Gardiner was the daughter of John Arden, a scholar and lecturer, who is best known as one of Mary Wollstonecraft’s early teachers.
[2] His interests centred on natural philosophy (science) and belles lettres (literature); he taught his daughter in moments of leisure.
[4] Gardiner began teaching early, leaving home in her mid-teens to take up a position as governess to the daughters of Lady Martin in north Norfolk.
She read the Bible daily, in tandem with Scott's Commentary, and the Golden Treasury by Karl Heinrich von Bogatzky.
It quotes extensively from letters received and diary entries, as well as giving a biographical sketch and an extended description of her last illness and deathbed.
The book was funded by subscription publishing, an early version of crowdfunding, and Everilda expressed surprise that almost 700 individuals had "subscribed" (pre-purchased) about 1400 copies.