In 1878 he married Lady Gladys Herbert a very famous socialite. She has been described as “one of the professional beauties, a select group of a half-dozen society ladies who like the super models of today were constantly talked about and whose portraits were on sale to the public. Everything about her seemed impressive. She was six feet tall and her dark eyes and brilliant colouring made any women near her look pale." The marriage was not considered to be a success as St George was constantly away travelling and Gladys was caught up in a social set which did not meet with his approval. Gladys often entertained at Lowther Castle and one of her visitors was Lilly Langtry who was said to be the mistress of King Edward VII. In her autobiography Lilly describes her stay at Lowther Castle as follows. “Lady Gladys Herbert and Later Countess of Lonsdale was superbly beautiful, with brilliant colouring and the features and carriage of an ideal Roman Empress. We were great friends and at one time almost inseparable. I spent part of one summer with her at Lowther Castle soon after her first marriage and she met me at Carlisle Station with her pony car to drive me to the Castle. As we wisked through the Park and the impressive walls of Lowther loomed before us she intimated that the one thing she was most anxious for me to see was the emu strutting about the grass." In 1882 at the age of twenty six, St George died after a short illness which was followed by pneumonia. His younger brother Hugh Cecil Lowther inherited the Castle. Hugh Cecil Lowther was born in 1857 and was only 25 when he inherited the Castle. Being the second son of the Earl he did not expect to be the manager of an estate and so had not been appropriately educated. He was at Eton for only two years and left at the age of twelve after which he spent his time playing sport. In 1878, four years before obtaining his inheritance, Hugh married Lady Grace Gordon, third daughter of the Marquess of Huntly who was three years his senior. Her family opposed the marriage as Hugh was then not wealthy and seemed irresponsible. Their assessment of his character proved to be correct, as the following year he invested a great deal of money in cattle in America. The venture collapsed and the Lowther family was forced to save him. The couple then lived near Oakham and Grace became pregnant but suffered a bad fall while hunting and lost the baby. After this she was unable to bear children and she remained a partial invalid for the rest of her life.