In that sense, the battle for this island was also a battle between the Dutch who settled the western end of Long Island (and Manhattan) and the English, the descendants of Lion Gardiner and others, who had settled eastern Long Island. Today the property is permanently occupied by a caretaker and has been passed down to Robert Gardiners fiercely private niece, Alexandra Creel Goelet who has negotiated a conservation easement to ensure the preservation of the islands delicate terrain, natural wildlife and historic structures. This past week, Robert Goelet, husband of Alexandra Gardiner Creel, died at age 96. Looking for a safe place to store his treasure chests, Kidd sailed his ship into one of Gardiners Islands natural harbors and asked Jonathon Gardiner for permission to bury his loot that contained 104 Golconda diamonds, 68 large and small rubies, 400 sapphires, over 600 uncut emeralds from Spanish mines and many ecclesiastical pieces, Robert Gardiner told a troupe of Boy Scouts on a tour of his island in 1971. 09:00 PM, March 6 1940) on Gardiners Island. Alexandra Creel Goelet is a prominent member of the family which owns Gardiner's Island, off Long Island, New York.. Goelet's uncle, Robert David Lion Gardiner, and Goelet's mother each inherited half of the Island. Upon the death of her uncle, in 2004, Goelet became the sole owner of the island.[2]. He got down and dirty., Robert Guestier Goelet, known as Bobby, was born on Sept. 28, 1923, in Amblainville, France, in a chateau nestled amid 10,000 acres owned by the family of his mother, Anne Marie (Guestier) Goelet. When I sail close to its shores, I conjure up all sorts of thoughts. Alexandra Gardiner Goelet is a member of the prominent Gardiner family, of Long Island, New York, which received a royal grant to Gardiners Island in 1639. How the founder, in 1639, was awarded the island by the Native Americans after negotiating a peace between warring Native Americans. For their help, Kidd reportedly gave the Gardiners a piece of gold cloth captured from a Moorish ship off Madagascar, as well as a bag of sugar. ISSN 0028-7369. The Gardiner family always came out on top.. Robert served as the 16th Lord of the Manor until his death in August 2004. "We are also grateful to Earthwatch . In 1974 he was speaking out about plastic.. Among the major movers on this years , No. Robert Gardiner later told Chip Dayton of Avenue Magazine how Hemingway would get drunk at night, stagger outside and shoot guns toward Connecticut. Local boys were hired to flush pheasant while the men would have lunch in the field, brought to them by costumed servants. Im nuts for fossils, and I have a healthy respect for poisonous snakes., Robert Goelet, New York Grandee and Naturalist, Dies at 96, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/11/arts/robert-goelet-dead.html. Subjugating the Manor House into barracks while the superintendents home was turned into a military hospital. Goelet [1] [2] [3] [4] You didnt have to pay as much in taxes on a manor. Lion, who died in 1663 in East Hampton, was always referred to as the Proprietor of the Isle of Wight as were his descendants until at least the 1790s. Its just as beautiful inside. She inherited and owns the 5.19 sq mi [1] Gardiner's Island, off Long Island, New York. Send us a letter to the editor instead. [8]:3039 Their two children were born in the late 1970s; their daughter, Alexandra Gardiner Goelet, is about two years older than their son, Robert Gardiner Goelet. 09:00 PM, 258 E Montauk Hwy, Hampton Bays, NY 11946, Southampton Village Main Street (Hildreths), Wlffer Estates Roman Roth Hosts 30-Year Retrospective Dinner, Spay-ghetti Success at the Southampton Animal Shelter, 31st Annual Hamptons International Film Festival to Remain Expanded 10-Day Event, INTERVIEW: Laura Luciano On Slow Food East End's Upcoming Virtual Events Featuring Local Chefs, Farmers And Beverage Artisans. The Defendants Alexandra Gardiner Goelet and Robert Gardiner Goelet filed an answer with counterclaims and cross claims, although they did not file a dispositive motion. Julia Gardiner was born on the island in 1820. And now this daughter, Gardiner's niece, was putting forth her claim. "We are very proud that Lauren has been chosen to participate and gain valuable field experience," said John Calvelli, executive vice president of public affairs for WCS. Throughout this strife-torn era and then some 40 years later during the War of 1812, the British Navy used the island for supplying and staging. On the island itself, the family manor stands as it has since 1774, nestled among chestnut trees, cherry trees, and willows, overlooking the bay. Land data . [8]:3039 She returned to college after her divorce. Box 1500 Goelets death was reported as a full-page obituary in The New York Times last Sunday. Explaining in 2003 how his family maintained ownership of the enviable