Christopher Beaumont, 23rd Seigneur of Sark (born 4 February 1957) is the present

Seigneur A seigneur () or lord is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. The seigneur owned a seigneurie, seigneury, or lordship—a form of ...

Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...

in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

. He is a former

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer.

Biography

Beaumont is the son of Michael Beaumont, 22nd Seigneur of Sark and Diana Beaumont (née La Trobe-Bateman), he was born on 4 February 1957 in Reigate. Beaumont was educated at Broadwater Manor House School in Worthing,

Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...

and the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

, before taking up a career as a regular officer of the

. He succeeded as Seigneur of Sark on 3 July 2016, on the death of his father Michael Beaumont. He then returned to live on the island. He is known as ‘Fingers’ to the locals of Sark due to his piano playing.

Seigneurship

On 5 July 2016, the '' Sark Newspaper'' published an article which noted the new Seigneur's "impressive CV" and commented "Keen observers suggest that he is a man who will not be swayed by past convention. When on Sark he has often been seen to visit cafés and restaurants which are otherwise rigidly boycotted by members and supporters of Sark's one ruling party. For now, the people of Sark can only wait and hope that their new Seigneur will work to build a secure and prosperous future for each and every Islander." The newspaper hoped Beaumont would re-occupy La Seigneurie, the traditional residence of the Seigneur, and appealed for an economic plan to address local unemployment. In an interview with the ''

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

'' on 15 July 2016, Beaumont defended Sark's feudal structure and the Island's legislature, the

Chief Pleas Sark ( Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, with its own set of laws based on Nor ...

, saying: "There's a perfectly good, working Chief Pleas, and it gets my full support." Constitutional reforms in 2008, which had the approval of his father the 22nd Seigneur, had devolved some of the feudal authority of the Seigneur to the legislature. In 2009, after ill-health triggered Beaumont's parents to move out of the Seigneurie to a smaller cottage on the estate, they arranged for tenants to live in the Seigneurie for ten years, in return for making renovations. Beaumont and his family moved into the Seigneurie in 2017 and have worked to restore its garden and grounds, which are now a visitor attraction.

The future of Sark

Since 2023, Beaumont has been a director of the Sark Property Company, a company that has been set up to mobilise potential investment for Sark. Its intention is “to build a company that has the financial resources and the expertise to carry out multi-generational investments in Sark.” Beaumont has said that Sark needs a long-term plan for its future and hopes his work with the Sark Property Company can help provide this. In a letter to residents of Sark in April 2023, Beaumont said: “As part of the process the ark Propertycompany, in collaboration with key stakeholders, would like to see an independent, objective assessment of what the island needs and what aspirations the community has.” That assessment was carried out by The Prince’s Foundation in the spring of 2023, with a full report made available to all. Beaumont has advocated changes to Sark’s laws to prevent people claiming tax residency in Sark without needing to be present on the island for a set period of time, and believes that the provision of affordable housing is a key part of the island’s future.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaumont, Christopher Living people Royal Engineers officers Seigneurs of Sark Place of birth missing (living people) 1957 births Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst People educated at Clifton College