Captain Nigel Pease, Royal Lancer, landowner and irrepressible party animal – obituary
Captain Nigel Pease, who has died aged 89, was a soldier, a landowner and a bon viveur who could conjure up a surprise, a jolly party or an adventure at the drop of a hat – or, preferably, at rather more than a drop of his favourite whisky.
In the early 1950s, he and two brother officers, serving in the 9th Lancers, decided to drive to the south of France. They had just been watching the 24-Hour Race at Le Mans and may have been trying to emulate the prowess of some of the great drivers of the time, for they failed to negotiate a sharp bend at high speed and crashed the car into a tree.
Bottles of gin stowed on the back seat smashed and splashed the interior. The three emerged from the vehicle shaken and stirred, their shirts soaked, and reeking of alcohol. The police arrived and the gendarmes went through a flurry of Gallic theatricals, heads shaking, eyes rolling, fingers wagging, to emphasise their outrage, scepticism and downright disbelief, before finally accepting that drunkenness had played no part in the accident. The car was patched up and the young men were sent on their way.
Nigel Crichton Pease, the son of Major Philip Pease and Doris Crichton, was born at Sledwich, near Barnard Castle, Co Durham, on September 8 1934. He had three older sisters and a younger brother. Young Nigel was educated at Eton before going to Mons Officer Cadet School.
His habit of forsaking the elusive attractions of night-time Aldershot for the bright lights and revelry of London’s West End led to a distinctly unmilitary performance at first parade the following morning and he was relegated once before being commissioned into the 9th Lancers and posted to Detmold, West Germany.
He was a Troop Leader and then Regimental Signals Officer, before moving to Singapore as acting captain and ADC to Lieutenant General Sir George Collingwood, the District Commander. The appointment involved extensive travelling throughout the Far East.
In 1962, he joined the Northumberland Hussars as a reservist and he married Ailsa Smith-Maxwell the following year. They lived at Underley Grange, Westmorland, and he ran the farm and the shoot. In 1965 his father, Philip, died and, three years later, they moved to Sledwich. The family home was a large country house, its earliest parts dating from the 14th century, and it had a tunnel leading towards the River Tees which the monks used to escape during a time of persecution.
He managed the farm and shared the grouse moor at Bollihope, nearby, with his brother, Simon. In November 1970, he and a group of friends went to the Isle of Lewis for a shooting weekend. It was a Sunday and, having had a very good lunch and lots to drink, he and three others were being driven back to Barvas Lodge where they were staying.
Unfortunately, in the dark, the driver missed the bridge which was close to the Lodge and plunged into the River Barvas, which was in spate. The torrent carried the car under the bridge and downstream for some 300 yards. Pease was in the back seat and had fallen asleep. The commotion woke him up and he looked out of the car window and thought that he was in the North Sea, and made ready to swim ashore.
The car filled up with water rapidly and came to rest on the riverbed. He and his two friends got on to the roof while the driver swam to the bank to get help. He knocked on the door of the gamekeeper’s house but he was mistaken for a poacher and greeted with a shotgun.
Eventually police and firemen appeared. Ropes were floated down the river and the marooned trio attached themselves to these and were hauled out. After hot baths and more alcohol, they quickly recovered. They decided to say nothing about their ordeal, but a bulletin on the news and an article in the local press led to a volley of calls from irate wives demanding to know what was going on.
Sledwich was always full of family and friends. The household would often awaken to the reverberations of Pease’s rallying cry, a whoop of, “Hurrah! Every day’s a holiday and the weekend’s an effing festival!”
He was High Sheriff of Westmorland in 1966 and, for many years, he was a steward at the Royal Show at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire. For several years, he entertained Prince Philip when he visited Teesdale for the Streatlam Park driving trials. He enjoyed hunting with the Zetland and Heythrop hunts and rode in many point-to-point races.
His entertainments had many ingredients but they were never quite complete without the inclusion of the wholly unexpected. When someone at a dinner party asked about his new horse he left for a few minutes and then, to the guest’s astonishment, returned to the table with the animal. “Now,” he said, “you can see for yourself.”
At a shooting party in August, the guests were sitting in the drawing room after the usual excellent dinner when, suddenly, there was a large noise from the long hall. In swept Pease driving his new ride-on mower, an innovation at the time. Beaming and waving happily to his wife, he announced, “I have just come to mow the carpet!”
He always enjoyed dancing after dinner. His party piece was dancing on the grand piano to the song Patricia the Stripper. On one occasion, on Burn’s Night, he left the dinner party for a few moments before returning wearing one of Ailsa’s tartan skirts. He then got up on to the table and danced a vigorous but faultless highland reel in and out of the family silver and the lighted candlesticks without disturbing a single piece.
His wife, Ailsa, was a renowned horsewoman, breeder and judge. For 25 years she was a welfare officer for the British Horse Society and devoted herself to improving the lives of the underprivileged horses of Durham. Some were kept in wretched conditions and she often had to deal with tough and tricky individuals. She always took her Alsatian with her in the car.
Pease opened his garden for the local church and for many charitable events. A stalwart supporter of the Bowes Museum, he took a keen interest in research projects, encouraged visits to the estate and worked tirelessly to enhance the wildlife, landscape and the Pinetum at Streatlam.
He was not only a most entertaining and generous host and the best of company, he was also the kindest and most considerate of men. If he saw anyone standing on their own and feeling rather left out, he would always go and talk to them. He was held in great respect and affection by everyone who knew him.
Nigel Pease married, in 1963, Ailsa Smith-Maxwell. She predeceased him and he is survived by their daughter.
Captain Nigel Pease, born September 8 1934, died December 30 2023
