Simon Scrope, who has died aged 75, was the head of one of the most illustrious families in England and the epitome of the traditional country squire.

Like his father before him, Scrope (pronounced "Scroop") combined a career in the City with his stewardship of Danby, the family's 1,500-acre estate in North Yorkshire. A passionate sportsman and racing man, Scrope served for 23 years on the committee at York racecourse and for 13 years as chairman at Pontefract. A devout Roman Catholic, thankful for his good fortune in life, he dedicated much time to voluntary work and was greatly respected for his probity.

The Scropes descend from one of Edward the Confessor's Norman favourites, and were thus already settled in England at the time of the Conquest. The family motto, Devant si je puis (Forward if I am able), is a sardonic allusion to their name, which means "crab" in the Norman dialect.

Establishing themselves in Wensleydale in the 12th century, Scropes distinguished themselves on the Crusades and in the Hundred Years War, were regularly summoned to medieval parliaments as barons, and have produced five Garter knights.

The Scrope coat of arms, Azure a bend or, was one of the earliest to be adopted and, to amateurs of heraldry, is a celebrated curiosity. Campaigning in Scotland in 1385, Richard, Lord Scrope of Bolton, was aghast to see it borne by a fellow knight, Sir Richard le Grosvenor. The matter was tried in the Court of Chivalry – John of Gaunt, Harry "Hotspur" and Geoffrey Chaucer all giving evidence on Scrope's behalf. Depositions were conveniently heard in York Minster, the family burial place, where the Scrope arms were prominently on display, as they were – in glass, alabaster and stone – in more than 40 other churches in Yorkshire.

The court's decision in favour of Scrope has long rankled with the Grosvenors. Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster, was to name his famous racehorse (the 1880 Derby winner) Bend Or, and it was also his nickname for his grandson, the 2nd Duke, whose chestnut hair reminded him of the horse. For their part, the proud Scropes sport a distinctive family tie, based on their arms, of blue with diagonal gold stripes.

Simon Scrope descended from a junior branch of the family which succeeded to the headship in 1630. Christopher Scrope was by that time a convicted recusant and knew better than to press his claim to the titles and estates. Christopher's son seated himself at Danby-on-Yore, in the heart of the Scrope country, which the family had acquired through an heiress in 1576.

Largely rebuilt in the 16th century, Danby Hall incorporates one of the most southerly examples of a peel tower, dating from the early 14th century. A small chamber at the top of the "old Tower" served as a chapel, the only place of Catholic worship for miles around. In the early 1800s a capacious priest's hole was rediscovered at the back of a fireplace.

Generations of Scropes were barred, as Catholics, from public office. Their sons were sent abroad, with false identities, for their schooling. Forbidden to own any horse worth more than £5, they depended on kindly Protestant neighbours to hold them in their own names. The Scrope who bred Danby Cade, a famous 18th-century racehorse, was not his legal owner.

"Penal times" ended with the passing of the Catholic Relief Act in 1829. Scrope of Danby petitioned in vain for the earldom of Wiltshire, but retained the heraldic supporters (a pair of Cornish choughs) that the family claim by prescription – supporters being an honour usually afforded only to peers and knights grand cross under Royal Warrant.

Simon Egerton Scrope was born in London on December 23 1934, the only son of Richard (Dick) Scrope and his wife Lady Jane Egerton, sister of the 5th Earl of Ellesmere, who in 1963 succeeded his cousin as 6th Duke of Sutherland. Scrope spent part of a wartime childhood at Mertoun, the Ellesmere seat in the Borders.

After schooling at Gilling Castle and Ampleforth, and National Service with his father's old regiment, the Coldstream Guards, in Germany, Scrope studied Land Management at Trinity College, Cambridge.

In his subsequent career in the City he was chairman, for more than 30 years, of Richards Longstaff, a private-client insurance business specialising in landed estates.

Scrope dealt personally with the needs of some prominent clients, including York racecourse and the trustees of Mertoun, his childhood home. The expansion of the firm (bought out by HSBC in 1993) was a considerable achievement in which Scrope took great pride. Without the backing of a successful business career, he would undoubtedly have had to sell his beloved Danby.

He derived great satisfaction from his planting of trees on the estate, from his beautification of the garden and parkland and, above all, from the shoot. A skilful fisherman and fine shot, he was also a renowned huntsman.

He was the schoolboy Master, for two seasons, of the Ampleforth College Beagles, and joint Master of the Trinity Foot Beagles while at Cambridge. Another lifelong passion was for stalking. Scrope was never happier than during the single, magical week each year that he spent in a tiny bothy in the forest of Glenquoich.

A sometime director of the Anglo-Irish Bloodstock Agency, Scrope until recently operated a small stud at Danby. He served on the committee of York racecourse from 1981 to 2004, in which time he is said to have missed only four race meetings.

He became a director at Pontefract in 1995 and chairman two years later, a position he held to within two weeks of his death. His involvement in good works included his trusteeship of the Duchess of Leeds Foundation and of the St John and St Elizabeth Independent Hospital in London.

Scrope was noted for his meticulous timekeeping and attention to matters of style and dress, habits he had acquired as a young officer in the Coldstream. He set the highest standards for himself and others. With his unswerving sense of fair play, sound judgment, sense of humour and understated turn of phrase, he inspired many devoted admirers.

During a long battle with Parkinson's disease, he showed remarkable courage, determination and lack of self-pity. On June 8 2005, immaculate in a dark suit and the family tie, he presided over a large gathering of Scrope descendants in York. To commemorate the 600th anniversary of the execution of Archbishop Richard Scrope, the family journeyed by boat to a service in the Minster, hearing Mass on the way. The proceedings culminated with their laying a wreath on the Archbishop's tomb.

Simon Scrope, who died at Danby on March 7, was happily married for nearly 40 years to Jane, daughter of Sir Kenneth Parkinson, a former chairman of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, whom he had known since childhood. She survives him, with their son and daughter.