James Lowther, 7th Earl of Lonsdale

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The Right Honourable
The Earl of Lonsdale
Personal details
Born
James Hugh William Lowther

(1922-11-03)3 November 1922
Died23 May 2006(2006-05-23) (aged 83)
Carlisle, North West England
Spouses
Tuppina Cecily Bennet
​
​
(m. 1945; div. 1954)​
Jennifer Lowther
​
​
(m. 1954; div. 1962)​
Nancy Ruth Stephenson
​
​
(m. 1963; div. 1975)​
Caroline Sheila Ley
​
(m. 1975)​
Relations
Oxford University

James Hugh William Lowther, 7th Earl of Lonsdale (3 November 1922 – 23 May 2006), was a British peer.

Background and education

Lowther was the elder son of Anthony Lowther, Viscount Lowther, and Muriel Frances Farrar, daughter of Sir George Herbert Farrar of Chicheley Hall, 1st Baronet, a South African Randlord.[1]

Lowther was educated at

Cambridge University in October 1940 to read Mechanical Engineering but abandoned his course after three months and joined the Army in 1941.[2]

Public life

The Army sent Lowther to

D-Day
. He was later wounded at Caen following the landings, but subsequently returned to the front.

After being demobilised in 1946 he managed a steel erection and sheeting company in Newcastle until his father died somewhat prematurely in 1949. He accepted the invitation of his grandfather,

Prince Philip, a regular competitor at the former and the royal couple often stayed with Lonsdale and his family at Lowther in Askham Hall during the trials.[3]

Thereafter regarded as the saviour of his family estates, he resisted inclusion in the Sunday Times Rich List on the grounds that he was virtually penniless. However, after many years prevarication, he was eventually forced to admit his wealth and appeared in the 2006 Rich list with an estimated net worth of £80 million and later admitted that he anticipated that his death would result in the payment of "somewhere between £3 million and £5 million to the Treasury because it's high time society had its chunk".

He briefly came to public prominence in 1962 when

Manchester Corporation proposed turning Ullswater into a reservoir to serve the people of Manchester. Having made a speech against the proposal in the House of Lords
, the Earl became a leading figure in the Ullswater Preservation Society which campaigned against the scheme and eventually forced the corporation to adopt a drastically revised scheme. He thereafter became passionately concerned with the issue of the conservation of the Lake District and an opponent of the modern notion of building wind turbines. When one of his sons struck a deal to place wind turbines on part of the estates that he controlled, the Earl opposed the construction at the subsequent public inquiry.

Lonsdale was a founder director of

English Tourist Board. In addition he was president of Grasmere Sports, the Patterdale Dog Day, and the Cumberland and Westmorland Playing Fields Association, and served on a number of bodies such as the Hill Farming Advisory Committee, Westmorland Agricultural Committee, Northern Arts and the Rosehill Theatre
at Whitehaven.

He eventually retired as head of the Lowther estate in 1993, having reached the age of seventy, and handed the business over to his second son. In later life he developed an interest in horse racing and was a part-owner of

Derby winner
.

Personal life

Lonsdale was married four times.[4] Firstly, he married Tuppina Cecily Bennet (died 1984) on 18 June 1945. Before their divorce in 1954, they had a daughter and a son:

On 9 September 1954, Lonsdale married his third cousin Jennifer Lowther, daughter of Christopher Lowther, and granddaughter of James Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater. Before their divorce in 1962, they were the parents of a son and two daughters:

  • Lady Miranda Lowther (born 1 July 1955)
  • William James Lowther, 9th Earl of Lonsdale (born 9 July 1957)
  • Lady Caroline Lowther (born 11 March 1959), married firstly Guy Peter Thomas Forrester, secondly Stephen Christopher Ernest Hunt and thirdly Sir Charles John Patrick Lawson, 4th Baronet on 18 September 1987.[5]

On 6 March 1963 Lonsdale married Nancy Ruth Stephenson (née Cobbs), originally of

Pacific Palisades, California
. Before their 1975 divorce, they were the parents of another son:

  • Hon. James Nicholas Lowther (born 4 December 1964), father of fashion model Matilda Lowther.[7]

On 4 December 1975 Lonsdale married his fourth and final wife, Caroline Sheila Ley (1943–2019), a daughter of Sir Gerald Gordon Ley, Bt, with whom he had a further son and daughter:

  • Lady Marie-Louisa Kate Lowther (born 1976)
  • Hon. Charles Alexander James Lowther (born 27 February 1978)[8]

Lord Lonsdale died at the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle on 23 May 2006 at age 83.[1][9] His eldest son Hugh Clayton Lowther succeeded to the earldom and other titles. His widow died on 8 February 2019.[10]

Estate battle

Just four days before the Earl died in 2006, "a new company called Lonsdale Settled Estates was set up to administer the family land and buildings, with trustees, including the current Lord Lonsdale's half-brother Charles Lowther and a distant cousin,

Princess Margaret)[11] that his eldest son claims, disinherited him "in all but name."[11]

References

  1. ^ a b "The Earl of Lonsdale". The Daily Telegraph. 16 June 2006. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  2. ^ Eton, Oxbridge, the military and industry equipped the Earl to transform his estate, 2 June 2006 Cumberland News.
  3. ^ A champion of the countryside whose Lowther legacy lives on, 26 May 2006 Cumberland News
  4. ^ The Peerage, entry for 7th Earl of Lonsdale
  5. ^ The Peerage, entry for Lady Caroline Lowther
  6. ^ "Countess Has a Son". The New York Times. 8 December 1964. p. 59. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  7. ^ "The Burberry Model Who Grew Up Hanging Off Cliffs". The Cut. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  8. ^ Monk, Zoe (11 April 2019). "UNSUNG HEROES: Charles Lowther, owner, Askham Hall". Boutique Hotelier. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  9. Daily Telegraph
    17 June 2006.
  10. ^ "Lonsdale, Earl of (UK, 1807)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  11. ^ a b "The £325m Battle of the Lonsdales". Evening Standard. London. 10 March 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2020.

External links

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Earl of Lonsdale
1953–2006 		Succeeded by
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