Hugh Crossley, 4th Baron Somerleyton explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Lord Somerleyton
Birth Name:Hugh Francis Savile Crossley
Birth Date:27 September 1971
Residence:Somerleyton Hall
Order1:Page of Honour
Term Start1:1983
Term End1:1984
Monarch1:Elizabeth II
Predecessor1:The Duke of Argyll
Successor1:Malcom Maclean
Nationality:British
Children:3
Parents:Saville Crossley, 3rd Baron Somerleyton
Belinda Maris Loyd

Hugh Francis Savile Crossley, 4th Baron Somerleyton (born 27 September 1971), is a British restaurateur, hotel owner, landowner and conservationist. He lives at Somerleyton Hall, the ancestral home of his family. He is a founding director of WildEast, an organisation that promotes rewilding in East Anglia and is rewilding of his Somerleyton Hall estate.

Family life

Crossley was born 27 September 1971, the fourth child and only son of William Crossley, 3rd Baron Somerleyton (1928–2012), and his wife, Belinda Maris Loyd. He grew up at the family home of Somerleyton Hall in Lowestoft, Suffolk, and was educated at Eton College and Anglia Ruskin University.[1] He served as Second Page of Honour to Elizabeth II for a year at the age of 12, and succeeded to the title of Baron Somerleyton in 2012, upon on the death of his father.

His siblings include: Hon. Isabel Alicia Claire Crossley (b. 1964), Camilla Mary Lara Somerleyton (b. 1967), Alicia Phyllis Belinda Somerleyton (b. 1969), and Louisa Bridget Vivien Somerleyton (b. 1974). He is the grandson of Francis Savile Crossley, 2nd Baron Somerleyton (1889–1959), and the great-grandson of Savile Crossley, 1st Baron Somerleyton (1857–1935), a Liberal Unionist politician who served as Paymaster General from 1902 to 1905.[2]

He married Lara Bailey in 2009 with whom he has three children: Hon. John Crossley (born February 2010), Hon. Christabel Maris Tessa Crossley (born 19 April 2012), and Hon. Margot Phyllis Mary Crossley (born June 2014)[3]

Professional life

He developed a business within the entertainment industry, initially bringing the Eastern Haze Festival to Somerleyton Hall.[4] [5]

He formerly owned two Dish Dash Persian restaurants in London operated under the company name Empty Quarter Restaurants, which were sold after his holding company went out of business in 2004.[6] [7] He owns the Fritton House hotel near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.[8] [9] In June 2013, he opened a new restaurant in Norfolk.[10]

He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Suffolk in 2019.[11]

He is in the process of rewilding of the estate and is a founding trustee of WildEast, a charitable foundation that promotes regenerative farming and rewilding in the East Anglia.[12]

Notes and References

  1. 'SOMERLEYTON', Who's Who 2017, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017.
  2. Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
  3. http://www.thepeerage.com/p46371.htm#i463701 The Peerage, entry for 4th Lord Somerleyton
  4. News: Eastern Haze festival tickets go on sale. 22 March 2007. EDP24. 6 September 2008. 17 September 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080917015634/http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/WhatsOn/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=WhatsOn&tBrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=WhatsOn&itemid=NOED22%20Mar%202007%2010%3A54%3A02%3A913. dead.
  5. News: Don't miss: Eastern Haze Festival. 25 May 2007. Norwich Evening News. 6 September 2008. 15 September 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080915012750/http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/GoingOut/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=WhatsOn&tBrand=ENOnline&tCategory=WhatsOn&itemid=NOED24%20May%202007%2016%3A33%3A46%3A483. dead.
  6. News: Aristocrat sells restaurants as his company goes bust (Hugh Crossley) (Empty Quarter Restaurants). 23 September 2004. Caterer & Hotelkeeper. 6 September 2008.
  7. News: Middle Eastern promise?. 19 March 2003. Caterer Search. 6 September 2008. 17 September 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080917012608/http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2003/03/19/47645/shorts.html. dead.
  8. News: Fritton House hotel, Norfolk. 18 May 2006. Caterer & Hotelkeeper. 6 September 2008.
  9. News: Checking in: Fritton House. Jackson. Nicole. 21 January 2007. The Observer. 6 September 2008. London.
  10. News: Chipping In. 13 August 2013. Norfolkmag.co.uk. 19 April 2014.
  11. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3376730 Deputy Lieutenant Commissions
  12. Web site: Farmers hatch plan to return area the size of Dorset to wild nature. The Guardian. 14 July 2020.