John Twiname Gardner

Who was John Twiname Gardner?

John Twiname Gardner born South Molton 2 August 1854 died Kensington 15 February 1914. General Practitioner and Composer of much published parlour and light music. From 1888 to 1903 he worked as a family doctor in Ilfracombe, North Devon, where he conducted the local choral society and was generally a mainstay of musical life in the town. He was the grandfather of the well-known composer John Gardner.

J.T. Gardner's White Star Polka March was held in the music libraries of the ships of the White Star Line, including Titanic. The printed sheet music in the possession of the Composer's Great Grandson bears no resemblance to the piece with this title and credited to "J T Gardner" which has been recorded by a number of artists. This results from the inclusion of the title on Ian Whitcomb's album. As explained on the website http://blurt-online.com/features/view/1113/:-

"In the course of his research, Whitcomb had found music for a number called "The White Star Polka-March," "But it wasn't any good!" he says. "So I wrote a different bit of music" - which he called "The White Star March" in the liner notes and credited to "J.T. Gardner."

This explains why the music recorded is neither a march nor a polka and why it bears no resemblance to the printed sheet music.