About Us | The Queen Elizabeth II Garden

One Garden bringing together Neighbors, Commonwealth friends, and countless Angels.

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of The Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden is to develop and maintain a showplace garden reflecting the long history, shared friendship, common cases and sacrifices of the people of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, and the United States of America.

HISTORY

November 1, 2005

The center stone was dedicated by TRH The Prince of Wales & The Duchess of Cornwall.

May 29, 2009

HRH Prince Harry of Wales planted a magnolia tree and officially named the park “The British Garden at Hanover Square.”

July 6, 2010

HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh were welcomed to the Garden by the Right Honorable Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York, and Her Majesty met the British victims’ families of the 9/11 attacks and officially opened the Garden.

August 2011

The mission of the Garden was expanded to include the Commonwealth victims.

September 21, 2011

British Prime Minister David Cameron toured the Garden.

May 2, 2012

The Very Reverend Dr. John Hall, Dean of Westminster formally renamed the Garden, “The Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden, Inc.” officially dedicating the Garden as the memorial for all the Commonwealth victims of the 9/11 attacks and honoring Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee.

May 7, 2015

HRH Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex visited the Garden in honor of VE Day and unveiled the donor plaque.

FOUNDING

The creation of the Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden, in the heart of Lower Manhattan, was prompted by a desire to honor and memorialize the 67 British subjects who lost their lives in the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001. In 2002, the St. George’s Society, under the then presidency of William R. Miller, CBE, embraced the idea of creating a permanent garden memorial.

The Garden is administered by the British Memorial Garden Trust, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization founded by the British Consulate and the St. George’s Society. The Garden’s newly expanded mission is to:

Celebrate the historic ties of friendship and unity between the United States of America, the Commonwealth countries and the United Kingdom.

Honour the British and Commonwealth victims of the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Create a feeling of new life and growth in Lower Manhattan.

Bring British and Commonwealth heritage and arts initiatives to the community and City of New York.

Honour HM The Queen upon the occasion of Her Diamond Jubilee. From its beginnings, this New York City park has been funded through donations from foundations, individuals and corporations.

HISTORY OF HANOVER SQUARE

The Short History of Downtown and Hanover Square New York as a “melting pot” goes back to Henry Hudson’s voyage – funded by the Dutch East India Company – to North America in 1608 that ended up in New York Harbor. New York City was named New Nederland and Manhattan was New Amsterdam which was its capital. New Amsterdam was cosmopolitan with 18 nationalities all valuing free trade, individual rights, and religious freedom. The West India Company in Amsterdam elected Peter Minuit as their first Governor. The Dutch settled and New Amsterdam became a thriving trading port; Peter Stuyvesant replaced Minuit as Director General.

In 1664, when the city came under British rule the name changed to New York, to honor the royal proprietor the Duke of York, later King James II.

In 1714, in honor of the accession of George I, the square was named Hanover Square echoing London’s Hanover Square.

During the American Revolution the city was occupied by the British and suffered brutally from wartime fires in 1776 and 1778.

A divided populace, a mass Tory exodus to Canada, New York’s recovery seemed in jeopardy. Figures like Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr came to the forefront. The shipping industry was increasing and because New York was a great port city the population surged. New York became a booming town again; however, construction and water supply did not keep up. On a freezing December night in 1835 a fire broke out, with the East River frozen and no water to extinguish the flames, over 700 buildings burned down. The original Hanover Square was no more.

Read full history

DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT

The Garden was developed by English landscape designers Julian and Isabel Bannerman to incorporate the park’s footprint with the shape of the British Isles. A ribbon of Morayshire sandstone – quarried from the highlands of Scotland – wraps around the horticulture. A geography lesson, the sandstone is inscribed with the shires of the British Isles – from Aberdeen to Portland. The ‘Braemar’ stone, worn smooth over the years by the rushing waters of the River Dee near HM The Queen’s home in Balmoral, sits in the South end of the Garden marking the distance from New York to Aberdeen. The composition blends the rich tradition of English gardens with the urban American landscape. New York based garden designers Lynden B. Miller and Ronda M. Brands worked with the Bannerman’s design to create an enduring garden for all seasons, with plants that capture the spirit of an English Garden.

