THE funeral of Sir William Gladstone will take place at St Deiniol's Church in Hawarden on Friday April 13.

Sir William, who lived at the family seat on the Hawarden Estate, died earlier this month at the age of 92 in the Countess of Chester. Hospital.

The great grandson of the 19th Century Liberal Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, Sir William became the UK’s Chief Scout in 1972, a position he held until 1982.

An obituary notice placed in The Times said: "The funeral of Sir William Bt KG will take place at St Deiniol's Church, Hawarden, 2.30pm, on April 13, 2018. It was his specific wish that anyone who would like to attend is warmly invited to do so.

"There will be a reception for everyone afterwards at Hawarden Castle. Family flowers only please. There will be a collection for Clwyd Special Riding Centre and donations will also be gratefully received."

Professor Michael Wheeler, Chairman of Trustees at Gladstone's Library in Hawarden, has added to the many tributes to Sir William saying "he contributed so much to the Library, as well as to his country and his county."

Professor Wheeler said: "It was as Chairman of Trustees at the Library, between 1989 and 2000, that he made the greatest impact on those of us who were involved in the Library and its operations.

"I first met him in the 1970s and got to know him better when he asked me, as a Trustee, to chair one of the interviewing panels for the appointment of a new Warden, the Very Revd Peter Francis, two decades ago. I was to cover the academic side, Willie the ‘human’. "Sir William was, however, not only a shrewd judge of character but also a senior educationalist and the author of several books, including one on his remarkable forebear.

"As Chairman of Trustees he was patient, kind and deeply interested in the work of the Library. In 1998 he invited HM The Queen and Prince Philip to lunch at the Library, in the middle of a hectic round of engagements for them and for him, as Lord Lieutenant. A memorable occasion indeed.

"As at Glenalmond College, where he served as Chairman of the Council, and at St Deiniol’s Church, where he was always seated in the same pew and generally read one of the lessons, he was maintaining a tradition of high-minded service that had come down to him from William Ewart Gladstone.

"Sir William’s title now passes to our President, Charles Gladstone, to whom the Trustees and the staff of Gladstone’s Library send condolences and warmest good wishes."

It was his specific wish that anyone who would like to attend is warmly invited to do so. There will be a reception for everyone afterwards at Hawarden Castle. Family flowers only please. There will be a collection for Clwyd Special Riding Centre and donations will also be gratefully received.