The death has been announced of the former Lord-Lieutenant of Northamptonshire, David Laing.
Mr Laing, who died on Sunday, aged 78, held the office from 2014 to 2020, when he was succeeded by the current Lord-Lieutenant James Saunders Watson, who this week described Mr Laing as ‘an inspiration’.
David Laing also served as High Sheriff of the county and was Pro Chancellor at the University of Northampton, taking up the role in 2015, when the university was developing its new Waterside Campus.
A member of the Laing construction family, he was a qualified architect, setting up his own practice in Hertfordshire, before moving to Northamptonshire in 2002. He later gained experience in the leisure sector and in agriculture, taking a hands-on role at his farm in Brigstock. Mr Laing and his wife, Mary, were instrumental in reinstating the Brigstock Horse Trials at their home, Fermyn Woods Hall, and the international event moved to Rockingham Castle when the Laings later moved to Grafton Underwood.
As well as being a director of a number of private companies, Mr Laing served as a trustee of many charities, including the Northamptonshire Community Foundation, the Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs and Adrenaline Alley in Corby, the UK’s largest urban sports park.
Ben Thomas, Managing Director of All Things Business, said:
“I first met David after he wrote to me expressing his thoughts about Jimmy Carr as host of the Northamptonshire Business Excellence Awards and I invited him to lunch to discuss that and to get to know him better. I thought it might be a tough conversation, but I found a man who was warm, charismatic, kind and inspirational.
“It was fascinating to find out more about the work he and Mary were doing in the county, and he ended up getting involved with the business awards, receiving the Outstanding Contribution to Northamptonshire Award himself in 2019.
“He was a genuinely lovely man and did so much for the county, he’ll be much missed.”
Associate Professor at the University of Northampton, Adrian Pryce, who is also a Deputy Lieutenant and served under David Laing, said:
“We in the county and beyond have lost a great friend, mento and inspiration. David was a true gentleman in every sense. His motto and approach to all he met was ‘Let Your Light Shine’. So, David, this time, for you, we who are left must all let your light shine on and burn brightly through your wonderful example, the happy memories and so many legacies in all the lives you have touched. May you rest in peace.”
Mr Laing was awarded a CBE in the 2024 New Year’s Honours list for services to charity and philanthropy. He leaves his wife, Mary, and five children (four sons and one daughter) and 11 grandchildren.
