Robert Thomas Flower, 8th Viscount Ashbrook

Robert Thomas Flower was born on 1 April 1836 at Castle Durrow, Durrow, County Laois, Ireland.[1][2] His father was Henry Jeffrey Flower, 5th Viscount Ashbrook (1806–1871) and his mother, Frances Robinson (1803-1886).[1] He had three sisters and two brothers, Henry Jeffrey Flower, 6th Viscount Ashbrook (1829–1882) and William Spencer Flower, 7th Viscount Ashbrook (1830–1906).[1][3]

He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the service of the 4th Battalion in the Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment.[1]

He invented an easy-to-use handloom for the unskilled and disabled, and a latch-hook needle that speeds up the weaving process.[2] The techniques were used by Yvo Richard Vesey, 5th Viscount de Vesci (1881–1958), who opened a carpet factory and hired women to do the weaving.[2] The carpets were sold at Harrods in London and at Marshall Field's in Chicago.[2] They furnished the Mansion House, Dublin, the grandstand at Ascot and RMS Titanic.[2]

He became the 8th Viscount Ashbrook and the 9th Baron Castle-Durrow on 26 November 1906.[1]

He married Gertrude Sophia Hamilton, daughter of Reverend Sewell Hamilton, on 18 July 1866.[1] They had five children:

• Hon. Frances Mary Flower (married Henry Ernest White).[1][3]
• Hon. Eva Constance Gertrude Flower (unknown-1928).[1]
• Hon. Gertrude Flower (unknown-1956).[1]
• Llowarch Robert Flower, 9th Viscount Ashbrook (1870-1936).[1]
• Hon. Reginald Henry Flower (1871-1938).[1]

He resided at 22 Adelaide Crescent in Hove, East Sussex in the 1860s.[4] From 1869 onwards, he resided at Knocknatrina House in County Laois, Ireland.[3]

He died on 9 March 1919.[1]