Reminiscences of the Commonwealth are places around the gate and slate path to symbolize the friendship between America and Britain. The four national flowers of the British Isles, rose for England, daffodils for Wales, thistle for Scotland, flax for Northern Ireland – are embossed on the finials of the Memorial Fence.

Gardens can be read like letters, each flower or plant capturing part of a memoir. Amongst the quarried stone and plantings, sent from the English to Americans in a time of mutual loss, this Garden can be read and reread in the days after, remembering, healing and ever cultivating.

BOARD

Royal Patron

The former Prince of Wales

Honorary Patron

Emma Wade Smith, OBE HM Consul General New York

Honorary Directors

Anthony Perez, Manhattan Borough Commissioner at NYC Parks
Nick Greiner, Consul General of Australia
Andre Frenette, Acting Consul General for Canada
Randhir Jaiswal Ji, Consul General of India
A. Wright Palmer

Officers

Rennie McConnochie, Chairman

Rodney N.M. Johnson, MBE, Vice-Chairman

Nicholas Howard, CEO

Dan Allan, Co-CFO

Jonathan Egan, Co-CFO

Sarka Adams, Co-Secretary

Kirsty Daly, Co-Secretary

Isabel M. Carden, MBE, Treasurer

Directors

Mark A. Alexander

Robert H. Bathurst, MC SEAL, USN( Ret.)

Bradford E. Billet, CEM, OBE

Alec Burger

Allen K. Chepuri

Paul Chew

Richard Cunningham

Phoebe Diamond

Doug Elix, AO

Blair Fleming

Jonathan Hare

Tim Luke

Luke Parker Bowles

William J. Potter

Joseph A. Smith

Christopher G. Sztam

Lady Weatherstone

Hannah Young, HM Deputy Consul General

Chairman Emeritus

Victor E. Stewart

Advisory Board

Lewis H. Aaron

The Viscount Astor

William T. Castro

Piers Currie

Richard Hamilton

John C. Harvey

Tom Hooper

Ranald Macdonald

Danny McDonald

Peter Poulakakos

Phil Scanlan, AM

FOUNDING DONORS

Founder

Mr. & Mrs. William R. Miller
Sir Dennis & Lady Weatherstone
Barclays
Dewey & LeBoeuf, LLP
American International Group, Inc.
British Airways
Francis Finlay, OBE
Annenberg Foundation
St. George’s Society of New York
Friends of Lindsay C. Herkness III
Sir Edwin Manton
City of New York Parks & Recreation

Underwriter

Aberdeen Asset Management
ARUP
The Beekman Estate
Bloomberg
BMW of North America
Citi
Anonymous Donors
Goldman Sachs
Mr. & Mrs. John C. Harvey
HSBC
ICAP
Clan MacTaggart
Maersk Logistics
The Royal Bank of Scotland
Dame Jillian Sackler
Schroders
Martin Sullivan, OBE

Benefactor

Mark & Kathy Alexander
BT Americas, USA
HM British Consulate, New York
Isabel M. Carden
Christie’s
Diana Collins & Townsend Weekes
Richard & Roslyn Cunningham
JPMorgan Chase
Matt & Kathy Grayson
Nicholas Howard
The J.M. Kaplan Fund
Lothian & Borders Police
Marsh & McClennan Companies
Mountbatten Institute
Oppenheimer Funds, Inc.
Gareth Roberts & Denbury Associates

Benefactor

John Kenyon Kinnear, Jr
Malinkrodt Foundation
Roger S. Penske
C.V. Starr Foundation
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Swig Equities
Thanksgiving Foundation

