Ashley Stephenson

Robert Ashley (Shute) Stevenson The Bailiff the Royal Parks is responsible for overall management of the royal parks of London, places that are now officially public parks designated by the Crown Lands Act but which originated as possessions of the monarch. Stephenson and his family lived in an official residence, the Ranger's Lodge in Hyde Park.

Stephenson was the gardening correspondent of The Times from 1982 until 1987 He was active in committees of the Royal Horticultural Society and was a judge in flower shows. He was vice chair of London in Bloom in 1984 and also chaired South and South East in Bloom for several years. In 1955 he married Isabel Dunn BEM (died 2020) and they had two children together. Stephenson died on 3 February 2021.

Awards Stephenson was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture in 1998, after having been a Member since 1987. He was made a Member of the Royal Victorian Order in 1979 and promoted to a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order in 1990. He was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal in 1989 by the Royal Horticultural Society.

The Pelargonium x domesticum 'Ashley Stephenson' was named for him.