Michael Beaumont | |
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Beaumont in July 2012
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Seigneur of Sark | |
In office 14 July 1974 – 3 July 2016 |
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Preceded by | Sibyl Hathaway |
Succeeded by | Christopher Beaumont |
Personal details | |
Born |
John Michael Beaumont 20 December 1927 Egypt |
Died | 3 July 2016 Sark |
(aged 88)
Spouse(s) | Diana Beaumont |
Children |
Christopher Beaumont Anthony Beaumont |
Parents |
Francis William Beaumont Enid Beaumont |
John Michael Beaumont OBE (20 December 1927 – 3 July 2016) was the twenty-second Seigneur of Sark in the Channel Islands.
He worked as a civil engineer before succeeding his paternal grandmother, Sibyl Hathaway, the 21st Dame of Sark, in 1974.
During his rule, Beaumont saw the loss of many feudal rights enjoyed by the seigneurs, and was consequently often described as the "last feudal baron".
Beaumont was the son of the Royal Air Force officer and film producer Francis William Beaumont and his first wife Enid Ripley. His paternal grandmother, Sibyl Hathaway, ascended as the Dame of Sark six months before his birth. Francis and Enid divorced in 1937 as a result of his adultery with the actress Mary Lawson, whom he subsequently married.
Beaumont's father and stepmother were killed on 4 May 1941, during the Liverpool Blitz, which left the 14-year-old Beaumont heir apparent to his grandmother.
Beaumont worked as a structural design engineer for the British Aircraft Corporation in Bristol before moving to Shoreham-by-Sea, where he worked on Beagle Aircraft.
In 1956, Beaumont married Diana La Trobe-Bateman, and the couple had two sons, Christopher and Anthony.
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 and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the island for the first time since his accession.