- Timothy Garden, Baron Garden
Infobox Military Person
name=The Lord Garden
lived=23 April 1944 –9 August 2007
placeofbirth=Worcester ,England
placeofdeath=
caption=Air Marshal The Lord Garden
nickname=
allegiance= flag|United Kingdom
serviceyears=c. 1965–1996
rank=Air Marshal
branch= air force|United Kingdom
commands=
battles=
awards=Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
laterwork=Liberal Democrat peerAir Marshal Timothy Garden, Baron Garden, KCB, FRAeS, FRUSI, FCGI (23 April 1944 –9 August 2007 ) was a senior commander in theRoyal Air Force and later became a university professor and a Liberal Democrat politician.Garden was born in
Worcester and educated atKing's School, Worcester . He later gained degrees from both Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Garden was a pilot in theRoyal Air Force for 32 years and retired as anAir Marshal . He then moved to academia and was Director ofChatham House before moving to university defence research. He became an adviser to the Liberal Democrats and was their defence spokesman in theHouse of Lords . He was married to Susan, Lady Garden who was made a life peer as Baroness Garden of Frognal in September 2007.RAF career
Garden joined the
Royal Air Force as a university cadet while atSt Catherine's College, Oxford reading Physics. He was a member of OxfordUniversity Air Squadron from 1962 to 1965. He was a squadron pilot onNo. 3 Squadron RAF flyingEnglish Electric Canberra B(I)8 light bombers in Germany before becoming a flying instructor on Jet Provosts. He commanded a jet flying training unit,No. 50 Squadron RAF Avro Vulcan bomber squadron and a helicopter base.Garden completed his staff training with the Army, and did a postgraduate International Relations degree at
Magdalene College, Cambridge . He spent three years as the Director of Defence Studies for the Royal Air Force, lecturing internationally on strategic studies. He was then appointed as station commander ofRAF Odiham , where he flew the Westland Puma and Boeing Chinook helicopters. He then spent six years at the Ministry of Defence on both the air and central staffs, including a period on theAir Force Board asAssistant Chief of the Air Staff . His last MOD appointment was as Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Programmes) with responsibility for long term defence programme planning for all three Services. He was subsequently appointed to be Commandant of theRoyal College of Defence Studies and was in post for the 1994 and 1995 courses. He retired from the RAF in 1996 as anAir Marshal .Academia and journalism
Garden was a web-site consultant before being appointed as Director of the
Royal Institute of International Affairs atChatham House , London. From mid 1998, he was a writer, broadcaster and lecturer, and undertook projects for the British Government, theUS Department of Defense andNATO . He was joint chief editor for "The Source", an internet public management journal, from 1999 to 2002. In 2000, he provided advice to thePalestinian Authority on negotiations withIsrael under the auspices of theAdam Smith Institute . He was Distinguished Visiting Fellow and Scholar-in-Residence toIndiana University for the Spring 2001 Semester, and thereafter lectured there regularly by video. He returned toIndiana University Bloomington in early 2004 as theHerman B Wells Professor. He was Visiting Professor at the Centre for Defence Studies atKing's College London from 2000, engaged in research projects on improving European defence capabilities, Defence Diplomacy, interoperability for NATO forces and counter-terrorism. He appeared as the military advisor on the BBC television series "Crisis Command ".Garden wrote widely on security topics, and his publications include two books: "Can Deterrence Last?" and "The Technology Trap". He wrote for a number of security-related projects, including developments in NATO, European defence, missile defence proposals and global security issues. He served as a member of the panel of experts for the UK government's 1998
Strategic Defence Review , and gave evidence to theDefence Committee on the new threats after11 September 2001 .Liberal Democrat politician
Garden was a member of the team developing defence policy for the
Liberal Democrats , and was an adviser to the Lib Dem defence and foreign affairs teams. He was an elected member of the Liberal Democrat Federal Executive from 2003 to 2006 and of the Federal Policy Committee from 2003 to 2005. He became President ofLiberal International British Group , and also of the Camden Liberal Democrats. He became a Liberal Democrat member of theHouse of Lords in June 2004, made alife peer as Baron Garden, of Hampstead in theLondon Borough of Camden . At the time of his death he was the party's defence spokesman in the Lords, and was a member of theDelegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Select Committee from 2004 to 2006. He was made a member of the Select Committee on Regulators, and was convenor of theAll-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Security and Non-Proliferation. He became President of theTrading Standards Institute in April 2005.In 2005 and 2006 Garden played a leading role in a cross-party campaign to facilitate electoral participation by armed forces personnel and their partners. According to his obituary in "
The Independent ", cited below,His great legacy is the Electoral Administration Bill, for which he secured cross-party support to overcome, in the face of dogged Ministry of Defence opposition, the problems of registration and voting for members of the armed forces and their partners.
