In 1878, before obtaining his inheritance, Lonsdale married Lady Grace Cecilie Gordon, third daughter of Maria Antoinetta Pegus (c. 1821–1893) and
Charles Gordon, 10th Marquess of Huntly. Her family opposed the marriage as Lonsdale was not then wealthy and seemed irresponsible. This proved to be correct as the following year he invested in cattle in America; the venture collapsed and the Lowther family was forced to save him. The couple then lived at
Barleythorpe Hall near
Oakham. Grace became pregnant but had a
miscarriage after a fall while hunting. After this she was unable to bear children and remained a partial invalid for the rest of her life. She died in 1941. After an affair with the actress
Violet Cameron caused a scandal, Lonsdale set out in 1888 to explore the
Arctic regions of Canada as far north as
Melville Island, nearly dying before reaching
Kodiak, Alaska in 1889 and returning to England. His collection of
Inuit artefacts that he assembled during his explorations in Alaska and north-west Canada at this time is now in the
British Museum. Lonsdale died in 1944 at Stud House, Barleythorpe, aged 87.
Sports Lonsdale was a founding member and first president of the
National Sporting Club, and donated the original
Lonsdale Belts in 1909 for the
boxing championship trophy. His name was later given to the
Lonsdale clothing brand of boxing garments and the
Lonsdale cigar size. He was also a director of
Arsenal Football Club and served as chairman for a brief period in 1936, and later became the club's honorary president. After the First World War, Hugh gave up hunting and became more involved with race horses. He became a senior steward of the
Jockey Club. He had two major wins with his colt
Royal Lancer in 1922, the
St Leger and the
Irish St Leger. He was also the first president of the
International Horse Show at Olympia. From 1929 Lonsdale was the joint editor of the
Lonsdale Library of Sports, Games and Pastimes, a book series published by
Seeley, Service and Co. ==Views on animals==