The Earl of Dudley dies at age of 93

He belonged to an influential family at a time when the rapid rise of industry was transforming the British landscape.

The 4th Earl of Dudley, who has died at the age of 93, was part of one of the West Midland's most prosperous families.

Renowned for his manners and courtesy, he served during the Second World War and in peacetime was a successful businessman as well as being a skilled amateur actor and poet.

Born on January 5 1920, William Humble Ward – known as Billy – was the latest in a family line that was instrumental during the industrialisation of the Black Country.

The Ward family had once lived in parts of Dudley Castle and owned several valuable coal assets including Baggeridge Colliery in Sedgley.

During the 17th century the Ward family inherited the title Lords of Dudley and, following damage to Dudley Castle during the Civil War, Himley Hall became the principal family home.

The Earl, who died on November 16, was brought up at Himley when the family then owned 30,000 acres in Staffordshire and Worcestershire.

He was the son of William Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley, a descendant of Humble Ward, who was raised to the peerage as Baron Ward during the 17th century. His great-grandfather, the 11th Lord Ward, became Viscount Ednam and Earl of Dudley in 1860.

A statue of the 11th Lord Ward stands at the bottom of Castle Street, in Dudley, a symbol of the family's importance to the area.

The Earl's mother was Lady Rosemary Millicent Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, the only daughter of the 4th Duke of Sutherland. She died in the Meopham air disaster in July 1930. She was a passenger on the plane when its engine and tail broke away. Those inside were thrown out of the aircraft.

During his early life at Himley, the estate became a retreat for members of the Royal family.

There was a close friendship between his father and the Duke of Windsor, formally King Edward VIII.

The King spent his last weekend there before his abdication in 1936.

The Duke became young William Ward's godfather and they stayed in contact while he visited the estate over the years.

Himley Hall also entertained the Duke and Duchess of Kent on their honeymoon in 1934.

The Earl remained good friends with his godfather.

He won a scholarship to Eton and, aged 16, when he was known as Lord Ednam, an exhibition to Christ Church, in Oxford.

But an excellent academic career was derailed first when he contracted meningitis. His time at university was then interrupted by the start of the Second World War.

He saw action during the conflict and was commissioned lieutenant in the 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales' Own) which had been his father's old regiment.

During 1942 and 1943, he was ADC to the Viceroy of India Lord Wavell.

He was wounded in September 1944 while serving in Italy.

Following the war, Lord Ednam had joined the board of Round Oak Steelworks, in Brierley Hill, which had originally been founded as the Earl of Dudley's Round Oak Works in 1897.

Alongside this work, the Earl was an enthusiastic amateur actor. His performance as a member of the amateur cast of The Frog in 1954 during a charity performance at the Scala Theatre, London, earned him excellent reviews. He was praised for his comedic timing.

He became the 4th Earl of Dudley following the death of his father in 1969.

During periods he was chairman of British Federal Welder and Machine, which had a plant in Birmingham New Road, Dudley.

The Earl was also deputy chairman of Baggeridge Brick Company which was a subsidiary set up alongside the colliery.

He had also sat in the House of Lords as a Conservative until the removal of many of the hereditary seats in 1999.

Between 1973 and 1975 he was a member of the Lords Select Committee on European Legislation.

He was first married to Stella Cárcano, the daughter of the Argentine Ambassador in London, and had they had twin daughters and a son, Viscount Ednam, who succeeds as the 5th Earl of Dudley.

They divorced in 1961. Later that year he married the film star, Maureen Swanson, in 1961, and they had a son and five daughters.

The pair were devoted to each other.

A skilled poet he was renowned for writing sonnets.

Until her death in 2011, the couple continued to entertain their wide circle of friends at their home in Kensington.

Following his wife's death, the Earl sold the house moving to the country.

He was the paternal uncle of actress and former model Rachel Ward and the environmental activist Tracy Louise Ward, now Marchioness of Worcester, who are the daughters of the 4th Earl's youngest brother, the Hon. Peter Alistair Ward.

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