List of seigneurs of Sark

The Seigneur of Sark is the head of Sark in the Channel Islands. "Seigneur" is the French word for "lord", and a female head of Sark is called the 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

The Seigneur's office 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 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 granted a fiefdom to Hellier de Carteret in 1565. 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 residents of Sark voted to introduce a fully elected legislature to replace the feudal government in 2006,^[4] and the law change was approved on April 9, 2008.^[5] The changes in the political system mostly applies to the parliament, the Chief Pleas, not to the Seigneur.

List of Seigneurs of Sark

1. Hellier de Carteret (1563–1578)
2. Philippe de Carteret I (1578–1594)
3. Philippe de Carteret II (1594–1643)
4. Philippe de Carteret III (1643–1663)
5. Philippe de Carteret IV (1663–1693)
6. Charles de Carteret (1693–1715)
7. John Carteret (1715–1720)
8. John Johnson (1720–1723)
9. James Milner (1723–1730)
10. Susanne le Pelley (1730–1733)
11. Nicolas le Pelley (1733–1742)
12. Daniel le Pelley (1742–1752)
13. Pierre le Pelley I (1752–1778)
14. Pierre le Pelley II (1778–1820)
15. Pierre le Pelley III (1820–1839)
16. Ernest le Pelley (1839–1849)
17. Pierre Carey le Pelley (1849–1852)
18. Marie Collings (1852–1853)
19. William Thomas Collings (1853–1882)
20. William Frederick Collings (1882–1927)
21. Sibyl Hathaway (1927–1974)^[6]
    Robert Hathaway (1929–1954)
22. Michael Beaumont (1974–2016)
23. Christopher Beaumont (2016–present)

Gallery

• 

  John Carteret (1715–1720)

• 

  William Thomas Collings (1853–1882)

• 

  Sibyl Hathaway (1927–1974)

• 

  John Michael Beaumont (1974–2016)

References

1. Black, HC (1968), Law Dictionary (4th ed.), citing Blackstone, Commentaries, 3, p. 210
2. Collings Hathaway, Sibyl (1975). Dame of Sark, an autobiography. Heinemann.
3. Marr, James (1984). Guernsey people. Phillimore. ISBN 0850335299.
4. de Bruxelles, Simon (5 October 2006). "After four centuries, Sark gives power to the people". London: Times Online. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
5. Hughes, Mark (10 April 2008). "After 450 years, Sark turns back on feudal law". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
6. "Death of a Dame". Time (magazine). 29 July 1974. Retrieved 2008-12-11. 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.