John Francis Arthur St Aubyn, 4th Baron St Levan

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

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DL (23 February 1919 – 7 April 2013) was a British

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsid ...

, decorated

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer,

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

, and

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figure. From 1978 to 2003, he was custodian of the family seat of

St Michael's Mount St Michael's Mount ( kw, Karrek Loos yn Koos, meaning " hoar rock in woodland") is a tidal island in Mount's Bay, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The island is a civil parish and is linked to the town of Marazion by a causeway of granite se ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

Early life

St Aubyn was born on 23 February 1919 in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. He was the eldest son of the 3rd Lord St Levan and his wife. His childhood was split between his parents' home in London and the

family seat A family seat or sometimes just called seat is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families to ...

, Cornwall. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, an all-boys

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in Eton, Berkshire. In 1938, he entered

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

to study for a degree. His university studies were interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and his military service.

Military service

During his first year at university, in 1938, St Aubyn joined the

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(RNVR) as an

officer cadet Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University Air ...

. With the outbreak of

in 1939, he was allowed to continue at university. However, he did not complete his degree. He left university at the end of his second year to join up, having heard about the

Dunkirk Evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

(27 May to 4 June 1940). He and a friend travelled by train from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Chatham, Kent Chatham ( ) is a town located within the Medway unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. The town developed around Chatham ...

. There, they underwent an interview, and, being officer cadets in the RNVR, they were accepted for immediate service. Having been recruited in Chatham, he was sent to

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

, Kent, to take command of a ship. He became

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of a newly seized Belgian merchant ship, therefore gaining his first independent command at 21 years old. He and his command then joined the

little ships of Dunkirk The Little Ships of Dunkirk were about 850 private boats that sailed from Ramsgate in England to Dunkirk in northern France between 26 May and 4 June 1940 as part of Operation Dynamo, helping to rescue more than 336,000 British, French, and oth ...

and he became involved in the Dunkirk Evacuation. He and his ship rescued 150 men from the beaches. Then he attended a training course to learn about

mine sweeping Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...

. In August 1940, he was re-graded from temporary

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sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...

to temporary sub-lieutenant with seniority from 23 February 1940. Having completed his training, he was posted to the

Halcyon-class minesweeper The ''Halcyon'' class was a class of 21 oil-fired minesweepers (officially, "fleet minesweeping sloops") built for the British Royal Navy between 1933 and 1939. They were given traditional small ship names used historically by the Royal Navy a ...

HMS ''Salamander''.

Personal life

St Aubyn married Susan (Sue) Maria Marcia Kennedy, daughter of Maj.-Gen. Sir John Noble Kennedy, in December 1970; she died in 2003. There were no children of the marriage. St Aubyn was succeeded in the barony and the baronetcy by his nephew James St Aubyn (born 6 June 1950) who became the 5th Lord St Levan. The 5th baron is the son of

Hon Hon or HON may refer to: People * Han (surname) (Chinese: 韩/韓), also romanized Hon * Louis Hon (1924–2008), French footballer * Priscilla Hon (born 1998), Australian tennis player Other uses * Hon (Baltimore), a cultural stereotype of ...

Oliver Piers St Aubyn (born 12 July 1920, died 24 May 2006) who was the second son of the 3rd baron.The Peerage, page for Oliver St Aubyn
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Levan, John Saint Aubyn, 4th Baron 1919 births 2013 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Deputy Lieutenants of Cornwall Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Eton College Military personnel from London Military personnel from Cornwall Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Hereditary peers removed under the House of Lords Act 1999