Robert Hathaway, Lord of Sark

Robert Woodward 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.

Early life and career 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 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.

Rule

In 1929, Hathaway met Sibyl Beaumont, dame of Sark in the Channel Islands and the widowed mother of seven children. 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, His eldest stepson, the Royal Air Force officer Francis William Beaumont, was killed during the Liverpool Blitz, which left the seigneur's step-grandson, Michael Beaumont, as heir apparent.