Benefactor

HM British Consul General
Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP
The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation
Jones Lang Lasalle Americas
Knight Equity Markets, LP
Timothy F. Luke
Protect-the-Protectors
The Rudin Foundation, Inc.
The Scottish Executive
Visit Britain
Wingrave Yates

Benefactor

Antony J. Ainsworth
Allianz Global Risks
Mrs. Katherine Astor
Baillie Gifford & Co.
Euan D. Baird
Chartis International
The Chubb Corporation
CIBC
City of London
D’Amato & Lynch
The Daughters of the British Empire
Deloitte Services LLP
Jerry & Jane Del Missier
Deutsche Bank
M. Douglas & Jill Dunn
Richard . Fuld Jr.
Gallagher Group
International Petroleum
The Lessing Foundation

Lloyds of London
The New York Caledonian Club, Inc.
James A.McNamara
The Pilgrims of the United States
Anonymous Donor
Philips de Pury Gallery
RBC Capital Markets
Rhodebeck Charitable Trust
The Rothemere Foundation
Banco Santander
St. Andrew’s Society of the State of New York
St. David’s Society of New York
Scotia Capital
Scottish Power
Mark & Kim Standish
Thomson Reuters
Robert and Patti Titley
Tyco International
UK Families Support Group
Wales International Center
Willis North America, Inc.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
World Trade Disaster Fund
XL Foundation

Benefactor

Arch Insurance Group
The Alliance for Downtown, New York
Doug T. Elix, AO
Federated Department Stores
KPMG LLC
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
The Maybourne Hotel Group
Newmark Knight Frank
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
PLUS Foundation
Port Authority of New York & New Jersey
Arthur J. & Karen Rawl
Joseph A. Smith
Standard & Poor’s
State Street

Benefactor

Lewis H. Aaron
Ace Group
Joan & Alan Ades-Taub Foundation
Allen & Overy LLP
AFD Furniture
Altria Group, Inc
Jonathan Barton
Anthony John Best
BMO Nesbitt Burns
BNP Paribas
Brown Brothers Harriman
Alexandra Clarke
The Corrigan Family Fund
Martin & Patsy Crimmins
Cushman & Wakefield Inc.
Depository Trust
Donald Donohue
Matthew Doull
Vicki & Jeff Downey
EZE Castle Software
Roderick & April Gow
Groupe Aeroplan
Eileen Guggenheim
The Honorable Drue Heinz

House and Garden
Impala Asset Management
Rodney N.M. Johnson, MBE
Peter Kamenstein
Donald & Elizabeth Kramer
Lloyds America Inc
The Hon. Naomi Marks
Moray Stone Cutters
Amy Nauiokas
Power Corp. of Canada
Malcolm & Natalie Pray
Pricewaterhouse-Coopers LLC
Ian Reddin
Arthur Ross Foundation
Standard Chartered Bank
Staubach Company
David & Irene Sword
TD Securities
Robert W. & Leslee Thompson
Tishman Speyer
Wachtell, Lipton Rosen & Katz
Weil Gotshal & Manges
Josephine C. Wilkinson Trust

Benefactor

Bruce W. Addison
Grace Allen
American Express Philanthropic Foundation
American Scottish Foundation
Alan L. Bain
Theresa & John Berendt
James S. Berrien
Bessemer Trust
The Blackstone Group
Mr. & Mrs. Derek Bristow
Peter Buffington
Hotel Carlyle
John K. Castle
Benjamin J. Chrnelich
Edward Collins
Dr. Jennifer Considine
Ian M. Cook
Andrew Curtis
Richard DeScherer
Kirk C. Donaldson
Alexander Donner
Downtown Manhattan Association
Gary Dycus
Ernst & Young LLP
John J. Ferguson
FIG, LLC