Memberships
Garden was a Fellow and Council Member of the
Royal United Services Institute (FRUSI). He was an Honorary Fellow ofSt Catherine's College, Oxford , a Fellow and former Council Member of theRoyal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS), a Fellow ofCity and Guilds of London Institute (FCGI) and an Associate Fellow of theRoyal Institute of International Affairs . He was a member of theInternational Institute for Strategic Studies , theFabian Society , theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science , theForeign Policy Centre , theCentre for European Reform , thePugwash Conferences , the UK Defence Forum, the Liberal Democrat European Group, the Centre:Forum, and the Anglo-Jordanian Society. He was also a member of advisory boards to the University of Hull Centre for Security Studies, theKönigswinter Conference, the Oxford Research Group, and the Cambridge University Centre of International Studies. He was a member of theDERA Analysis Board between 1997 and 2000, and was the UK representative to theNATO Defence College in Rome from 1997 to 2001. He was Chairman of the Rippon Group, which acts a focus for EU issues, from 2000 to 2006, and was a Patron of Saferworld and Crisis Action. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the US Foreign Policy Association in 1997. He was a Commissioner to the Commission on Globalisation from 2002 to 2004. He was a member of theBeefsteak Club , the 63/68 Club, and of theRoyal Air Force Club .Garden retained his connections with the Services as President of London & South East Region
Air Training Corps and as Hon. Vice President of the RAF Rowing Club. He was President of theCombined Cadet Force Association from 2000 to 2003. He was aLiveryman of theGuild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators , President of the RAF Oxford & Cambridge Society, and was also a member of the RAF Historical Society. He was President of theAdastral Burns Club . He was a Founder Member of theBritish Armed Forces Federation .Honours
In the
Order of the Bath , Garden was appointed a CB in 1992 and received his knighthood in 1994. He was appointed as a Chevalier de l'Ordre National de laLégion d'Honneur by President Chirac in July 2003 for his work on European defence issues. Garden was elevated to thelife peerage as Baron Garden ofHampstead , in theLondon Borough of Camden , in 2004.Styles
*Timothy Garden, Esq. (
23 April 1944 –22 September 1963 )
*Acting Pilot Officer Timothy Garden (22 September 1963 –15 July 1965 )
*Pilot Officer Timothy Garden (15 July 1965 –16 January 1966 )
*Flying Officer Timothy Garden (16 January 1966 –23 October 1966 )
*Flight Lieutenant Timothy Garden (23 October 1966 –1 July 1973 )
*Squadron Leader Timothy Garden (1 July 1973 –1 January 1979 )
*Wing Commander Timothy Garden (1 January 1979 –1 August 1982 )
*ActingGroup Captain Timothy Garden (1 August 1982 –1 July 1984 )
*Group Captain Timothy Garden (1 July 1984 –1 January 1989 )
*Air Commodore Timothy Garden (1 January 1989 –1 January 1991 )
*Air Vice-Marshal Timothy Garden (1 January 1991 –31 December 1991 )
*Air Vice-Marshal Timothy Garden, CB (31 December 1991 –21 March 1994 )
*Air Marshal Timothy Garden, CB (21 March 1994 –11 June 1994 )
*Air Marshal Sir Timothy Garden, KCB (11 June 1994 –9 June 2004 )
*Air Marshal The Rt Hon. The Lord Garden, KCB (9 June 2004 –9 August 2007 )Personal life
Garden had two daughters with his wife Sue, who stood for the Liberal Democrats in Finchley and Golders Green at the 2005 general election. Shortly after his death, it was announced on
September 13 2007 that a life peerage was to be conferred on Sue Garden.His daughters are:
* Alexandra Whitfield (The Hon. Mrs Whitfield) (married Paul Whitfield)
* Antonia Rolph (The Hon. Mrs Rolph) (married Jon Rolph)He had four grandchildren:
* Jack Whitfield
* Charlotte Whitfield
* Henry Rolph
* Thomas RolphDeath
Garden was diagnosed with incurable
cancer a few weeks before his death. According to press reports, he adopted a very philosophical attitude to his illness, explaining to a friend how many of his fellow aircrew had had even less luck and were lost in their twenties and thirties.The then Liberal Democrat leader Sir
Menzies Campbell paid tribute to Lord Garden in a statement published on the party's website: "Tim Garden has been an outstanding member of the Liberal Democrat team in the House of Lords where his wisdom and top level military experience were widely recognised. His advice toCharles Kennedy and myself during the Iraq war was invaluable. We have also lost a close friend who was an unfailingly generous and warm-hearted man. The whole party extends its deepest sympathy to his wife and family."Liberal Democrat deputy leader in the House of Lords, Lord Wallace of Saltaire, echoed Campbell's words: "Tim was both an expert and a radical, he offered invaluable advice on defence and foreign policy. He gave the Liberal Democrats depth in criticising the mistaken policy on Iraq, which was vitally important. He was also a very active parliamentarian, leading an all-party group on defence and conflict issues and on the delegated powers and instruments committee. We will miss him immensely."
External links
* [http://www.tgarden.demon.co.uk Tim Garden's personal website]
* [http://homepage.mac.com/tgarden/iblog/ Tim Garden's Foreign & Security Policy Weblog]
* [http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Garden.htm Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation - Air Mshl The Lord Garden]
* [http://www.libdems.org.uk/party/people/lord-lord-garden.html Lord Garden] profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/lord_garden theyworkforyou.com] Record of parliamentary activity* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/13/db1301.xml Obituary, "The Daily Telegraph", 14 August 2007]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2253046.ece Obituary, "The Times", 14 August 2007]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,2148063,00.html Obituary, "The Guardian", 14 August 2007]
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2871466.ece Obituary, "The Independent", 17 August 2007]Persondata
NAME = Garden, Timothy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION =Royal Air Force pilot, defence strategist and Liberal Democrat peer.
DATE OF BIRTH =April 23 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH =Worcester , Worcs,England , UK
DATE OF DEATH =August 9 2007
PLACE OF DEATH =Hampstead ,London ,England , UK
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