A kind-hearted lord who looked after a tiny British island for a quarter of a century and welcomed around 30,000 people into his home each year has died aged 94.
Lord St Levan was custodian of St Michael’s Mount – a tidal island off the coast of Penzance, Cornwall, which dates back to the 12th Century.
He welcomed thousands of tourists into his remote family home each year, insisting it was his duty and describing the guests he met during his 25 years there as “wonderful”.
Born John Francis Arthur St Aubyn in London in 1919, he took part in the evacuation of British soldiers from Dunkirk in 1940 and was in command of an escort ship during the 1944 D Day landings.
He later became a patron of the Normandy Veterans Association and in 1978 succeeded his father as the fourth Baron St Levan, moving to the family’s seat of St Michael’s Mount.
As a veteran of the Arctic convoys, on April 1 this year – only days before his death – Lord St Levan finally received the medal of the Arctic Star.
His nephew, James St Aubyn, said: “He touched the hearts of many people during his long life and will be much missed by his family and many friends in west Cornwall and beyond.”
