Rowland Edward Leyland Naylor was born on 8 January 1851 in Wallasey in Cheshire to John and Georgiana Naylor. His father was a partner in the banking firm of Leyland & Bullins of Liverpool, and the family lived at Leighton Hall in Welshpool. Rowland, like his father and brothers, attended Eton College and later Trinity Hall Cambridge; he and his two brothers subsequently joined the family firm. He married Mary Elizabeth Byrne in Oldham on 6 October 1875.
Rowland was a partner in the family bank until it amalgamated with the North and South Wales Bank in 1901, when he retired. He moved in 1904 to Leamington Spa and lived at Harrington House in Newbold Terrace. He had been responsible for building Harrington House, the largest property in Leamington, designed by E.W. Pugin, a property which was eventually knocked down to make way for the Royal Spa Centre. From 1940-1942, during the Naylors' occupancy, the house became the Czech Brigade HQ.
Mary Elizabeth Naylor (nee Byrne) was born in Enniscorthy Wexford in Ireland on 4 June 1854. Although she and Rowland had no children, their niece was the wife of Canon Cooke of Stoneleigh, who conducted her funeral service at Stoneleigh in February 1938. She was 83 and had been married for 63 years. The Leamington Spa Courier reported that she was delicate in health, and "rarely seen in the town since the days of carriages and pairs".
Rowland died on his ninety - eighth birthday, 8 January 1949 and his relative by marriage, Canon Cooke, conducted his funeral service at Stoneleigh.