He was the only son of the 2nd Viscount Leverhulme and his first wife, Marion Beatrice Smith.

During the Second World War, he served in the Middle East with the Cheshire Yeomanry, and late became an honorary colonel.

[1] His lifelong passion was horse racing, the subject of his 1976 maiden speech in the House of Lords.

A racehorse owner, he served as Chairman of Chester Racecourse and as a senior steward of the Jockey Club.

[1] He was Chancellor of the University of Liverpool from 1980 to 1993 and appointed a Knight Companion of the Garter in 1988.