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| Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, who has died aged 88, was a gentle-mannered aristocrat who put his stately home and interest in motoring to good use by establishing the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, in Hampshire. He also became a leader in the promotion of country houses to the public, a chairman of English Heritage and a respected Conservative peer. | Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, who has died aged 88, was a gentle-mannered aristocrat who put his stately home and interest in motoring to good use by establishing the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, in Hampshire. He also became a leader in the promotion of country houses to the public, a chairman of English Heritage and a respected Conservative peer. |
| And he achieved this despite a conviction and 12-month jail sentence in 1954 for what were then criminal charges of sexual offences with two RAF men, which he denied. It was the same charge – conspiring to commit unnatural acts – that had been levelled against Oscar Wilde in 1895. It took until 1967 for an age of consent for homosexual males of 21 to be established in England and Wales. | And he achieved this despite a conviction and 12-month jail sentence in 1954 for what were then criminal charges of sexual offences with two RAF men, which he denied. It was the same charge – conspiring to commit unnatural acts – that had been levelled against Oscar Wilde in 1895. It took until 1967 for an age of consent for homosexual males of 21 to be established in England and Wales. |
| On his release from prison after eight months, Montagu resumed building up the family business. His success at attracting visitors to Palace House, part of the former Beaulieu Abbey, and its collection of cars was such that the numbers were at one time beaten only by the Tower of London. | On his release from prison after eight months, Montagu resumed building up the family business. His success at attracting visitors to Palace House, part of the former Beaulieu Abbey, and its collection of cars was such that the numbers were at one time beaten only by the Tower of London. |
| At various times he was chairman or president of a large number of national and local organisations connected with motoring, boating, tourism and preserving the countryside and the environment, holding the presidency of the Historic Houses Association for five years until 1978. In 1983 he was appointed the first chairman of the new Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, and the following year changed its name to the snappier English Heritage, which he headed until 1992. In this role, he advocated more shops in stately homes; organised exhibitions; set up a study group on how to make Stonehenge more accessible; and prepared recommendations for restoring monuments. At Beaulieu he commissioned the fashion designer Hardy Amies to devise a new uniform for attendants and introduced a souvenir guide that became a model for others. | At various times he was chairman or president of a large number of national and local organisations connected with motoring, boating, tourism and preserving the countryside and the environment, holding the presidency of the Historic Houses Association for five years until 1978. In 1983 he was appointed the first chairman of the new Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission, and the following year changed its name to the snappier English Heritage, which he headed until 1992. In this role, he advocated more shops in stately homes; organised exhibitions; set up a study group on how to make Stonehenge more accessible; and prepared recommendations for restoring monuments. At Beaulieu he commissioned the fashion designer Hardy Amies to devise a new uniform for attendants and introduced a souvenir guide that became a model for others. |
| In the 1950s there were rumours of a conspiracy by members of the legal establishment to persecute gay men, especially among the upper classes. If such a conspiracy existed, Montagu was almost certainly a victim of it. | In the 1950s there were rumours of a conspiracy by members of the legal establishment to persecute gay men, especially among the upper classes. If such a conspiracy existed, Montagu was almost certainly a victim of it. |
| At Winchester assizes in 1953, Montagu was acquitted of committing an “unnatural” offence with boy scouts at a bathing party. The jury could not agree about the lesser offence of indecent assault, and that case remained on file. Soon after this case, though, further charges were brought against Montagu, his cousin Michael Pitt-Rivers, and the Daily Mail journalist Peter Wildeblood. They were all found guilty, on an indictment containing 18 counts, of “conspiring” to incite two airmen to commit “unnatural offences” and of committing gross indecency with male persons. | At Winchester assizes in 1953, Montagu was acquitted of committing an “unnatural” offence with boy scouts at a bathing party. The jury could not agree about the lesser offence of indecent assault, and that case remained on file. Soon after this case, though, further charges were brought against Montagu, his cousin Michael Pitt-Rivers, and the Daily Mail journalist Peter Wildeblood. They were all found guilty, on an indictment containing 18 counts, of “conspiring” to incite two airmen to commit “unnatural offences” and of committing gross indecency with male persons. |
| All three men were jailed. Outside the courtroom, it was the airmen – rather than the three heading for prison – who were booed and jeered by a crowd of more than 300. After his release, Montagu received widespread support. On one occasion, Hugh Gaitskell, leader of the Labour party, approached him in a restaurant, shook him by the hand and said he was “glad to see you back”. It moved the peer profoundly. But though the Wolfenden committee on homosexual law reform, whose report prompted the 1967 changes, started its deliberations while he was in prison, he did not see himself as any kind of champion for a cause. In 2000, when his autobiography, Wheels Within Wheels appeared, Montagu broke down in tears when it was suggested to him that the reform of the law on homosexuality would be his monument. | All three men were jailed. Outside the courtroom, it was the airmen – rather than the three heading for prison – who were booed and jeered by a crowd of more than 300. After his release, Montagu received widespread support. On one occasion, Hugh Gaitskell, leader of the Labour party, approached him in a restaurant, shook him by the hand and said he was “glad to see you back”. It moved the peer profoundly. But though the Wolfenden committee on homosexual law reform, whose report prompted the 1967 changes, started its deliberations while he was in prison, he did not see himself as any kind of champion for a cause. In 2000, when his autobiography, Wheels Within Wheels appeared, Montagu broke down in tears when it was suggested to him that the reform of the law on homosexuality would be his monument. |
| Montagu was born in some opulence at his grandparents’ home in Thurloe Square, South Kensington, London. His father, John, the 2nd Baron Montagu, was 60 at the time and was on his second marriage, to Alice Crake. The family had held Palace House and 10,000 acres for 400 years. When John died at 62, the estate went to Alice until his son was 25. | Montagu was born in some opulence at his grandparents’ home in Thurloe Square, South Kensington, London. His father, John, the 2nd Baron Montagu, was 60 at the time and was on his second marriage, to Alice Crake. The family had held Palace House and 10,000 acres for 400 years. When John died at 62, the estate went to Alice until his son was 25. |
| At St Peter’s Court prep school, Broadstairs, Kent, Edward earned team colours at football and rugby. When the second world war intervened, he was evacuated first to Crediton, Devon, and then to Canada, where he attended Ridley College, near Niagara Falls. At the age of 16 he returned to Britain and went to Eton. His housemaster thought he had a “model combination of good sense and determination” but could be “ruthless and unfeeling in a clash of interests”. | At St Peter’s Court prep school, Broadstairs, Kent, Edward earned team colours at football and rugby. When the second world war intervened, he was evacuated first to Crediton, Devon, and then to Canada, where he attended Ridley College, near Niagara Falls. At the age of 16 he returned to Britain and went to Eton. His housemaster thought he had a “model combination of good sense and determination” but could be “ruthless and unfeeling in a clash of interests”. |
| Called up for military service, he was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards and joined the 3rd Battalion in Palestine. On leaving the Army in 1948, he went to New College, Oxford, to read modern history, and became a member of the notorious Bullingdon Club. He knew from an early age that he was bisexual and told an interviewer: “I agonised less than my contemporaries, for I was reconciled to my bisexuality, but I was still nervous about being exposed.” | |
| After Oxford, he went into public relations with Voice and Vision, a subsidiary of Colman Prentice and Varley, the Saatchis of their era. He launched the Eagle as a rival to the Beano and Dandy comics, helped drinking chocolate to compete with tea and coffee, and promoted the Royal Court theatre before John Osborne and his Look Back in Anger turned it into a controversial national institution. | After Oxford, he went into public relations with Voice and Vision, a subsidiary of Colman Prentice and Varley, the Saatchis of their era. He launched the Eagle as a rival to the Beano and Dandy comics, helped drinking chocolate to compete with tea and coffee, and promoted the Royal Court theatre before John Osborne and his Look Back in Anger turned it into a controversial national institution. |
| In his autobiography, Montagu wrote that the old guard in Britain felt threatened by people like him who did not play strictly by the class rules and by their activities: “I was regarded by the older generation of the Establishment as a traitor to my class.” | In his autobiography, Montagu wrote that the old guard in Britain felt threatened by people like him who did not play strictly by the class rules and by their activities: “I was regarded by the older generation of the Establishment as a traitor to my class.” |
| He set about turning his family home into an attraction for people of all classes. There was already a Beaulieu Museum, but he decided to expand the motoring side of it with any significant item of he could lay his hands on, from an ice-cream seller’s tricycle to the world’s first motorcycle, from ancient cars of long-deceased makes to more modern examples of British and other quality cars. In 1952 he established he called the Montagu Motoring Museum, adding the world’s first motorcycle museum four years later, and in 1972 relaunched the whole as the National Motor Museum, displaying more than 250 vehicles from the late 19th century onwards. | He set about turning his family home into an attraction for people of all classes. There was already a Beaulieu Museum, but he decided to expand the motoring side of it with any significant item of he could lay his hands on, from an ice-cream seller’s tricycle to the world’s first motorcycle, from ancient cars of long-deceased makes to more modern examples of British and other quality cars. In 1952 he established he called the Montagu Motoring Museum, adding the world’s first motorcycle museum four years later, and in 1972 relaunched the whole as the National Motor Museum, displaying more than 250 vehicles from the late 19th century onwards. |
| With new modern buildings and technological displays, now including the World of Top Gear and On Screen Cars (from the world of film and TV), as well as the gardens and abbey ruins, what had been a fairly modest estate and stately home was transformed into a historic home of enormous popular appeal. | With new modern buildings and technological displays, now including the World of Top Gear and On Screen Cars (from the world of film and TV), as well as the gardens and abbey ruins, what had been a fairly modest estate and stately home was transformed into a historic home of enormous popular appeal. |
| In 1959 Montagu married Belinda de Bathe Crossley, with whom he had a son, Ralph, and daughter, Mary. The couple divorced in 1974. The same year he married Fiona Herbert, with whom he had a son, Jonathan. He is survived by Fiona and his children. | In 1959 Montagu married Belinda de Bathe Crossley, with whom he had a son, Ralph, and daughter, Mary. The couple divorced in 1974. The same year he married Fiona Herbert, with whom he had a son, Jonathan. He is survived by Fiona and his children. |
| • Edward John Barrington Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, stately home owner and entrepreneur, born 20 October 1926; died 31 August 2015 | • Edward John Barrington Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, stately home owner and entrepreneur, born 20 October 1926; died 31 August 2015 |
| • Dennis Barker died in March this year | • Dennis Barker died in March this year |
| • This article was amended on 2 September 2015. Lord Montagu’s degree was in modern history, and not philosophy, politics and economics. |