Roland Gwynne

Roland Vaughan Gwynne
46th Mayor of Eastbourne
In office 1928–1931
Preceded by	Alderman Miss A Hudson
Succeeded by	Mr Alderman L Maclachlan
Personal details
Born	16 May 1882
Died	15 November 1971 (aged 89) Eastbourne, Sussex
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Residence	Folkington Manor

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Roland Vaughan Gwynne, DSO, DL, JP (16 May 1882 – 15 November 1971) was Mayor of Eastbourne, Sussex, from 1928 to 1931. He was also a patient and close friend of the suspected serial killer Dr John Bodkin Adams.

Gwynne's father made a fortune in the nineteenth century from an engineering business, Gwynnes Limited, and bought estates in Sussex with the proceeds. Gwynne's mother, May, was 41 when he was born. He was the last of nine children (though two had died). Until the age of 13, he was dressed by his mother as a girl in frocks, with bows, necklaces and long ringlets. He was educated privately before being sent to Trinity Hall, Cambridge.

The renowned harpsichordist Violet Gordon-Woodhouse was one of his sisters. One brother, Rupert, was Member of Parliament for Eastbourne from 1910 until his death in 1924; his daughter was the celebrated cookery writer Elizabeth David.

After university he served in the honorary post of Judge's Marshal. On 2 April 1904 he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Sussex Yeomanry and made Lieutenant on 1 April 1908. In 1904 Gwynne aided Viscount Turnour in his maiden election campaign in the constituency of Horsham, which Turnour then held for the next 47 years. In 1910 Gwynne was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple, where he practised in the Probate and Divorce Division.

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