WORSLEY, Sir William Marcus John (1925-2012)

[Richard R]

From the Telegraph of 20 December 2012:　

Sir Marcus peacefully at home on 18th December aged 87. Much loved father and grandfather. Family and village funeral at Hovingham. Memorial Service in York Minster at.—2 p.m. on Thursday 31st January 2013. Will those planning to attend the Memorial Service kindly email the Hovingham Estate Office.

 

TELEGRAPH OBIT - EXTRACT & ONLINE LINK:

Sir Marcus Worsley, 5th Bt and elder brother of the Duchess of Kent, who has died aged 87, was the archetypal paternalist country landowner, and a pillar of the House of Commons, the Church of England and the National Trust.

William Marcus John Worsley was born on April 6 1925, the son of Col Sir William Worsley, the 4th Baronet in a line created in 1838, and the former Joyce Brunner, a baronet’s daughter. His ancestors included Oliver Cromwell, through the Lord Protector’s daughter Frances. ...
  Marcus Worsley married in 1955 the Hon Bridget Assheton, daughter of the 1st Baron Clitheroe, former chairman of the Conservative Party; she died in 2004. He is survived by two sons and a daughter; another son, the architectural writer Giles Worsley, predeceased him. His eldest son William Worsley, born on September 12 1956, succeeds in the baronetcy. ...
  For 35 years — except when the demands of representing first Keighley and then Chelsea at Westminster required — Worsley managed the family estate around Hovingham Hall, North Yorkshire. With 3,500 acres of farmland and 1,000 of woodland, plus much of the village of Hovingham, this was quite an undertaking.
  His relationship with his tenants was civilised; the landlord of the Worsley Arms remarked: "Sir Marcus always pays his bill – though he needn’t." The issue of rents apart, the only time the relationship came close to being derailed was when, in 1967, he finished bottom of the poll for Hovingham parish council, which he had previously chaired, after six candidates were nominated for five seats. One successful candidate decided she was too busy, so this consummate gentleman accepted a seat from a lady.
  Designed in the 1750s by George III’s surveyor general, Thomas Worsley, on land held by his forebears since 1563, Hovingham Hall has been described as "one of the oddest country houses in England"; reflecting Thomas’s equestrian passion, it’s main entrance leads directly into a Riding School....
  A Church Commissioner and Church Estates Commissioner for over a decade — including a spell answering questions in the Commons — he took a particular interest in York Minster, where his sister Katharine married the Duke of Kent in 1961. He was a member of the appeal committee founded under Lord Scarborough in 1967, which had already raised £3 million when fire started by lightning destroyed the South Transept in July 1984. After what Worsley termed a "new burst of activity", with landowners led by Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk, contributing great oak trees for the roof, he was able as Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire to escort the Queen to the rededication four years later....
  In December 1973 Worsley’s father died, and he succeeded to the baronetcy and the Hall. He had previously occupied a more manageable house on the estate, and at a time of oil crisis and raging inflation the move was daunting: his wife Bridget declared that she would be as happy to live in a bungalow. ...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9756352/Sir-Marcus-Worsley.html

The new Baronet:

Sir William Ralph WORSLEY 6th Bt (b 1956), has yet to establish his claim and appear on the Official Roll of the Baronetage. He m 1987 Marie-Noëlle d of Bernard H. DREESMAN of Mas de la Madone, Miramar, Alpes Maritimes, France and has issue:

SON LIVING
MARCUS WILLIAM (b 2 Nov 1995), heir apparent

DAUGHTERS LIVING:
Isabella Claire (b 1988)
Francesca Sylvia (b 1992)

[marquess]

Pretty informative Obit!