Dame Sibyl Mary Collings Beaumont Hathaway, DBE (13 January 1884 - 14 July 1974) was the 21st Seigneur of Sark (her title was Dame of Sark) from 1927 to 1974. Formally, though, her possessions and privileges (including the government) passed to her husband Robert Hathaway upon their marriage (1929) until his death (1954). Her rule was further constricted during the German occupation from 1940 to 1945. Hathaway was appointed DBE in 1965.
Born Sibyl Mary Collings, daughter of William Frederick Collings, she inherited the title when her father died on 14 June 1927.
In 1901 she married her first husband, Dudley John Beaumont. The couple had seven children: Bridget Amice Beaumont (1902–1948); Francis William Lionel Beaumont (1903–1941) (father of John Michael Beaumont, 22nd Seigneur of Sark); Cyril John Astley Beaumont (1905–1973); Basil Ian Beaumont (1908–1909); Douce Alianore Daphne Beaumont (1910–1967); Richard Vyvyan Dudley Beaumont (b. 1915); Jehanne Rosemary Ernestine Beaumont (b. 1919).[1][2] Hathaway wrote extensively about her relationship with Beaumont in her 1961 autobiography.[3] Beaumont served in the British army as an officer during World War I and died in 1918 during the Spanish flu pandemic.[4] In 1929 she married Robert Hathaway, an American, and he served as Seigneur jointly with his wife; he died in 1954.[5]
Her tenure as Seigneur was interrupted by the German occupation of the Channel Islands in World War II from 3 July 1940 until 8 May 1945. Hathaway did not evacuate during the German occupation, and prevailed upon all 471 Sark inhabitants to remain on the island as well. She was much respected by the islanders as well as the Germans, whose language she spoke perfectly, for the leadership she gave during this period, and the British Home Secretary observed that she remained 'almost wholly mistress of the situation' throughout the occupation. For the week of 10–17 May 1945, following liberation, she was left in command of the German garrison on her island.[6]
Hathaway commissioned the design of the flag of Sark in 1938. It was also her decision that no cars be allowed on Sark, a rule that continues to the present.
Her autobiography, Dame of Sark, was published in 1961,[3] and she is the subject of the play The Dame of Sark, written by William Douglas-Home, which was based on the experience of the German occupation. Upon her death, aged 90, the Seigneurship passed to her grandson, John Michael Beaumont.[7]
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Frederick Collings |
Dame of Sark 1927–1940 with Robert Hathaway (1929–1940) |
German occupation |
| German occupation | Dame of Sark 1945–1974 with Robert Hathaway (1929–1954) |
Succeeded by John Michael Beaumont |