The Isle of Sark is in the English Channel. With 600 inhabitants and an area of two square miles, democratic forms of government have not been the law of the land here until now. The island belongs to a feudal lord, the Seigneur, John Michael Beaumont, granted to him by the English Crown. Until a short time ago, Beaumont still held anachronistic rights such as the right to a thirteenth part of all land transactions or being the only person allowed to own doves and pigeons on Sark.
