Robert Hathaway
| Robert Hathaway | |
|---|---|
| Seigneur of Sark | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Robert Woodward Hathaway 20 October 1887 East Orange, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | 15 December 1954 (aged 74) Sark |
| Spouse(s) | Sibyl Hathaway (m. 1929) |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
Robert Woodward "Bob" Hathaway (20 October 1887 – 15 December 1954) was jure uxoris seigneur of Sark from 1929 until his death. An American by birth, his rule spanned the reigns of four monarchs: George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II.
Hathaway was born in East Orange, New Jersey, the third of four sons of the Wall Street banker Charles Hathaway and his wife Cora (née Southworth Rountree).
After graduating from Yale University, Hathaway and a number of other Yale alumni moved to Canada in order to serve in the Royal Flying Corps. He soon became a flying instructor. After the war, he took up residence in London as chief of the city's branch of the sports equipment firm Spalding, eventually becoming a naturalised British citizen.
In 1929, Hathaway met Sibyl Beaumont, dame of Sark in the Channel Islands and widowed mother of seven children. She was three years his senior. The couple dated for twelve days before marrying at St Marylebone Parish Church on 5 November 1929.
They immediately moved to her native island, where Hathaway was astonished to learn that, according to the feudal custom, he had become jure uxoris seigneur of the island upon their marriage. Due to her strong personality, the dame nevertheless remained the island's effective ruler and influenced Hathaway's decisions during Chief Pleas meetings. The marriage was very happy, but the "Yankee Seigneur", as he was called, was troubled by the fact that the island he ruled was not large enough for a golf course.
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