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Administrative / biographical background
Alexander Milne Gardiner was born in London in 1848 and entered the Royal Navy in 1862. As a lieutenant he served on the troopship HMS HIMALAYA (1853) during the Ashanti War in 1873-1874, the iron frigate HMS SHAH (1873) on the South Africa station at the time of the Zulu War in 1879, then the broadside ironclad HMS AGINCOURT (1865) during the Egyptian War in 1882. He was in command of the composite gunboat HMS CYGNET (1874) in the Eastern Sudan in 1884-1885 and was promoted to commander following operations in support of the Saukin Expeditionary Force. His later commands were the screw sloop HMS KINGFISHER (1879) and the composite gunboat HMS RAVEN (1882). He retired with the rank of captain in 1896 and died at Folkestone in 1927. Further details of his service can be found under the reference ADM 196/38/418 at The National Archives.