property, Gardiner said: We have always married into wealth. Robert Gardiner and Mrs. Goelet were to have a highly publicized dispute over ownership and direction of the island. I cant think of anything Id rather be doing, he told The New York Times after his appointment by the museum. His name was Robert G. Goelet. I could sustain my collections. Before marrying William Pitt Oakes in 1952, Eunice reportedly turned down a marriage proposal from Orson Welles. Alexandra has many family members and associates who include Michael Dell, Kofi Annan, Veli Kettunen, Raffaella Cribiore and Alexis . View Alexandra Goelet results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. She was known as the Rose of Long Island for her legendary good looks. Robert G. Goelet, a civic leader, naturalist and philanthropist whose marriage merged two families that date to 17th-century New Amsterdam and made the couple stewards of Gardiners Island, a storied sanctuary off the tip of Long Island, died on Tuesday at his home in Manhattan. Referring to Winston Guest, Robert told a New York Times reporter on tour of the island that he: burned the place down smoking in bed with a whore. Old habits die hard. Their daughter, Alexandra Gardiner Goelet, 27, is traveling in Australia and recently completed a wildlife management project on the habitat of the koala bear. They felt their family would be better stewards of the property, than if it were turned into a government park or wildlife sanctuary. The family survived every single one. [2][3][4][5][6] For faster navigation, this Iframe is preloading the Wikiwand page for Alexandra Creel Goelet . Gardiner died and was buried with honors in the Old Town Cemetery next to Town Pond in the middle of downtown. In Whos Who in New York, he listed himself as a capitalist.. The Lord of the Manor was really an important core to his existence, he played the role and he fed off the legend., Perhaps better suited for the conversation in Gilded Age parlor rooms than 20th century life, Gardiner was known to be a lovable but unapologetic snob. The land was originally purchased by Lion Gardiner in 1639 from the Montaukett Indians for the sum of one large dog, one gun, some powder and shot, some rum and several blankets, worth in all about Five Pounds sterling. To further ensure his right to ownership, Gardiner secured a deed from the Earl of Stirling, who, at the time owned most of Long Island and Nova Scotia by royal charter from King Charles I. And now, 15 years later, Robert G. Goelet has died at 96. Things got catty. Terms & Conditions EX-1 2 0002.txt JOINT FILING AGREEMENT Exhibit 1 JOINT FILING AGREEMENT The undersigned hereby agree that this Statement on Schedule 13D dated March 23, 2001 and amendments hereto (the "Statement") with respect to shares of common stock, par value $1.00 per share (the "Common Stock") of Pogo Producing Company is filed on behalf of each of us pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of . Under a trust from her aunt, she held Gardiners Island jointly with her idiosyncratic uncle Robert David Lion Gardiner, and when Mr. Gardiner died in 2004, the Goelets took full possession of it all 3,300 acres, four times the size of Central Park, complete with 27 miles of coastline, lush white pine and oak forests, colonial buildings, a 200-year-old windmill, a family cemetery and considerably more ospreys than people. In the past, Alexandra has also been known as Alexandra Gardiner Goclet, Alexandra C Goelet and Alexandra C Geolet. American heiress and forester. Join Facebook to connect with Alexandra Gardiner and others you may know. Looking to comment on this article? In an interview with New York Magazine, Gardiner recalls running into his niece at soiree held at the French consulate in New York City. When he failed to find a relative who measured up to his standards, he said he would work to have the island expropriated by the government. - easthamptonstar.com. Page 5 of 31 (3) $25.50 was the public offering price of the Shares sold in the Public Offering and the Group received $23.45 per Share after payment of underwriting commissions. The Gardiners also prospered from the beginning. The business address of Alexandra Gardiner Goelet is JP Morgan Chase & Co., 270 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Her mother was Alexandra Gardiner Creel, and her father was Raymond J. Randall Creel. The Goelets two children, also named Alexandra and Robert, are managing the trusts. The holding was originally called the Isle of Wight. Since 1639, Gardiners Island and its 3,300 acres have belonged to Lion Gardiner and his descendants. 