Robert David Lion Gardiner

Robert David Lion Gardiner (February 25, 1911 - August 23, 2004), was the last Gardiner family member to own Gardiner's Island. He was the 16th Lord of the Manor.[1]

Biography

He was born in New York on February 25, 1911. He attended St. George's School in Newport, Rhode Island. He attended Columbia University and graduated in 1934. He then attended New York University School of Law. He served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy in the South West Pacific theatre during World War II.[1]

He and his sister Alexandra Gardiner Creel inherited Gardiner's Island from their aunt, Sarah Diodati Gardiner, when she died in 1953.[1]

He died on August 23, 2004 in East Hampton, New York.[1] Gardiner was married, but had no children..[2][3] His niece, Alexandra Creel Goelet, had already inherited his sister's half of the estate, and inherited Gardiner's half upon his death. Gardiner and his niece were estranged, and had several legal disputes.[4][5] The New York Sun reported that: "..late in life he searched unsuccessfully for a rich person with the last name Gardiner to adopt."

The long running dispute between Gardiner and her niece formed part of the background to Chrystle Fiedler's 2015 mystery novel Garden of Death.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Robert F. Worth (August 24, 2004). "Robert D.L. Gardiner". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  2. ↑ Lindsay Pollock (2005-01-13). "Tea for Two, Three, or $5 Million". New York Sun. Retrieved 2016-06-27. Gardiner's Island is now the great remaining legacy, and it has passed into the sole ownership of Robert Gardiner's niece, Alexandra Creel Goelet. She's married to the scion of another New York moneyed family and has promised to preserve the island.
  3. ↑ "New York's Gardiners Island: Still in the Family After Almost 400 Years". Slate magazine. 2016-02-02. Archived from the original on 2016-04-26. Retrieved 2016-06-27. For roughly 30 years, Bob was embroiled in highly-publicized fights over the ownership and development of the island with his niece, Alexandra Creel Goelet, who eventually inherited her mother’s interest when she died.
  4. ↑ John T. Brooks, Jena L. Levin (2015-08-25). "No Standing to Enforce a Charitable Trust". Wealth Management. Archived from the original on 2015-11-10. Retrieved 2016-06-27.
  5. ↑ Stephen J. Kotz (2000-09-07). "Gardiner Feud Comes Home". East Hampton Star. Archived from the original on 2016-06-27. In more recent years, the island has primarily made headlines for its strict no-trespassing policy and a contentious legal battle between two possible heirs. As of now, the island is unilaterally owned by Gardiner-descendant Alexandra Creel Goelet, who intends, predictably, to keep it in the family.
  6. ↑ Chrystle Fiedler (2015-03-24). "Garden of Death: A Natural Remedies Mystery". Simon and Schuster. Retrieved 2016-06-27. Until 2004, Robert Charles Lion Gardiner, the sixteenth lord of the manor, as he liked to call himself, owned it with his niece, Alexandra Creel Goelet. Now that he's gone, it's hers.


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