One of history’s most colourful characters will be the focus of an exhibition in Whitehaven.
Hugh Lowther – known as The Yellow Earl because of his fondness for the colour – became the fifth Earl of Lonsdale in 1882.
He owned much of Whitehaven and its coalfields, as well as assets around the country, but is said to have lived an extravagant lifestyle and spent the family fortune.
The earl was a sportsman and an adventurer – creating modern boxing and donating the Lonsdale belt. He was a patron of the Automobile Association – hence its yellow livery – and set up an animal charity.
This new exhibition covers the extraordinary highs and lows of Hugh Lowther’s unusual life and opens at 10am on Saturday, April 2.