11:40 EST 02 Apr 2019 In 1639, Lion bought the island for a second time this time from the Earl of Stirling, who had been granted the property by King Charles I. His descendants have successfully passed down his proprietary colony for 13 generations, yet none have spurred more copy than the late Robert David Lion Gardiner; the self-titled 16th Lord of the Manor who was the islands most illustrious steward before his death in 2004. The privateer Captain Kidd buried treasure on Gardiners Island. Among other things, the obituary says that the late Mr. Goelet had founded a penguin reserve in Patagonia. Survival, it seems, may be the dominant family trait. The phone number for Robert is (212) 688-3865 (Verizon New York, Inc). His father, Robert Walton Goelet, managed his inherited real estate, railways, hotels and other holdings from homes in New York, France and Newport, R.I. Someday I am going to figure out how to get a tour. Mrs. Dupont held a pince-nez up to look down at the big clock. He is curious and knowledgeable about birds, insects, plants, fossils, geology, and all kinds of animals. Like the first immigrant Goelet, Robert Goelet moved to New York before he was a teenager, arriving when he was 12. Robert Goelet lives in New York, NY; previous city include Newport RI. There are lores, mysteries and history all about the island that is 6 miles long, 3 miles wide that has 27 miles of coastline and is owned by one person, Alexandra Creel Goelet. Inturn, Wyandanch enfolded Lion in traditional Indian forms by offering him land, specifically, the island that now bears his name. The island's current zoning would allow the owners to split the property into one-acre lots. Robert Guestier Goelet moved to New York at the age of 12, attended the Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard University in 1945 with a bachelor's degree in history. I have spent the last 17 years infatuated with all things Gardiners Island. Scion of a French Huguenot family that settled in this country in the 17th century, Mr. Goelet brought his familys wealth to support not only Gardiners Island, but several major cultural institutions in New York. Jacobuss grandson Peter, an ironmonger during the Revolutionary War, went on to invest in real estate so successfully that by the end of the 19th century the family was said to own about 55 acres on Manhattans East Side, from Union Square to 48th Street. He describes the Goelets, as well as Mr. Gardiner, as excellent stewards of the island. The first to arrive in America was 10-year-old Jacobus, who was brought from Amsterdam in 1676 by his widowed father. During the American Revolution and the War of 1812, British fleets looted the island for livestock and other provisions. The scion of a real estate dynasty, Mr. Goelet (pronounced guh-LET) was 52 when he married Alexandra Gardiner Creel in 1976. In another ruling, a judge said the two claimants should alternate two-week stays on the island, and so never would meet. For residents of Shelter Island, who regard Gardiners Island as a distant, somewhat mysterious cousin, there can be few guides as well-acquainted with this 3,300-acre jewel as Karl Grossman, a journalist who first ventured there almost 50 years ago. He mixed with actors and socialites, threw elegant parties for his friends, married late in life and was famous for speaking in a unique accent that combined New Yorks sledgehammer consonants with a tony British lift. For the next 20 years, this was in the courts. Robert and his niece were estranged for nearly 20 years before his death, a relationship plagued by very public legal disputes. Upon his departure, Kidd warned that if the treasure was not there when he returned, he would kill the Gardiners. After earning a bachelor's degree from Barnard College she studied at the Yale School of Forestry, enabling her . While Mr. Goelet was an ardent conservationist, his real estate holdings and his fiduciary role on the boards of cultural institutions sometimes clashed with his preservationist instincts. The scion of a 17th-century New York family, he headed major cultural institutions and became a steward of Gardiners Island, which his wifes family had owned since 1639. @ [8]:3039, Goelet's uncle, Robert David Lion Gardiner, and Goelet's mother, who died in 1990, each inherited half of the Island.[10]. Title to the island was hotly disputed between two Gardiner descendants for decades. For those who cant attend Mr. Grossmans talk on Saturday at 1 p.m., the museum has a special ongoing exhibit on Gardiners Island and plans to screen the Grossman film along with a longer film on the island. In rare historical footage owned by The Suffolk County Historical Society, Robert Gardiner takes guests on a tour of his island. The Manor Home built in 1774 was reduced to ashes after one of the visitors fell asleep smoking a cigarette. But in a world where no expense is spared, there is still a one thing that money cant buy: Gardiners Island. Today, the famously private Alexandra Goelet has pledged to preserve the island in exchange for a 20-year easement from the East Hampton Township. 