Giles Rolls Loder


Sir Giles Rolls Loder, 3rd Baronet was an English aristocrat, World War II veteran, public official, horticulturalist and yachtsman.

Biography

Early life

Giles Rolls Loder was born on 10 November 1914 in London, England. His father was Robert Egerton Loder and his mother, Muriel Rolls Hoare. His paternal grandfather was Sir Edmund Giles Loder, 2nd Baronet and his paternal great-grandfather was Sir Robert Loder, 1st Baronet.
He graduated from Eton College, a private boarding school in Eton, Berkshire, in 1936, and from Trinity College, a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, in 1944.

Public service

During World War II, he served in the Surrey and Sussex Yeomanry, and later worked with the Vosper & Company for the British Navy. He later served as High Sheriff of Sussex in 1948 and Justice of the Peace in 1949. He also served as Deputy Lieutenant of West Sussex in 1977.

Horticulture

He served as Vice-President of The Royal Horticultural Society. He was a recipient of the Victoria Medal of Honour for his horticultural prowess in 1968. At his family estate of Leonardslee, he planted hundreds of varieties of rhododendrons, magnolias, and camellias, and built two greenhouses. He was elected President of Sussex Wildlife Trust on 21 October 1978 and remained in office until October 1983.

Yachting

An avid yachtsman, he was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron. He took part in the Cowes Week, one of the longest-running regular regattas in the world, where he sometimes skippered on the Kaylena, a well-known 12-metre yacht.

Personal life

On 11 July 1939, he married Marie Violet Pamela Symons-Jeune, daughter of Captain Bertram Symons-Jeune, a famous garden designer. They had two sons:
They resided at Ockenden Manor, a Grade II*-listed house in Cuckfield, West Sussex.
He died on 24 February 1999.