Died 23 August 2004 | ||
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.
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.
He and his sister Alexandra Gardiner Creel inherited Gardiner's Island from their aunt, Sarah Diodati Gardiner, when she died in 1953.
He died on August 23, 2004 in East Hampton, New York. Gardiner was married, but had no children.. 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. 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.