44. Gardiners Island played host to another significant guest in Mach 1966 -First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. For more than a dozen generations, this Old World estate has remained in the hands of the Gardiner family, beginning with Lion Gardiner in 1639 and continuing to Alexandra Goelet today. Weve covered all our bets. More than 350 years later, his island is valued at $125 million (almost $40,000 per acre). Goelet, 64, and Mr. Goelet, 80, have two children. Robert G. Goelet, a business and civic leader, naturalist, and philanthropist, who with his wife, Alexandra Creel Goelet, had been steward of Gardiner's Island in East Hampton since the 1980s . Jeho otec, kter vlastnil hotel Ritz-Carlton v New Yorku, daroval po jeho . She was an heiress of the island every bit as worthy as her uncle was an heir, it seemed. Sign in. She accused him of not paying his share of the estimated $2 million/year upkeep and taxes of the island. The daughters name was Alexandra Creel Goelet. A Gardiner cousin, Sarah Diodati Gardiner, stepped in at the last minute and bought it, keeping Gardiners Island in the family. 212-854-1100 Maps and Directions [7][11] That marriage ended in divorce. He actually found someone who spent time considering it. Gardiner accused Alexandra of wanting to sell and develop the island. In 1699, Captain Kidd, looking for a safe place to store his treasure chest, sailed into one of the islands natural harbors and buried his treasure in the woods. He was president of the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Historical Society and the New York Zoological Society (now the Wildlife Conservation Society). In 1986, four years prior to their mother's death, her brother Raymond J. Randall Creel Jr., who had experienced health concerns, offered to sell his interest in Gardiner's Island to Alexandra and Robert. Freshwater ponds, rushing creeks, swamps and lush meadowlands unmarred by pesticides have become a sanctuary for wild turkey, deer and osprey. One story Gardiner told was about the time he was taking a grandfather clock in for repair. There were slave quarters on Gardiners Island also., Along with centuries of history, there is also the mystery surrounding pirate Captain Kidds buried treasure on the island, and the lore of the first Lord, Lion Gardiner, acquiring the island from the Montaukett Indians in 1639 for, reportedly one large dog, one gun, some powder and shot, some rum and several blankets.. Nov 8, 1982. The Goelets were originally French Huguenots. I believe my first assignment about Gardiner's Island was back in 2004, when I wrote a very boring article about Ms. Goelet's offer to place a conservation easement on the island in exchange . The six-foot scion of this American dynasty bought his domain not from the Crown or some colonizers but from Native Americans. This gave him the right to possess the land forever.. She inherited and owns the 5.19 sq mi (13.4 km2) Gardiner's Island, off Long Island, New York. I was not the nouveau riche Oakes who lacked culture. The buyer was an Englishman named Lion Gardiner, the original Lord of the Manor. This past week, Robert Goelet, husband of Alexandra Gardiner Creel, died at age 96. But in the eleventh hour, an affluent New York cousin named Sarah Diodati Gardiner came to the rescue and purchased the island for $400,000. @ All the while, the manor house, which had been built in 1774, was left untouched. That included Alexandra Gardiner Creel, who had a son and a daughter. Her uncle maintained, for the last decades of his life, that when he died, she and her husband would ruin the island, by selling it to developers, or developing it themselves. Over the years, Mr. Gardiner engaged in a bitter feud with his niece, Alexandra Gardiner Creel, over ownership of the island and plans for its future. Saunders Broadcasting Corp. He accused Mr. Goelet of various incivilities, among them trying to run him over with a truck. He would tell anyone who listened that this island was the largest privately owned island in the United States still owned by its founding family. When I sail to Louse Point, I always see the big white windmill, the farmhouse, and the main house, of course not the original historic home, that was lost in a fire. His mother Alexandra Creel Goelet has been the sole owner of the Island since the death of her uncle Robert David Lion Gardiner in 2004. Keep up with all the latest from Eastern LI. I was like Lorenzo de Medici. Got a hot tip for our calendar? Tate Delloye For Dailymail.com It was only a matter of time before she caught the eye of President John Tyler, who was 30 years her senior and recently widowed. Gardiner died in 2004, the Goelets . . He was a mad, eccentric, romantic historian, said Richard Barons, senior curator of the East Hampton Historical Society to DailyMail.com. "Debating the Future Of Gardiners Island", https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/05/nyregion/debating-the-future-of-gardiners-island.html, http://en.wikialpha.