North Yorkshire landowner Sir William Worsley has become the new President of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
Sir William, who runs and lives at his family’s award-winning Hovingham Estate in the Howardian Hills, is a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies and of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is a Deputy Lieutenant of North Yorkshire.
Earlier this year, Sir William was appointed as Chair of the Forestry Commission. He is also Lay Canon of York Minster and Chair of the Howardian Hills AONB Joint Advisory Committee. He also serves on the North Yorkshire Rural Commission. He has previously served as the Government’s Tree Champion and has chaired the National Forest Company.
Sir William has also held office as President of the CLA, the Country Land and Business Association and as a member of the North York Moors National Park Authority.
Nigel Pulling, Chief Executive of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, said:
We are delighted to welcome Sir William as our new President and look forward to working with him as we plan for the Great Yorkshire Show’s return in 2021.
Sir William succeeds Charlotte Bromet, who handed over the President’s Crook in a short and socially distanced ceremony held at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate. The handover marked the finale of the Great Yorkshire Virtual Show earlier this summer, an online first for the Society which attracted viewers from more than 40 countries.
Sir William said:
I am hugely privileged to become President of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society. For a Yorkshire landowner, it is probably the greatest honour you can be given.
It is sad that we have not had the Great Yorkshire Show this year, but we very much intend to make up for it next year. The Show is a very special county event and I used to enjoy stewarding at it many years ago.
Agriculture and Forestry are really important industries in Yorkshire and we need to ensure that they are celebrated, that new support schemes are right and that their introduction is properly managed.
The Society’s new President Elect is Margaret Chapman, the Great Yorkshire Show’s long-serving Chief Cattle Steward.
