British industrialist and horticulturalist
Charles Melville McLaren, 3rd Baron Aberconway, (16 April 1913 – 4 February 2003) was a British industrialist and horticulturalist. He was the son of Henry McLaren, 2nd Baron Aberconway, and Christabel Macnaghten. He died in 2003.
Education.
He was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford, and became a barrister of the Middle Temple.
Career.
As a young man, he became a director of John Brown &amp; Company, where his father was chairman. Due to this connection, he took part in the secret, unofficial meeting of British businessmen with Hermann Göring arranged by Birger Dahlerus in August 1939 as a last-ditch effort to forestall war.
During the Second World War, he served in the Royal Artillery, becoming a second lieutenant. After the war, he took a more active role in the family corporations, preparing to succeed his father. He was also a director of Westland Aircraft from 1947 to 1985. He was made a Justice of the Peace for Denbighshire in 1946, and High Sheriff of Denbighshire in 1950.
In 1953, he succeeded his father in the barony, the chairmanship of John Brown and English China Clays, and various other industrial interests. He continued in these chairmanships until 1986 and 1984, respectively. Despite his corporate responsibilities, Lord Aberconway took a keen interest in horticulture. Besides maintaining the family's Bodnant Garden, he was the President of the Royal Horticultural Society from 1961 to 1983 and oversaw the management of the Chelsea Flower Show. His annual assertion became famous:
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;"I think I can say, without fear of contradiction, that this is the finest Chelsea Flower Show ever"
Despite inheriting a seat in the House of Lords, he rarely attended. Throughout his life, he enjoyed writing pithy, memorable and topical letters to "The Times". He is buried at the mausoleum called "The Poem" within Bodnant Garden, the traditional burial place of the Lords Aberconway.
Family.
He married Deirdre Knewstub, daughter of John Knewstub, on 6 December 1941, and had three children:
The couple divorced in 1949, and he married Ann Bullard ("née" Aymer, mother of the Countess of Onslow) the same year. They had one son:
References.
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