Robert Gathorne-Hardy

The Hon. Robert Gathorne-Hardy, (31 July 1902 – 11 February 1973) was a British prose writer, poet, botanist, and horticulturalist. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. Robert was the third of four sons of Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 3rd Earl of Cranbrook. He was for forty years a resident of Stanford Dingley in Berkshire. In Oxford he co-founded the Uffizi Society alongside Anthony Eden and Lord David Cecil.

Although he also wrote fiction, including Lacebury Manor and Other Seas, and some bibliographical works, Gathorne-Hardy is best known for his books on plants that he researched while growing in the garden or about plants that he collected in different parts of the world. He called himself an amateur gardener, but in reality was no amateur. In 1960 he was made a Fellow of the Linnean Society. Gathorne-Hardy wrote about his own garden, his mother's garden, and that of his illustrator John Nash, each having their own point of view, their own distinct possibilities, and as he often said, ". . . their own snubs to give." He also worked- alongside his elder brother Edward- as a director of the booksellers Elkin Mathews.

Gathorne-Hardy's sister, Anne (1911-2006), was the wife of George Heywood Hill, owner of the Mayfair bookshop bearing his name. A nephew - son of his younger brother Anthony - was Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy.