George Howard, Baron Howard of Henderskelfe

Major George Anthony Geoffrey Howard, Baron Howard of Henderskelfe, JP (22 May 1920 – 27 November 1984) was a British landowner, soldier, and peer from the aristocratic Howard family. He inherited Castle Howard, in Henderskelfe, Yorkshire, which he successfully preserved. Though much of his career was spent devoted to regional affairs, he served as Chairman of the BBC from 1980 to 1983.

Early life Howard was born at 32 Chester Square, Belgravia, one of five children of Hon. Geoffrey Howard and Hon. Ethel Christian Methuen. He was a grandson of the 9th Earl of Carlisle and the 3rd Baron Methuen. His elder sister was Anglican theologian Dame Christian Howard (1916–1999).

He was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford. He was made a life peer 1 July 1983 with the title Baron Howard of Henderskelfe, of Henderskelfe in the County of North Yorkshire.

Personal life Howard married Lady Cecilia Blanche Genevieve FitzRoy (born 13 May 1922, died 1974), a daughter of Alfred FitzRoy, 8th Duke of Grafton, on 11 May 1949. They had four sons: married, firstly (in 1983; divorced 2000), Annette Smallwood. Married, secondly, in 2001, Rebecca Sieff. Twins, Octavia and Merlin, were born in 2002. Hon. Anthony Michael Geoffrey Howard (born 18 May 1958), married firstly Linda McGrady in 1985. Two daughters were born of this marriage before they divorced in 1997. Married, secondly, Deborah Ayrton-Grime in 2002.

Howard owned Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, which was used as the setting of the fictional Brideshead Castle in the Granada miniseries Brideshead Revisited (1981) and the 2008 film.

He died from cancer.