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Alexandra_Gardiner_Goelet&oldid=209446. Later, a manorship was granted that gave Gardiner ownership of the island under English law, Barons says. [9] The couple married, on Gardiner's Island, in 1976. In a long line of celebrated family members, none can forget First Lady Julia Gardiner who was born on the island in 1820 and grew up in a world of Gilded Age opulence with a mother as an heiress to a large fortune. Francesco Anelli [Public domain] First lady, Julia Gardiner Tyler, wife of 10th U.S. President John Tyler, was born on Gardiner's Island. Among his various civic activities, Mr. Goelet was the board president of the French Institute/Alliance Franaise and a board member of the National Audubon Society, the Carnegie Institution for Science, Phipps Houses, and Chemical Bank (now JPMorgan Chase), which was founded by an ancestor, Peter Goelet, in 1824. Robert G. Goelet at the American Museum of Natural History in 1976, a year after he was named its president. Gardiners Island mysterious private island . Robert G. Goelet, chef d'entreprise et citoyen, naturaliste et philanthrope, qui, avec sa femme, Alexandra Creel Goelet, avait t intendant de Gardiner's Island East Hampton depuis les annes 1980, est dcd le 8 octobre son domicile de New York. He died at his . He repudiated his Pequot kin and formed an alliance with the English commander. The way the Manor has been preserved is a great environmental and historical success story. Gardiner urged the town council to designate the island a "historic district". Doomed by mounting debts and heavy inheritance taxes, Gardiners Island became difficult to sustain its expensive upkeep, in comparison to their New York City relatives, They were what some people might call, land poor, said Barons. 09:00 PM, March 8 Gardiners son learned to speak Algonquin. Although the Gardiners never declared themselves lords or any such thing, they exercised the privileges of the title. Alexandra had studied forestry in college, was a trained naturalist and in 1974 met a wealthy New Yorker 16 years her senior during a snowshoe trek in Harriman Park. Mr. Gardiner was married but had no heirs, touching off a splenetic three-decade legal imbroglio with his niece over maintenance costs and visitation rights on Gardiners Island. He kept a yacht in Three Mile Harbor called the Laughing Lady, which ferried him and his guests out to Gardiners Island. In the 1930s the island was put up for sale but a . Alexandra calls New York, NY, home. Not surprisingly, the island has been witness to an enormous sweep of American history; warring Indian tribes, infamous pirates, and British forces during the American Revolution and the War of 1812 all sought refuge there. May 31 Alexandra Creel Goelet, conservationist, and husband, investor Robert G Goelet, issue statement that family will strive to maintain Gardiners Island off Long Island's South Fork--owned by Gardiner . Sarah began leasing the property as a hunting reserve to wealthy patrons, most notably Winston Guest. Bobby joined our board . She inherited and owns the 5.19sqmi (13.4km2)[1] Gardiner's Island, off Long Island, New York.[2][3][4][5][6]. Its colorful past is as long as it is varied with stories that sound more like fairy tales than textbook histories: in 1699 Captain Kidd buried treasure in its densely packed woods, First Lady Julia Gardiner Tyler was born in 1820 and in 1966, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was accused of theft at a glamorous dinner party hosted by Robert Gardiner. @ 05:30 PM - Unlike her uncle, Goelet has chosen to stay out of the limelight. Gardiners Island, a 3,300-acre sanctuary off the tip of Long Island. The larger-than-life, bon-vivant became something of an institution in the sleepy East Hampton community over the years, relishing in his unique family antiquity. He was poised to sell Lever House, the celebrated glass-box skyscraper on Park Avenue, to a developer, but the citys Landmarks Preservation Commission spared it from demolition. Alexandra Gardiner Goelet, and her younger brother Robert Gardiner Goelet will inherit the island, if . His obituary in The New York Times, written by Sam Roberts, described him as a "grandee and naturalist.". Alexandra Creel Goelet er et fremtredende medlem av familien som eier Gardiner's Island, utenfor Long Island , News frste ekteskap, med en eiendomsutvikler, endte med skilsmisse. - Mail Online - dailymail . With award-winning writing and photography covering . These land holdings were enough to sustain a very lavish lifestyle for generations of Gardiners to come. They assured the council that the trust established to maintain the island had enough resources to last 50 years. My wife didnt have children with Pitt Oakes. He first met Robert David Lion Gardiner, the self-described 16th Lord of the Manor, when he covered a large campout of Boy Scouts hosted by Mr. Gardiner in 1971. The Montauketts called it Manchonake, which loosely translates to the place where many have died. The island had been the site of an epidemic. