JAMES GARDINER was born in Ilminster, Somerset, in April 1864 and when 15-years-old took an apprenticeship with the Merchant Navy. At 21 he decided to travel and arrived in Pasadena in the United States where he drove a six-horse stagecoach. Within a year he had settled in Catalina where he set up a very successful boat and fishing business. Jim, as he was known, established contracts with well-healed anglers and became the personal boatman of the esteemed naturalist Charles Frederick Holder, and was the first “gaffer”, as the skippers of the angling boats were called, to secure a 183lb bluefin tuna. Caught by Holder on rod and line the fish made headlines worldwide. It was mounted and can be seen in the island’s museum.
In 1915, with the war raging in Europe, Gardiner, back in England, volunteered to fight for his country (despite being 51)
