbine invention, and George Anderson, a personal friend of William Gardiner, who was also interested in reversible turbines, who was found drowned in New York.