Robert Arthur Gardner was a bank manager in Bourne who also earned himself a reputation as a talented painter. He was born and educated at Peterborough where he began his career in banking with the Stamford, Spalding and Boston Banking Co Ltd which later became Barclays Bank, and after working at their Peterborough and Spalding branches, he moved to Bourne in 1884 as chief cashier. He returned to Peterborough for a spell but was appointed manager of the Bourne branch in 1894, a position he held until 1912 when he retired with 50 years of service to his credit. During this time he lived at Bank House in North Street, now converted for use as offices and occupied by the solicitors Andrews, Stanton and Ringrose, and in contemplation for his retirement, he had obtained a lease on Cawthorpe Hall and subsequently became the owner and this remained his home until he died at the age of 75. 

Gardner never aspired to public office but his interest in the welfare of the town inevitably resulted in a number of appointments. In 1888 he became a magistrate for the Kesteven area of Lincolnshire, later becoming chairman of the bench at Bourne and when the Bourne Institute was founded in West Street in 1896 "for the healthy recreation, education and intellectual improvement of its members", he became its first president.

In 1916, he was appointed a trustee of Bourne Charities and during the First World War he also served as president of the Volunteer Training Corps. His interests also extended to the Red Cross, participating in most of their fund-raising functions and he was also one of the local Income Tax Commissioners, a committee member of the Butterfield Hospital and local representative of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Sport was among his hobbies, particularly cricket, and during his early days in Bourne he had played for and captained the town XI and did not retire from the pitch until ten years before his death. He was also president or vice-president of many other sporting organisations in the district. 

But most importantly, Gardner was a prolific painter who worked in France and Italy but he also loved the English rural life and many of his paintings depict scenes around Bourne. Several of his works were hung in the Royal Academy, notably "Hollyhocks", his first acceptance which was hung in May 1902, one of only 1,200 accepted that year out of a total of 12,000 submitted, "Nice, the Italian Quarter" in the summer of 1915, the result of one of his many trips to Europe, and "Ryhall Mill" in May 1917, and he was subsequently appointed an associate member. In June 1924, he presented one of his larger paintings to Peterborough Museum where it can still be seen. It depicts the heronry in the grounds of Milton Hall, near Peterborough, home of the Fitzwilliam family, and the Stamford Mercury reported the gift by saying: "The picture is of great local interest. It is 36 inches by 28 inches and represents the heronry in its old site on the island and not in the trees of the adjoining wood as formerly. The artist has caught the lovely effects of light and shade which linger around this delightful spot at eventide."

He was also a generous supporter of the Art and Industrial Exhibition staged in Bourne in 1911 and was an exhibitor in the various classes. During his time at Cawthorpe Hall, he made extensive alterations to the property including the addition of the present studio and the installation of gas for heating and cooking. He and his wife Sarah also spent a lot of their time in the gardens which were beautifully kept and where they also played croquet. 

In 1926, he took one of his usual holidays in the South of France where he was taken ill with influenza that developed into pneumonia and he died at Nice on 2nd March 1926. His body was brought home and buried in Bourne Cemetery after a service at the Abbey Church. His reputation was such that the blinds of all private residences in the town were drawn during the service and business premises were closed. The Stamford Mercury recorded his passing with a tribute to "a typical English gentleman". It said: "He was a friend of all sections of the community, irrespective of creed or social position. He was at home in any sphere of life and with any class or age of the community. Whilst religiously a member of the established church and a most regular attendant, he was extremely broad-minded and the members of the Free Churches ever found him a willing and generous supporter. He was an ideal speaker at any function, giving expression to a train of thought in pure English sentences; it is seldom that he spoke without revealing his keen sense of humour. He frequently made puns on his own name and invariably put any audience into good humour."

Gardner was revealed to be a wealthy man when his will was published in May 1926 because he left an estate worth more than £33,000 (£1.3 million by today's values) and apart from legacies to his immediate family, most of his money and property went to his widow but on her death, he stipulated that various bequests should go to some of the organisations with which he had been connected during his lifetime such as the Bourne Institute, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Peterborough Infirmary and the Butterfield Hospital at Bourne.

After his death, his wife continued to live at Cawthorpe Hall until she died 17 years later, devoting her final years to the charitable causes previously undertaken by her late husband. They had no children and, according to his wishes, their estate passed to a niece Mrs Ernestine Constance Bourn Dunbar who bought No 4 West Road in 1945. She called it Cawhall and lived there until her death in 1972 when she was buried in the same grave as her uncle and aunt. The Dunbar Room in the Red Hall, which she had restored in Gardner's memory, was named after her. Their grave in the town cemetery is marked by an elaborately carved headstone with the inscription: 

Gardner frequently donated his pictures as prizes for Bourne organisations and charities and so many remain in the town in private hands. On the 70th anniversary of his death in 1996, the town's Civic Society held a one-day exhibition of his work at the Red Hall where 40 of his paintings, including some that had been exhibited at the Royal Academy, were brought together for public view. Among them was one of his best-known works that is pictured above, a whimsical self-portrait showing the artist as a large moustachioed man relaxing in an armchair wearing his slippers and reading a newspaper. 

A view of Baldock's Mill from the meadows, now the Wellhead Gardens, and showing swans on the river with the tower of the Abbey Church in the background, painted by R A Gardner in 1910, was given as a gift to a local man in 1999 by a woman who was moving home and "just wanted to get rid of it".  The painting, measuring 18* X 24", is oil on canvas and contained in an oak frame, and was subsequently offered for sale at Richardsons, the auctioneers, at their salerooms in Spalding Road on Thursday 20th March 2003, with a guide price of £250-£350 but it fetched only £150 and went to a private buyer.

See also   The Volunteers     The Art and Industrial Exhibition of 1911

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