James Gardiner (1860 – 31 December 1924) was a Scottish farmer and Liberal Party politician.
Family and education Gardiner was born near Crieff in Perthshire in 1860, the son of John Gardiner, a crofter, and his wife Harriet (née Allan). He was educated at Morrison's Academy in Crieff and also received private tuition.Who was Who, OUP 2007 In 1887 he married Elizabeth Maude Christie the daughter of an engineer from Ruthvenvale, near Auchterarder. Elizabeth Gardiner died of heart failure in a London nursing home in 1921 The Times, 11 August 1921 p13 and in 1922 Gardiner married Elizabeth Christie The Times, 24 August 1922 p9 whose father had homes in Mokameh in Bengal and at Comrie.
Career Gardiner followed his father into agriculture. He built up a seed potato and grain merchant's business in Perth.The Times, 6 November 1922 p21 He became a tenant farmer and developed one of the largest potato farms in Scotland, occupying an extensive portion of land on the Drummond Castle estate of the Earl of Ancaster.The Times House of Commons, 1919; Politico’s Publishing 2004 p71 had a distinguished career in Scottish agriculture. He was sometime Director of the Scottish Chamber of Agriculture and President of Scottish National Farmers’ Union.National Farmers' Union Year Book; 1922 p324 During the Great War he served as a Member of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Potato Advisory Committee.The Times, 1 January 1925 p14 He was also a Member of the Council of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany. He was an acknowledged expert in practical agriculture in all its advanced branches and was an authority on agricultural plant breeding, raising several of the most popular immune varieties of potatoes in cultivation. He later passed from specialising in potatoes to general farming and stock - breeding.James Cameron, Shorthorns in Central and Southern Scotland; Edinburgh, 1921 p175
Politics Gardiner first stood for Parliament at the 1918 general election as Liberal candidate for Kinross and Western Perthshire. Kinross and Western Perthshire was a new seat created for the 1918 election. Gardiner's opponent was the Unionist Archibald Stirling who had represented one of the previous seats covering part of the same area, West Perthshire since winning a by-election there in February 1917. Despite Gardiner's support for Prime Minister David Lloyd George, it was Stirling who was awarded the Coalition coupon. However it was Gardiner who won the election, one of the few Liberals to be elected against the coupon, and he then loyally supported the Lloyd George coalition in Parliament.Trevor Wilson, The Downfall of the Liberal Party, 1914-1935; Cornell University Press, 1966 p146 Gardiner defeated Stirling in a straight fight by a majority of 604 votes.F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918-1945; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p642
At the 1922 general election Gardiner stood as a supporter of Lloyd George under the description National Liberal and, despite the narrowness of his victory in 1918, he was returned unopposed. He stood down at the next election.
Death Gardiner died at his home, Dargill Farm, Crieff on 31 December 1924 aged 64 years.
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