Sir Charles Legard: Driving force behind restoration of Scampston Hall dead at 86

The baronetcy reaches back to the 17th century when it was created for John Legard, a supporter of King Charles II and the Royalist cause.

Eton educated, Sir Charles was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Digby Legard and his wife Mary Helen, née L’Estrange Malone. He succeeded his father in the baronetcy in 1984.

His first wife was Elizabeth Guthrie, daughter of John Guthrie of Scarborough, and they had three children, Christopher, Edward and Louise.

Christopher, who succeeds his father as 16th Baronet, took over the running of Scampston Hall around 15 years ago.

The house, whose collection includes several works by Thomas Gainsborough, a family friend, had been redecorated in 1860 and again in 1910 but Sir Charles and Lady Caroline faced a considerable task in bringing it up to modern standards.

By the mid 1990s it needed to be reroofed, rewired and replumbed.

The estate had been bought by the St Quintin family towards the end of the 17th Century and has remained in the family ever since.

It passed to the Legards through marriage, the family having originated from Anlaby near Hull and, since 1630, from Ganton, a few miles up the road from Scampston.

Sir Charles is survived by Caroline (née Weston), his children and seven grandchildren.