Sark Seigneur dies of suspected heart attack

Monday 04 July 2016

The 88-year-old Seigneur of Sark, Michael Beaumont OBE, passed away over the weekend from a suspected heart attack.

Mr Beaumont served the Island for more than forty years and will be succeeded by his eldest son Christopher. He inherited the Fief in 1974, following the death of his grandmother Sibyl Hathaway, the Dame of Sark.

Beaumont was the son of the RAF officer and film producer Francis Beaumont and his first wife Enid Ripley. His paternal grandmother, Sybil Hathaway, became Dame of Sark six months before his birth. Beaumont's father and stepmother were killed in 1941, during the Liverpool blitz, which left the 14-year-old Beaumont heir apparent to his grandmother. Beaumont, a civil engineer, worked in Bristol and East Sussex and in 1956 he married Diana La Trobe-Bateman and the couple had two sons, Christopher and Anthony, the former of whom will inherit the Fief. 

In 1974, Beaumont's grandmother died and he succeeded her as Seigneur of Sark. The new Seigneur swore fealty to Queen Elizabeth in 1978, when she visited the island for the first time since his accession. In 1990, a group led by a French nuclear physicist named André Gardes came to Sark to depose Beaumont and establish Gardes as Seigneur, but the invasion attempt failed. During her 2001 visit, the Queen made Beaumont an OBE.

In 2008, Sark experienced a major change in the system of government. Beaumont remained the overlord of the island, but lost some of his feudal privileges. He is still the only person on the island with the right to keep pigeons and an unspayed dog. The first democratic elections on the island took place in December, with Beaumont regretting the change, whilst also denying being a feudal lord.

Due to their poor health, the ageing Seigneur and his wife moved out of La Seigneurie, the traditional residence of the ruler of the island, to a more manageable home in 2009. The residence was shortly thereafter rented to David Synnott and his wife, who are to occupy it until the end of October 2019. The rent is going to be paid through renovations and Mr Synnott said the Seigneur "is effectively making a large and generous donation to his successor who will benefit from the work." The heir apparent, Major Christopher Beaumont, who presently lives and works with his family in Britain and serves as a member of the Territorial Army, intends to move back to Sark upon inheriting the Fief.