Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale, KG, GCVO, DL (25 January 1857[2]–13 April 1944) was an English peer and sportsman.

[5] Lonsdale inherited enormous wealth derived from his father's Cumberland coalmines, and owned 75,000 acres (30,000 ha) of land.

[7][8] He became Honorary Colonel of the Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry on 16 November 1908, shortly after it had transferred to the Territorial Force.

In 1907, Lonsdale was part of the famous wager with John Pierpont Morgan over whether a man could circumnavigate the globe and remain unidentified.

In August 1895 the German Emperor Wilhelm II visited Lowther Castle for some grouse shooting.

[10] His free-spending had largely wrecked the estate, and his heir, his brother Lancelot, the 6th Earl was forced to auction off the contents of Lowther Castle in 1947.

This proved to be correct as the following year he invested in cattle in America; the venture collapsed and the Lowther family was forced to save him.

[citation needed] After an affair with the actress Violet Cameron caused a scandal,[12] Lonsdale set out in 1888 to explore the Arctic regions of Canada as far north as Melville Island, nearly dying before reaching Kodiak, Alaska in 1889[13] and returning to England.

His collection of Inuit artefacts that he assembled during his explorations in Alaska and north-west Canada at this time is now in the British Museum.

However, the council of the RSPCA noted that membership "does not compel the adoption of any particular policy in regard to matters not yet included within the scope of animal protection acts" and did not request for Lonsdale to resign.