Hugh Clayton Lowther, 8th Earl of Lonsdale (27 May 1949 – 22 June 2021) was the eldest son of

James Lowther, 7th Earl of Lonsdale 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 ...

, and the only son by his first wife Tuppina Cecily Bennet.

Life

Lowther was born on 27 May 1949, the oldest son of James Lowther, later 7th Earl of Lonsdale, and his first wife, Tuppina (née Bennet), and was educated at Cheam preparatory school. On the death of the 6th Earl of Lonsdale in 1953, James Lowther succeeded to the earldom and Hugh Lowther became Viscount Lowther. He inherited of land in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or '' fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

, including the 868-metre high mountain,

Blencathra Blencathra, also known as Saddleback, is one of the most northerly hills in the English Lake District. It has six separate fell tops, of which the highest is the Hallsfell Top at 2,848 feet (868 metres). Name For many years, Ordnance Sur ...

. The land estate produced little income and Lowther turned to long-distance lorry driving as a career. He inherited the earldom on the death of his father in 2006. He fell out with his father and his family during the 2000s over the family estate and again after the death of his father, a matter which not resolved until 2009. In May 2014, in order to pay an inheritance tax bill, he placed

, a mountain in the Lake District, and the title "

Lord of the Manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

Threlkeld Threlkeld is a village and civil parish in the north of the Lake District in Cumbria, England, to the east of Keswick. It lies at the southern foot of Blencathra, one of the more prominent fells in the northern Lake District, and to the nort ...

" for sale. Ultimately, Lowther found other means to pay the bill and withdrew the mountain from sale. Lord Lonsdale died on 22 June 2021, at the age of 72. As he had no sons capable of inheriting his titles, the earldom passed to his half-brother Hon. William James Lowther (born 9 July 1957) who is the son of the 7th Earl by his second wife.

Marriages

He was married three times, first to Pamela Colleen Middleton, on 2 October 1971; second in 1986 to Angela Mary Wyatt, and finally to Elizabeth Nee Arnison in 1999. With his first wife, whom he divorced after 12 years of marriage in circa 1983/1984, he had one adopted son Oliver, born by artificial insemination, who thus does not stand in succession to his father's titles.Oliver Lowther
last edited 28 May 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lonsdale, Hugh Lowther, 8th Earl of 1949 births 2021 deaths British landowners 8 Hugh People educated at Cheam School People from Cumbria