Yorkshire Dales landowner and Bolton Castle custodian Harry Orde-Powlett, Lord Bolton has died aged 69

Harry Algar Nigel Orde-Powlett passed away peacefully at his home from cancer on June 10, surrounded by his family. He left a wife, three sons and eight grandchildren.

His funeral will take place at Holy Trinity Church in Wensley, close to his home Wensley Hall, on Friday June 23 at 2pm.

Born in 1952, the Eton-educated landowner succeeded his father to the family title in 2001. He married his wife Philippa in 1977, and they had sons Thomas, Benjamin and Nicholas before her death in 2016. He married again in 2019.

The Bolton title and estates were originally a dukedom, but after the last duke died without heirs, his son-in-law adopted the Powlett name in 1797. Bolton Castle, now a popular Dales tourist attraction still owned by the family, was built in the 14th century for the prominent Scrope barons. The Powletts inherited it from the Scropes through marriage. Mary, Queen of Scots was famously imprisoned at Bolton. Tom Orde-Powlett and his wife Katie now run the castle.

Mr Orde-Powlett was known as a daredevil in his youth and was an amateur jockey and pilot who also travelled to war zones on humanitarian missions. He was a keen huntsman, once swimming across the River Ure after a fox and contracting hypothermia, and a passionate conservationist. He was integral to the restoration of the castle.

The Bolton Estate today encompasses large parts of Wensleydale and includes Bolton Hall, the 17th-century house built to replace the castle as the family seat, as well as a shoot, forestry, farming and fishery interests.

Tom, an Iraq War veteran who has four children, is now the ninth Baron Bolton and the title will pass to his eldest son Hector.