Alan Hyde Gardner, 2nd Baron Gardner

Alan Hyde Gardner, 2nd Baron Gardner (5 February 1770 – 22 December 1815), was an officer in the Royal Navy and a member of the British House of Lords. He was the eldest son of Admiral Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner.

Born in 1770, Gardner entered the Royal Navy as a midshipman in 1781. He served aboard HMS Duke under his father's command during the Battle of the Saintes in 1782, where he sustained injuries. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 12 January 1787. In 1796, he was appointed captain of the frigate HMS Heroine, and by 1802, he was commanding HMS Resolution. In 1805, he took command of the 74-gun ship HMS Hero. That year, he participated in the action off Ferrol and led the vanguard at the Battle of Cape Finisterre.

Gardner was promoted to rear-admiral in 1808. He succeeded his father as the 2nd Baron Gardner on 1 January 1809 and took his seat in the House of Lords in May of that year. In 1810, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the North Sea at Yarmouth, Norfolk, but resigned in May 1811 following the death of his wife. He was promoted to vice-admiral on 4 December 1813. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 2 January 1815. On 30 September 1815, he was gazetted as a viscount on behalf of the Prince Regent, but he died before the official letters patent were issued. He died on 22 December 1815 in Berkeley Square and was buried at St James's Church, Westminster.

Regarding his family, Gardner was married twice. His first marriage was on 9 March 1796 in India to Maria Elizabeth Adderley, the daughter of Thomas Adderley and Margaretta Bourke; this marriage was annulled in 1805 due to her adultery and secret childbirth. The child, Henry Fenton Gardner (later Jadis), was declared illegitimate by the House of Lords in 1825. Gardner’s second marriage was on 10 April 1809 to the Honorable Charlotte Elizabeth Smith, third daughter of Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington. They had two children: a son, Hon. Alan Legge Gardner (born 29 January 1810), and a daughter, Hon. Charlotte Susannah Gardner (born 29 December 1810). Charlotte Elizabeth Smith died in March 1811, three months after her husband.

Gardner's title passed to his son Alan Legge Gardner after his death, who was later recognized in 1825 as the 3rd Baron Gardner following legal proceedings to establish the legitimacy of his birth. These proceedings also involved detailed testimonies, including medical evidence concerning the gestation period, entered into the peerage dispute records.

Alan Hyde Gardner died in 1815 at Berkeley Square. His son, Alan Legge Gardner, inherited the peerage and the family titles and baronetcy.