Gerald Walter Erskine Loder, 1st Baron Wakehurst, JP DL

LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(25 October 1861 – 30 April 1936) was a British barrister, businessman and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician. He is best remembered for developing the gardens at

Wakehurst Place Wakehurst, previously known as Wakehurst Place, is a house and botanic gardens in West Sussex, England, owned by the National Trust but used and managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew). It is near Ardingly, West Sussex in the Wea ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

Early life

Loder was born on 25 October 1861 as the fourth son of

Sir Robert Loder, 1st Baronet Sir Robert Loder, 1st Baronet, DL, JP (7 August 1823 – May 1888) was an English landowner, magistrate and Conservative politician. Loder is a Member of the Loder (Family) Biography Early life Robert Loder was born on 7 August 1823 in Sain ...

, Member of Parliament for New Shoreham, and Maria Georgiana Busk (fourth daughter of Welsh poet Hans Busk). Among his siblings were Sir Edmund Giles Loder, 2nd Baronet and Etheldreda Mary Loder (wife of Sir Charles Burrell, 6th Baronet). He was educated at Eton and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. He became a barrister at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1888.

Career

Loder was

Member of Parliament for

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

from 1889 to 1905. He was private secretary to the

President of the Local Government Board The President of the Local Government Board was a ministerial post, frequently a Cabinet position, in the United Kingdom, established in 1871. The Local Government Board itself was established in 1871 and took over supervisory functions from the ...

( Charles Ritchie) from 1888 to 1892 and to

Lord George Hamilton Lord George Francis Hamilton (17 December 1845 – 22 September 1927) was a British Conservative Party politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who served as First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary of State for India. Background ...

(the

Secretary of State for India His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India secretary or the Indian secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of ...

) from 1896 to 1901. He served briefly under

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (; 25 July 184819 March 1930) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As Foreign Secretary ...

as a

Lord of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords (or Ladies) Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second L ...

in 1905. A keen gardener, Loder purchased the

estate in 1903 and spent 33 years developing the gardens, which today cover some two square kilometres (500 acres) and are owned by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. He was president of the Royal Arboricultural Society from 1926 to 1927 and 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 ...

from 1929 to 1931. He was a director of the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR (known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton)) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at ...

from 1896, and served as its last chairman in December 1922. He was a director of its successor, the Southern Railway, and later chairman from 1934 until his resignation in December 1934. In June 1934 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Wakehurst, of Ardingly in the County of Sussex.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes''.

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 3, page 3461.

Personal life

In 1890, Loder married Lady Louise de Vere Beauclerk (1869–1958), eldest daughter of

William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans William Amelius Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC Deputy Lieutenant, DL (15 April 1840 – 10 May 1898), Courtesy title, styled Earl of Burford until 1849, was a British people, Br ...

and his first wife, Sybil Mary Grey (a daughter of Lt.-Gen. Sir Charles Grey). The couple had one son and four daughters: * John de Vere Loder, 2nd Baron Wakehurst (1895–1970), who married Margaret Tennant (daughter of industrialist

Sir Charles Tennant, 1st Baronet Sir Charles Clow Tennant, 1st Baronet, (4 November 1823 – 4 June 1906) was a Scottish businessman, industrialist and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician. Early life Tennant was the son of John Tennant (1796–1878) and Robina (née Arrol ...

and sister of prominent figures of Victorian and Edwardian London, such as

Margot Asquith Emma Alice Margaret Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith (' Tennant; 2 February 1864 – 28 July 1945), known as Margot Asquith, was a British socialite and author. She was married to British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith from 1894 to his ...

and Edward Tennant, 2nd Baron Glenconner). * Hon. Dorothy Cicely Sybil Loder (1896–1986), who married Hon. William Palmer (son of the

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...

and Countess of Selborne, and grandson of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903), known as Lord Salisbury, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United ...

). * Hon. Victoria Helen Loder (1899–1979), who married Alan Rees Colman. * Hon. Diana Evelyn Loder (1899–1985), who married

Donald Howard, 3rd Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal Donald Sterling Palmer Howard, 3rd Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal (14 June 1891 – 22 February 1959) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. Early life He was the son of Robert Jared Bliss Howard, OBE FRCS, and Margaret ...

. * Hon. Mary Irene Loder (1902–1970). Lord Wakehurst died in April 1936, aged 74, and was succeeded in the barony by his only son,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

. The Loder Cup, New Zealand's oldest conservation award, is named after Lord Wakehurst.New Zealand Department of Conservation
accessed 5 April 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wakehurst, Gerald Loder, 1st Baron 1861 births 1936 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 1 Deputy lieutenants of Sussex

Gerald Gerald is a masculine given name derived from the Germanic languages prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Gerald is a Norman French variant of the Germanic name. An Old English equivalent name was Garweald, the likely original ...

Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs who were granted peerages Loder, Gerald London, Brighton and South Coast Railway people Southern Railway (UK) people People from Ardingly Barons created by George V English barristers