Michael S. Forrow
Friends of London Youth, Inc.
Martin Geller
Joseph Gerber
Guardian Life Insurance
Rudolph & Judith Guiliani
Richard Hamilton
Diana E. Herzog
Hilton Plc
Sarah Hogg
Rupert Hope
Peter & Natasha Hopkinson
Hayden Hosford
IMG
Philip Jones
Klingenstein Fund
John & Karen Klopp
Peter Kraus
James & Ellie Libby
John L. Loeb Jr. Foundation
Murray J. Logan
The Lyle Foundation
A .Edward Major
James McBride
Meredith Financial Group

Douglas T. Millar
MJZ Photo Shoot
Arnold & Hilda Neis
Nespresso USA, Inc.
Nevada Smiths
David Orentreich
Gregory & Susan Palm
Pension Bank of Pennsylvania
William J. Potter
Quarles & Brady LLP
The Savoy Group
Stanley & Elizabeth Scott Foundation
Peter D. Selman
David & Mary Solomon
Mrs. Esta Stecher
Victor E. Stewart
Rosanna Thompson
Trinity Church
Brian Turner
Universal Studios
Lucas Van Praag
Colton & Carley Wagner
Western Folder Distributing Co.
The Witkoff Group
Charles Wolf

CONSERVANCY DONORS

Founder

Aberdeen Asset Management*
Citi*
Power Corporation of Canada*
Royal Bank of Canada*
Lady Weatherstone*

*Donors to Permanently Restricted Conservancy

Underwriter

Barclays
Doug Elix, AO
Guardian Life Insurance Company of America*

*Donors to Permanently Restricted Conservancy

Benefactor

Isabel M. Carden, MBE
CIBC
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Mr. John C. Harvey & Kazie Metzger
Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Del Missier
ICAP
Scotiabank
Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation
W. Galen Weston & The Hon. Hilary Weston

Supporter

Mark & Kathy Alexander
BMO
BNP Paribas
Brookfield Partners
Paul Hastings LLP
Nicholas & Donna Howard
HSBC
IBM
Matthew & Monika McLennan

NYSE-Euronext
St. James’s Place
Joseph A. Smith
Standard Chartered Bank
State Street Bank
Stikeman Elliott LLP
TD Bank
William B. Tyree
Westminster Abbey
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Gardeners

Lewis H. Aaron
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
Victoria Christian
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Dr. Jennifer Considine
The Davis Foundation
David Droga
George Evans
Charles & Christine Grant
The Drue Heinz Trust
Brian P. Hull
Jazz FM
The J.M. Kaplan Fund

KPMG LLC
The Lessing Foundation
The Hon. Naomi Marks
Morningstar UK
The Mountbatten Institute
Gordon Nixon
Anthony Pratt
PriceWaterhouse Coopers LLC
Rose Associates, Inc.
The Rudin Foundation
Richard Tavoso
Thomas F. Troy
Brian Walsh

$1000+

Bruce Addison
Dean Aldrich
David Anstice
Michael Arthurs
Houman M. Afshar
Paul Atkinson
Jay G. Baris
LK Bennett USA Inc.
Roger A. Blissett
BrightTalk
Mr. & Mrs. William Broadbent
Gary Brown
Peter Buffington
Alexander Burger
Citywire
James Coleman
Patricia & Michael Daniels
Munir Dauhajre
Lyman & Diana Delano
Dianomi
Dow Jones
Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Downey
Eye Productions Inc.
Arash Farhadieh
Anthony Fell
Financial Times Publications
Blair Fleming
Peter Flores
Robert Gaffey
Jennifer Gao
Paul Gismondi
Paul Goody
Art Greco/StemSave
Vivien Gurfein
Richard Hamilton
Diana Herzog
Lawson Hunter
Impala Asset Management LLC

