RAYMOND Montague Burton, the son of the founder of Burton menswear empire, has died aged 93.

Among his many activities, Mr Burton, the farmer and philanthropist, sponsored and promoted the Ryedale Festival and made contributions to York Civic Trust, The Company of the Merchants of the Staple in York and Castle Howard’s Arboretum.

He supported the University of York, which named The Raymond Burton Library for Humanities Research after him for sharing his collection of 18th and 19th century material about Yorkshire.

This included a medieval gild roll, believed to have been lost for more than 100 years, which contained information about the origins of the York Mystery Plays. Mr Burton became a director in Burtons and founded Top Shop after serving in India and Ceylon as a major in the army. He retired as president of the company in 1981.

Sir Ron Cooke, former vice-chancellor of the University of York, got to know Mr Burton through the university, which Mr Burton had supported since it was established in 1965.

He said: “He was an extraordinarily generous and modest man who believed fundamentally in philanthropy. He was highly intelligent and committed to new ideas, developments and initiatives and invested especially in initiatives he hoped would become regular and important events or things in North Yorkshire.”

Mr Burton was also keen on conservation practices, turning his 400-acre farm at Eddlethorpe, near Malton, into a project to improve and demonstrate crop management.

The former pupil of Grosvenor House School in Harrogate is survived by his twin brother, Arnold, widow Diana and two daughters, Jane and Harriet, from his marriage to his late first wife, Pamela.

Professor Brian Cantor, the current vice chancellor of the University of York, said: “He was a great friend of the university, and thousands of students and academics have benefited and will continue to benefit from his generosity.”

A memorial service will take place in the Roger Kirk Centre at the University of York on April 1.