Sir William Ralph Worsley, 6th Baronet, (born 12 September 1956), is a British forester, farmer and businessman. He is the Chair of the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

and is Chairman of the

National Forest Company The National Forest is an environmental project in central England run by The National Forest Company. From the 1990s, of north Leicestershire, south Derbyshire and southeast Staffordshire have been planted in an attempt to blend ancient woodl ...

. He was the Government's National Tree Champion.

Biography

Worsley was born in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, the eldest son of

Sir Marcus Worsley, 5th Baronet Sir (William) Marcus John Worsley, 5th Baronet, (6 April 1925 – 18 December 2012), was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as a Member of Parliament in four parliaments between 1959 and 1974, and served as High Sheriff and L ...

, and

Hon. ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

Bridget Assheton, daughter of

Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe, (24 February 1901 – 18 September 1984), was an English aristocrat and politician. Biography Assheton was born on 24 February 1901. His father was Sir Ralph Assheton, 1st Baronet (1860–1955), and his mo ...

. His paternal aunt is Katharine, Duchess of Kent. He was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

and the Royal Agricultural College, following which he qualified as a Chartered Surveyor. He served as a Lieutenant in the Queen's Own Yeomanry from 1975 to 1980 and subsequently became Honorary Colonel of the Yorkshire Squadron of the Queen's Own Yeomanry from 2008 to 2015. He is Chairman of the

Howardian Hills The Howardian Hills are an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty located between the Yorkshire Wolds, the North York Moors National Park, and the Vale of York. They take their name from the Howard family who still own local lands. Topography Th ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Joint Advisory Committee and served as a Secretary of State-appointed member on the

North York Moors The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of Calluna, heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a national parks of England and Wales, National P ...

National Park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

Authority from 1994 to 1998. He was a member of the Independent Panel on Forestry between 2011 and 2012, and a member of the

's Advisory panel from 1999 to 2006. He was a member of the North Yorkshire Rural Commission from 2019 to 2021. He was a Director of the

Scarborough Building Society Scarborough Building Society was a UK building society, which had its headquarters in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. Scarborough Building Society was formed in May 1846 - It was a member of the Building Soci ...

from 1996 to 2009 and was chairman from 2002 to 2009. He was a Director of the

Skipton Building Society The Skipton Building Society was established in 1853 in Skipton, North Yorkshire, where it remains headquartered. It is the UK's 4th largest building society and has over 1 million members and 100 branches. Its most important subsidiary is the ...

from 2009 to 2011 and The Brunner Investment Trust from 2000 to 2014. He was President of the

Country Land and Business Association The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) is a membership organisation for owners of land, property and businesses in rural England and Wales. It was until quite recently called the Country Landowners' Association. Membership CLA members ...

(CLA) from 2009 to 2011. Deputy President and Chairman of the CLA Board from 2007 to 2009 and Vice-President and Chairman of Policy Committee from 2005 to 2007. He was Chair of the

responsible for the National Forest, the largest environmentally led regeneration project in England, covering 200 square miles of the midlands, from 2016 to 2020. In 2018, following the launch of the Governments 25-year Natural Environment plan, he was made the Governments Tree Champion, leading an initiative to co-ordinate forestry and woodlands in England, including planting 11 million trees plus a further one million in the towns and cities. He held this role till early 2020. At the beginning of 2020 he was appointed as Chair of the

. In 2018 he was appointed a

Lay Canon A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

of York Minster and a member of Chapter and the Cathedral Council. He is a member of the Court of the Merchant Taylors' Company and was Mayor of the Company of the Merchants of the Staple of England from 2014 to 2015. He was President of the

Yorkshire Agricultural Society Yorkshire Agricultural Society is a charity based at the Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The society is best known as the organiser of the two annual country events, the Great Yorkshire Show and the Countryside L ...

from 2020 to 2021. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of North Yorkshire in 2007. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 1992 and a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies in 2018.

Marriage and children

In 1987, Worsley married Marie-Noëlle Dreesmann, daughter of Bernard Dreesmann. They have three children. The youngest, Marcus Worsley (b. 1995), is the

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to the baronetcy.

References

External links

Hovingham Hall website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worsley, William People from Hovingham 1956 births Living people British foresters British surveyors 21st-century British farmers 21st-century British businesspeople People educated at Harrow School Alumni of the Royal Agricultural University Deputy Lieutenants of North Yorkshire Worsley family William Ralph Worsley Queen's Own Yeomanry officers