Ben Israel
Matthew Johnson
Stuart Katz
Gregory D. Kennedy
Regina Lee
John Lovisolo
Gary Marshall
Barry McInerney
Mark Minter & Judy Fishlow
Tariq Mundiya
Mount Pleasant Corporation
John Nixon
Norton Rose OR
Alfred T. Ogden II
The Pilgrims of the United States
Natalie Pray
Eric Price
Ptarmigan Media Inc.
Joseph R. Pursley
Julio Rojas
Theodore Roosevelt IV
Brad Rothbaum
Bruce Rothney
Dame Jillian Sackler
Neil Simpkins
Tina Singh
Victor E. Stewart
Martin Sullivan
David & Irene Sword
Peter A. Tague
Evelyn Tompkins
Cecile Van Schoote
St. George’s Society of New York
Anthony Walton
Harriet Weintraub
Michael Wilson
Michael Zuppone

$500+

Geoffrey Belsher
Dr. and Mrs. Donald Briggs
Matt Casner
Kathryn Casparian
Allen Church
Alex Corner
Kirsty Daly
Rose DiMartino
Gary Dycus
David Elix
Mr. & Mrs. Junius Ellis
Eduardo Joia
Brian Kingston
John Lloyd Morgan
Thomas Marino
Joanne McMahon
Diana Morton
Daniel O’Cleaves
Michael O’Conor
Alisdair Reid
Joseph A. Riley
Robert Ronus
David Siffringer
Lucia Sitar Furbee
Andrew Smith
Thanksgiving Foundation
Warner Bros. Television
Karl Wellner

$100+

Sarka Adams-Gajdorus
David Alessio
Donald Amstad
David Aronow
Nick Astbury
Cynthia L. Barkway
Maureen Basnicki
Gregory Baxter
Charlotte Black
David Boston
Oliver Boulind
Patrick Brady
Evan Brown
Nicholas Brown
Brownell
Neal Chansky
Louise Chinn Ducas
Robert Colaciello
Piers & Ursula Currie
Arthur D’Arcy
Kalyan Das
Daughters of the British Empire
Guy Disney
Robert Donaldson
Thaddeus Duchinowski
Steven Duncan
Mr. & Mrs. Victor Dupont
Catherine Eaton Coakley
Christopher Edwards
Jonathan Egan
Bruce B. English
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Feldman
Cameron Foley
Thomas Fonte
Marcus Ford Bey
John Ford
Gary Franklin
Daniel Godfrey
Claire A. Lea-Howarth
Mr. & Mrs. Philippe Humbert
Riaz Jivraj
Juvie LLC
Keith Gertsen
Andrew Kelly
Marc Kitay
Kiwi Partners Inc.
Jason LaTorre
Richard Leather
Nick Leibowitz
Courtney Leimichler
Tobias Lewis
Kevin A. Li
Daniel Lopez
Corey LoVerme
Susan Lowe
Brenda Lyons
Christine Mainwaring Samwell

Dr. & Mrs. William Manger
Mark Mascarenhas
J.A. Matheson
Robert Matthews
Michael McLaughlin
Rob Meenan
Andrea Melia
Anthony Merola
Cornelia Molson
Elizabeth Moore
Robert Mustard
Jennifer Nichols
Jackie Nixon
Katherine Nixon
Patrick Nolan
Kelly Noon
Sharron C. Norman
Ian Overgage
Ken Paek
Mrs. Gregory Palm
Edward Parker
Keiran Patel
Paul Patterson
Phillip Pool
Rahn K. Porter
Clare P. Potter
Nirup Ramalingam
Steven Rappaport
Kevin Ray
Roberto Reale
Jessica Rennie
Mark Richards
Mary Ridge
Jennifer Rogers
Zachary Sadow
Lenoir Seelhorst
John Shannon
Alexander Shepard
Jennifer Shields
Katherine Sloan
Magnus Spence
State Street Foundation
Agata Strzelichowski
Ryan Tigwell
Tilia Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Titley
Dino Trevisani
Denham Turton
Joseph Vinci
Hugh Ward
Dr. & Mrs. James Watson
Philip Wharton
Scott Wharton
Graham W. Whitehead
Samantha Wills
Shlomi Yedid