The Lord-Lieutenant - Mr Mark Blundell
Mr Mark Blundell
Mr Mark Blundell was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Merseyside on 13th September 2017 in succession to Dame Lorna Muirhead.
Mr Blundell is the present incumbent of the Crosby Hall Estate in Little Crosby which has been in the possession of the Blundell family for many centuries.
He was educated at Downside School and was a scholar at Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied Physics and Philosophy. He was articled as a solicitor with Weightmans in Liverpool, and then moved to London where he later became a partner at Boodle Hatfield in Mayfair.
In 1986 he moved back to Merseyside to the estate at Little Crosby. In 1988 he founded Crosby Hall Educational Trust, a residential centre for children, created out of redundant 17th Century stables. He remains chair of CHET.
For many years he was a member of the Council of Liverpool University, holding the posts of President and Pro-Chancellor and serving on numerous committees. He was a member of the Heritage Lottery Fund Committee for the North West between 2001 and 2007. He has been a member of the Council of Tate Liverpool and a trustee of Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services. He is currently a governor of Royal Northern College of Music, chair of Liverpool University Pension Fund, a trustee of Merseyside Buildings Preservation Trust and of Heritage Trust for the North West.
Mark is married to Suzanne, a child psychotherapist of Swiss origin. They have two children and five grandchildren, all of whom live on the estate at Crosby Hall, along with his father, who is the longest serving Deputy Lieutenant of Merseyside (appointed 1976).
The Blundells have owned land at Little Crosby at least since the time of Sir Robert Blundell (c.1210 -1278). After the Reformation they remained staunch Catholics despite the prohibition. Richard Blundell was arrested by the Lord-Lieutenant in 1590 and died in Lancaster Castle. Men from Little Crosby led by his son William had pitched battles in the 1620s with the High Sheriff’s men when they refused to pay their religious fines. Another William fought in the Civil War and was imprisoned on numerous occasions as a Royalist and Catholic. Nicholas Blundell kept a diary from 1702 to1728 which is of much value to local historians. He had to flee the country during the 1715 Rebellion. Another William was one of the first Catholic High Sheriffs of Lancashire after Catholic Emancipation. He was the first chairman of the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway. Francis Blundell was MP for Ormskirk in the 1920s and was responsible for removing the last disabilities of Catholics from the statue book.
Mr Blundell is the present incumbent of the Crosby Hall Estate in Little Crosby which has been in the possession of the Blundell family for many centuries.
He was educated at Downside School and was a scholar at Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied Physics and Philosophy. He was articled as a solicitor with Weightmans in Liverpool, and then moved to London where he later became a partner at Boodle Hatfield in Mayfair.
In 1986 he moved back to Merseyside to the estate at Little Crosby. In 1988 he founded Crosby Hall Educational Trust, a residential centre for children, created out of redundant 17th Century stables. He remains chair of CHET.
For many years he was a member of the Council of Liverpool University, holding the posts of President and Pro-Chancellor and serving on numerous committees. He was a member of the Heritage Lottery Fund Committee for the North West between 2001 and 2007. He has been a member of the Council of Tate Liverpool and a trustee of Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services. He is currently a governor of Royal Northern College of Music, chair of Liverpool University Pension Fund, a trustee of Merseyside Buildings Preservation Trust and of Heritage Trust for the North West.
Mark is married to Suzanne, a child psychotherapist of Swiss origin. They have two children and five grandchildren, all of whom live on the estate at Crosby Hall, along with his father, who is the longest serving Deputy Lieutenant of Merseyside (appointed 1976).
The Blundells have owned land at Little Crosby at least since the time of Sir Robert Blundell (c.1210 -1278). After the Reformation they remained staunch Catholics despite the prohibition. Richard Blundell was arrested by the Lord-Lieutenant in 1590 and died in Lancaster Castle. Men from Little Crosby led by his son William had pitched battles in the 1620s with the High Sheriff’s men when they refused to pay their religious fines. Another William fought in the Civil War and was imprisoned on numerous occasions as a Royalist and Catholic. Nicholas Blundell kept a diary from 1702 to1728 which is of much value to local historians. He had to flee the country during the 1715 Rebellion. Another William was one of the first Catholic High Sheriffs of Lancashire after Catholic Emancipation. He was the first chairman of the Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway. Francis Blundell was MP for Ormskirk in the 1920s and was responsible for removing the last disabilities of Catholics from the statue book.