Robert David Lion Gardiner

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

In 1971 Representative Otis Pike proposed a bill to expropriate Gardiners Island, to turn it into a Federal National Monument. Gardiner complained that the proposal to expropriate his family's property was unfair, when the Rockefeller family had been allowed to continue to own their Pocantico Hills estate.

In 1961, Gardiner was married to Eunice Bailey Oakes (1928–2011), a former British model, at St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Eunice, who was previously married to William Pitt Oakes (a son of Sir Harry Oakes, William died of an overdose at 28), was significantly younger than he was, but the couple's marriage yielded no children. In the 1980s Gardiner tried to adopt a distant relative, so he would have an heir who could continue inherit his share of the Island, and keep it in the Gardiner name. But those efforts failed, since he was looking for a relative who was already wealthy, who, nevertheless, would agree to his conditions as to how Gardiner's Island was managed, after his death.

He and his sister Alexandra Gardiner Creel inherited Gardiner's Island from their aunt, Sarah Diodati Gardiner, when she died in 1953. Gardiner had long-running disputes with his sister, and her daughter, Alexandra Creel Goelet. Goelet and her husband were conservationists, while Gardiner was an enthusiastic hunter.

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.

Gardiner also inherited Sagtikos Manor, a 10-acre heritage property on Long Island. Gardiner inherited the property, which had been in his family since the 18th century, in the 1930s. Gardiner and his wife Eunice used the property as their primary residence for several years, early in their marriage. In 1963, when the Sagtikos Manor Historical Society was founded, the Gardiners stopped using it as their primary residence, let the Historical Society use part of the structure, but insisted the Historical Society reserve a suite for him. The property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970s. In 1986 Gardiner transferred ownership of the property to the nonprofit Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.

Robert David Lion Gardiner was born on February 25, 1911 in New York City, New York, USA.