Robin Arthur Eidyr Herbert (5 March 1934 – 12 January 2024) was an English banker and horticulturist who served as a president of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Early life and education

Herbert was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to Sir John Herbert, a Conservative MP and

Governor of Bengal The Governor was the chief colonial administrator in the Bengal presidency, originally the "Presidency of Fort William" and later "Bengal province". In 1644, Gabriel Boughton procured privileges for the East India Company which permitted them to ...

, and Lady Mary, who had connections to the British royal family. Herbert inherited a substantial estate at a young age, which fostered his interest in gardening. Herbert was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, and

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

. In 1960, he married American Margaret Lewis and settled in Llanover, later inheriting another estate, Llanarth.

Career

In 1963, Herbert began his banking career by investing in Leopold Joseph, a small London merchant bank, alongside partners such as

Prince Rupert Loewenstein Rupert, Prince zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg, Count of Loewenstein-ScharffeneckMartin, Douglas (22 May 2014). ''The New York Times. ''Retrieved 27 May 2014Archived here (24 August 1933 – 20 May 2014) was a Spanish-born Bavarian aristoc ...

and

Alexis de Redé Alexis may refer to: People Mononym * Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet * Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC * Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer * Alexis (comics) (1946–197 ...

. Although initially holding a peripheral position, Herbert's role within the bank grew over time, and he eventually became chairman in 1978. Under his leadership, the bank faced various challenges, including controversial clients and legal disputes, but emerged as a resilient private banking institution. Herbert's tenure concluded with the sale of the bank to the

Bank of Butterfield Butterfield, officially The Bank of N. T. Butterfield & Son Limited, is a bank founded and based in Bermuda. It provides services to clients from Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Jersey, where its principal banking operations are locate ...

in 2004 for £51.5 million. He also held positions at

NatWest National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

, and the National Trust's committee for Wales. Despite not having formal botanical training, Herbert made major contributions to

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

through his plant-hunting expeditions and the development of extensive arboreal collections on his estates. In recognition of his dedication to the environment and horticulture, he was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in 1994. In 2017, he was named in the

Paradise Papers The Paradise Papers are a set of over 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investments that were leaked to the German reporters Frederik Obermaier and Bastian Obermayer, from the newspaper'' Süddeutsch ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, Robin 2024 deaths English bankers People named in the Paradise Papers Alumni of the University of Oxford Harvard Business School alumni 1934 births