Seigneur of Sark

Seigneur of Sark
Arms of Sark: Gules, two lions passant guardant in pale or armed and langued azure
Creation date	1563
Created by	Elizabeth I
First holder	Hellier de Carteret, 1st Seigneur of Sark
Present holder	Christopher Beaumont, 23rd Seigneur of Sark
Heir apparent	Hugh Rees-Beaumont
Remainder to	heirs and assigns whatsoever
Status	extant
Seat(s)	La Seigneurie (traditional)

Flag of Sark

The Seigneur of Sark is the lord of the manor of Sark in the Channel Islands. A female seigneur of Sark is called Dame of Sark, of which there have been three. The husband of a female ruler of Sark is not a consort but is jure uxoris ("by right of (his) wife" ^[1] ) a seigneur himself. ^[2]

Description

Further information: Sark § Politics

The title is hereditary, but with permission of the Crown, it may be mortgaged or sold, as happened in 1849 when Pierre Carey le Pelley sold the fief to Marie Collings for £6,000. ^[3]

The Seigneur was, before the constitutional reforms of 2008, the head of the feudal government of Sark, with the British monarch being the feudal overlord. The Seigneur had a suspensive veto power and the right to appoint most of the island's officers. Many of the laws, particularly those related to inheritance and the rule of the Seigneur, had changed little since Queen Elizabeth I, by Letters Patent, granted a fiefdom to Hellier de Carteret in 1565. ^{[4] [5]}

The residents of Sark voted to introduce a fully elected legislature to replace the feudal government in a 2006 referendum, ^[6] and the law change was approved on 9 April 2008. ^[7] The first democratic election was held on 10 December 2008. ^[8] The changes in the political system mostly apply to the parliament, the Chief Pleas, not to the Seigneur.^{[ citation needed ]}

Many seigneurs are buried at St. Peter's Anglican Church, Sark.^{[ citation needed ]}

Seigneurs of Sark

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Reign	Notes
1		Hellier de Carteret	1563–1578
2		Philippe de Carteret I (1552–1594)	1578–1594
3		Philippe de Carteret II (1584–1643)	1594–1643
4		Philippe de Carteret III (1620–1663/1675)	1643–1663
5		Philippe de Carteret IV (c. 1650–1693)	1663–1693
6		Charles de Carteret (1679–1715)	1693–1715
7		John Carteret (1690–1763)	1715–1720
8		John Johnson (Died 1723)	1720–1723
9		James Milner (Died 1730)	1723–1730
10		Susanne le Pelley (1668–1733)	1730–1733
11		Nicolas le Pelley (1692–1742)	1733–1742
12		Daniel le Pelley (1704–1752)	1742–1752
13		Pierre le Pelley I (1736–1778)	1752–1778
14		Pierre le Pelley II (1763–1820)	1778–1820
15		Pierre le Pelley III (1799–1839)	1820–1839
16		Ernest le Pelley (1801–1849)	1839–1849
17		Pierre Carey le Pelley	1849–1852
18		Marie Collings (1791–1853)	1852–1853
19		William Thomas Collings (1823–1882)	1853–1882
20		William Frederick Collings (1852–1927)	1882–1927
21		Sibyl Hathaway (1884–1974 [9] )	1927–1974	Reigned under the German occupation from 1940 to 1945.
		Robert Hathaway (1887–1954) [a]	1929–1954
22		Michael Beaumont (1927–2016)	1974–2016
23		Christopher Beaumont (born 1957)	2016–present

The heir apparent to the seigneurship is the present seigneur's son, Hugh Rees-Beaumont.

Notes

1. Husband of Sibyl Hathaway.

References

1. Black, HC (1968), Law Dictionary (4th ed.), citing Blackstone, Commentaries, vol. 3, p. 210
2. Collings Hathaway, Sibyl (1975). Dame of Sark, an autobiography. Heinemann.
3. Marr, James (1984). Guernsey people. Phillimore. ISBN   0850335299.
4. "Sark marks 450 years of Royal Charter". BBC News. BBC. 6 August 2015.
5. "Jersey Post celebrates the island of Sark". SEPAC. 16 July 2015. On 6 August 1565, Helier De Carteret, the Seigneur of the parish of St Ouen in Jersey, was granted the Isle of Sark by Queen Elizabeth I. Sark was thereby made an inheritable fief, which Helier held from the Crown of England on certain conditions: he had to maintain at least forty men to defend the Island from pirates, do homage to the sovereign and pay an annual 1/20th part of a knight's fee.
6. de Bruxelles, Simon (5 October 2006). "After four centuries, Sark gives power to the people". Times Online. London. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2007.
7. Hughes, Mark (10 April 2008). "After 450 years, Sark turns back on feudal law". The Independent. London. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
8. "European feudalism finally ends as Sark heads for democracy". The Independent . 11 December 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.
9. "Death of a Dame". Time . 29 July 1974. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008. Nearly all 560 subjects of the medieval fiefdom of Sark gathered last week around a gnarled oak tree in their parish churchyard to mourn Dame Sibyl Mary Collings Beaumont Hathaway, 21st Seigneur of Sark.