3rd February 1983

Death of Sir Charles Hayward

Sir Charles Hayward was the tenant of Jethou. He died at his island home, aged 90, in February 1983.

Hayward had acquired the lease of the island at an auction in December 1971. He paid £91,000 for the land, its four-bedroom home and everything in it, which today would equate to around £900,000.

He and his wife, Lady Elsie, moved to Jethou in 1973 after carrying out significant refurbishment works.

There is no requirement for Jethou’s tenants to keep the island open to the general public as there is on Herm. Jethou therefore became a private home throughout Charles and Elsie’s residency.

Business magnate

Wolverhampton-born Hayward, who built up Firth Cleveland Group, first found success making sidecars for motorbikes. He quickly became the biggest largest sidecar producer in the world, which was perhaps unsurprising. Hayward’s father had himself been a manufacturer of bicycles. Two-wheeled transport would therefore appear to have been in the family DNA.

He moved to London and became a stockbroker, where he founded various trusts and companies. He also set up two dozen factories around the world handling everything from rubber to furniture.

In 1961, he established the charitable Hayward Foundation and for a time he was the vice president of the Wildfowl Trust.