Ralph, 4th Baron Montagu of Beaulieu
Born in 1961, Ralph Montagu attended Walhampton and Millfield Schools and Brockenhurst College before graduating as a Graphic Designer at the Central School of Art and Design in 1983. He also received a training in Estate Management. He subsequently pursued a dual career, spending some of his time at Beaulieu, and the rest in London. Here he worked for the BBC as a designer and a co-ordinator of programme restoration projects. Since 2003 he has held the post of Head of Heritage Radio Times.
At Beaulieu, he has been overseeing the management of the land and property of the estate since the late 1980s, when his father passed much of the estate over to him. In the early 1990s, he instigated a strategy for the village which provided for additional local needs housing and other improvements to the landscaping and community facilities. More recently, he took over the chairmanship of the Beaulieu Enterprises Limited which operates the leisure and tourism activities on the estate. His sister Mary and half-brother Jonathan both serve on the same board. His wife, Ailsa, who he married in 2004, has her own translation business.
His appointments include Chairman of the Countryside Education Trust and trustee of the National Motor Museum Trust, both of which are based on the estate. He is a governor of Walhampton School and a trustee of the Hampshire Archives Trust and Wessex Film Archive. At the BBC, he was one of a team involved in the technical restoration of old episodes of Dad’s Army and Doctor Who; in the case of the latter, he and was instrumental in discovering two missing episodes to the jubilation of fans across the world.
