Being confirmed as lieutenant on 13 December, he served in the frigate HMS Ganymede in the Mediterranean Fleet, then in Leander, and Dauntless in various parts of the world.

[2] Long interested in the missionary work being done in non-Christian populations, after the death of one of his daughters, he decided to enter that field.

[1] Gardiner's first visit to Tierra del Fuego took place 22 March 1842, when, coming from the Falkland Islands in the schooner Montgomery, he landed in Oazy harbour.

They distributed Bibles to the Indian population, but were strongly opposed by the Roman Catholics, who were the predominant Christian group in the country.

The next year he sailed to Tierra del Fuego, where he surveyed the islands with a view to a mission, and suffered great hardships.

Accompanied by Richard Williams, surgeon; Joseph Erwin, ship-carpenter; John Maidment, catechist; and three Cornish fishermen, Pearce, Badcock, and Bryant, Gardiner sailed from Liverpool on 7 September 1850 in Ocean Queen.

The party were also hindered by failures such as the devastating realisation that they had left nearly all their shot on the ship, leaving them unable to hunt for fresh food.

After relocating to Spaniard Harbour on the southeast coast of the main island, the unfortunate men gradually died of starvation.

[6] On 21 October the vessel John Davison arrived to resupply the group, and found all the men dead.

On 6 January 1852 HMS Dido visited the place, but all the sailors could do was to bury the bodies and bring away Gardiner's journal.