Marie Collings was Dame of Sark

Sark

Sark is a small island in the Channel Islands in southwestern English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. It is a royal fief, geographically located in the Channel Islands in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of laws based on Norman law and its own parliament. It has a population...

 from 1852 to 1853. She was the daughter of John Allaire, a privateer

Privateer

A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...

 from Guernsey

Guernsey

Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...

. In 1844, desperate for funds to continue the operation of the silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 mine

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 on the island, then-Seigneur of Sark Ernest le Pelley

Ernest le Pelley

Ernest le Pelley, 17th Seigneur of Sark was Seigneur of Sark from 1839 to 1849. In 1844, desperate for funds to continue the operation of the silver mine on the island, he obtained crown permission to mortgage the Fief of Sark for £4,000 to John Allaire, a local privateer. In 1845 the ceiling of...

 had obtained crown permission to mortgage the Fief of Sark for £4,000 to Allaire. Following the closure of the mine in 1847, Le Pelley's heir, Pierre Carey le Pelley

Pierre Carey le Pelley

Pierre Carey le Pelley was Seigneur of Sark from 1849 to 1852. In 1844, desperate for funds to continue the operation of the silver mine on the island, le Pelley's father Ernest le Pelley had obtained crown permission to mortgage the Fief of Sark for £4,000 to John Allaire, a local privateer. In...

was unable to keep up his mortgage payments and was forced to sell the seigneurie of Sark to Collings, Allaire's heiress, for £6,000.