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. Gardiner heirs convinced the powers that be to affirm the islands special status, which remained in place until after the American Revolution. The scion of a real estate dynasty, Goelet (pronounced guh-LET) was 52 when he married Alexandra Gardiner Creel in 1976. [10] The paper described hearings before the East Hampton town council, held in the East Hampton firehall, where Goelet's 89-year-old uncle, and she and her husband and son, presented two alternate proposals to the town council. She married Peter Francis Tufo, a lawyer and real estate developer, on December 10, 1964. Alexandra Goelet was born on 11/22/1939 and is 82 years old. There is debate whether the Fort, built in 1904, was named for Daniel Tyler or President John Tyler. The daughter's name was Alexandra Creel Goelet. At night, local girls from East Hampton were boated in for entertainment. [8]:3039 Due to disputes between with her uncle, he declined to pay a share of the Island's upkeep then more than $1 million per year. Gardiners Island is nothing, if not unique. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is deeply saddened by the death of Robert Guestier "Bobby" Goelet, a champion for wildlife conservation, arts, history and culture. In September 1976, 52 year-old Goelet married Alexandra Gardiner Creel (b. The estate stands as a unique time-capsule of nature completely unmarred. According to Barons, Wyandanch watched the war between the English and the Pequot with great interest. They married on Gardiners Island. Although the island and its properties are not cheap to maintain property taxes and upkeep reportedly cost nearly $2 million a year Goelet seems content to continue this tradition. Robert D.L. Her mother Alexandra Creel Goelet has been the sole owner of the Island since the death About - Alexandra Gardner. During his sophomore year at Harvard, he enlisted in the Navy and was trained as a Helldiver bomber pilot, but he did not see combat. What I remember is the very first year I owned a sailboat, back in 2003 on the Thursday before Labor Day, I tried to sail/motor around the whole island starting by going northwest. Robert Gardiner Goelet and Robert G Goelet are some of the alias or nicknames that Robert has used. [1] Her mother Alexandra Creel Goelet has been the sole owner of the Island since the death of her uncle Robert David Lion Gardiner in 2004. . Mrs. Goelet is an environmentalist, Mr. Grossman said, and holds a masters degree from the Yale School of Forestry. In the other corner was Alexandra Gardiner Creel Goelet who battled under the green environmentalists' banner." The battle raged in the courts for years. Passed down through the Gardiner family for 380 years, it is Americas oldest family estate that has fascinated people with its shroud of mystery. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Two Russian tanks annihilated with bombs by Ukrainian armed forces, Ukraine soldiers shoot down enemy drones with drones of their own, Dozens stuck in car park as staff refuses to open gate for woman, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Insane moment river of rocks falls onto Malibu Canyon in CA, Fleet-footed cop chases an offender riding a scooter, Isabel Oakeshott clashes with Nick Robinson over Hancock texts. Guest; Winston was a notorious playboy. 134 pages. Lion was a decorated military engineer in the English army who served in the Netherlands with great distinction during the war of liberation against Spain. It was their attempt, I felt, to buy their way into the hearts of the local citizenry here who, at the time, were very partial to Gardiner who, though idiosyncratic, was, among other things, quite charming. Its married now. Getting frustrated at Smiths suggestion that it could be the potential heir, he said: You never think of anything practical!, Robert and his sister, Alexandra Gardiner Creel were left the island and a number of valuable properties around East Hampton by their wealthy aunt, Sarah Diodati Gardiner, who herself was unmarried and without children. She was an heiress of the island every bit as worthy as her uncle was an heir, it seemed. It was quite something. By I was stranded there for eight hours and was rescued by not one, but two sea tow boats. In 1978, it astounded this community to learn that there was another person other than the 16th Lord who had a claim to his island. Over the years, Mr. Gardiner engaged in a bitter feud with his niece, Alexandra Gardiner Creel, over ownership of the island and plans for its future.