Harold Deer (known as 'Dougie') was administrative officer for the Somerset Fire Brigade in the 1970s. The Fire Brigade headquarters was at Hestercombe House, near Taunton in Somerset. Mr Deer was part of the team that initiated the restoration of the Formal Garden by Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll at Hestercombe, which began in 1973. He supervised the gardeners, Wilf Perry and Jim Stagg, and made arrangements for visitors to view the gardens.