Gerard Noel, who has died aged 89, was one of the most distinguished editors in the history of Catholic Herald, a historian of immense range and readability, and a much-loved presence in English Catholic life for many decades.

Gerry Noel, as everyone knew him, personified a type encountered increasingly rarely these days. The son of the Earl of Gainsborough, he grew up in the family seat of Exton in Rutland, which had a private chapel. In short, he came from the sort of aristocratic Catholic background that Evelyn Waugh celebrated – but there was nothing snobbish or self-indulgent about his faith. He was twice editor of the Catholic Herald; it was a role he performed with skill and relish, often intruding a note of mischief into the publication.