Hugh Lowther, 8th Earl of Lonsdale

Hugh Clayton Lowther, 8th Earl of Lonsdale, Viscount Lowther, Baron Lowther of Whitehaven is the eldest son of James Lowther, 7th Earl of Lonsdale, and the only son by his first wife Tuppina Cecily Bennet.
He has been married three times, firstly to Pamela Colleen Middleton, on 2 October 1971; secondly in 1986 to Angela Mary Wyatt, and currently to his present wife, Elizabeth Nee Arnison. With his first wife (whom he divorced after 12 years of marriage, circa 1983/1984), he has one adopted son Oliver, born by artificial insemination, who thus does not stand in succession to his father's titles. This page, on the website of the Hereditary Peerage Association (HPA), explains the procedure of entering one's name on the Peerage Roll without applying for the right to vote in by-elections for elected hereditary peers to the House of Lords.

"10. It should also be noted that a child born as a result of egg, sperm or embryo donation is incapable of succeeding to a peerage held by, or transmitted through, those persons who are otherwise to be treated in law as the child’s parents (see section 27 of the Family Law Reform Act 1987 and sections 27-29 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990)."

The first marriage, contracted to a student nurse who was the daughter of a railway crossing keeper, apparently led to an estrangement between his father and the then Viscount Lowther. He is a substantial landowner with up to 5,000 acres (20 km2) along with the Lonsdale Settled Estates.
In May 2014 he placed Blencathra, a mountain in the Lake District, for sale. A new owner would acquire the title "Lord of the Manor of Threlkeld".
As Lord Lowther has no sons capable of inheriting his titles, the heir to the earldom is his half-brother Hon William James Lowther (born 9 July 1957) who is the son of the 7th Earl by his second wife.