A well known Cheshire politician, businessman and agriculturalist has died aged 85.

Lord William Oulton Wade passed away peacefully on June 7.

His funeral has already been held at St Chad’s Church, Farndon , where a memorial service will take place at 1pm on Friday, July 27.

He had lived in Farndon with his wife Lady Gillian Wade. The couple married in 1959 but had known each other since they were young children.

Former Cheshire County Council chief executive Robin Wendt, left, and Lord Wade opposed local government reorganisation that saw Cheshire divided into two councils.

Lord Wade is also survived by his son Christopher, daughter Alexandra and four grandchildren.

He gained national prominence when he rose through the ranks of the Conservative Party to become joint treasurer during the 1980s.

But before entering the world of politics, Lord Wade was best known as a dairy farmer and landowner.

He ran the family’s Grange Farm at Mollington which exported cheese around the globe – from traditional Cheshire cheese to other English cheeses such as Red Leicester and Double Gloucester.

Lord Wade, Councillor Mike Jones and Councillor Howard Greenwood with reception class children at Farndon Primary School several years ago.

In 1979 he played host when the farm was visited by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh .

A big believer in the application of innovation, science and technology to farming, Lord Wade was also involved in the development of pig genetics in the attempt to breed the perfect pig with ‘less fatty’ meat.

Lord Wade served on Cheshire County Council between 1973-77, and eventually became joint treasurer of the Tory Party between 1982–90.

He was awarded a knighthood in the 1982 Birthday Honours. And he was elevated to the House of Lords after being made a life peer in 1990 with the title Baron Wade of Chorlton. He sat as a Conservative in the House until his retirement in November, 2016.

In 2007, Lord Wade became an honorary graduand of the University of Chester. Here he is pictured with vice chancellor Professor Tim Wheeler, universith chancellor, the late Duke of Westminster and Loyd Grossman, who was also awarded an honorary degree.

Son Chris said of his dad: “He was a local Cheshire man and a Cheshire farmer who did well and he was very, very positive in London about Chester and Cheshire.”

Lord Wade, whose family home was Chorlton Lodge, near Chester until 1993, also supported many good causes.

As appeal chairman at Manchester’s world-renowned Christie Hospital, he helped raise £25m in a bid to revolutionise cancer treatment.

Chris added: “He did raise a lot of money for Christie’s Hospital in Manchester – I believe there is a ‘Lord Wade Room’.”

Lord Wade of Chorlton at the official opening of the Tim Cotton Suite at the MS Support Centre with chairman Neil Kemsley.

He described Lord Wade as having a ‘forceful personality’, someone who was ‘loyal’ to his area and ‘very generous’, adding: “To me he was just dad.”

Lord Wade, who was raised on the family farm in Tarvin , was educated at Birkenhead School and later Queen’s University, Belfast.

As a child during the 1940s, the young Oulton Wade was apparently on his way to milk the cows one morning when an unexploded bomb, which had landed on the fields, suddenly went off. Fortunately, he wasn't injured.