Editing Sylvia Sayer (section)

==Biography==
[[File:Huccaby, St Raphael's Church - geograph.org.uk - 1014207.jpg|thumb|right|St Raphael's Church at Huccaby which contains a memorial to Sayer's mother, Olive Munday]]
Sayer's grandfather was Robert Burnard (1848–1920), who with [[Sabine Baring-Gould]] performed the first scientific excavations of ancient monuments on Dartmoor, including [[Grimspound]]; and who was one of the founding members in 1883 of the [[Dartmoor Preservation Association]]. He leased Huccaby House, on the [[West Dart River]], near [[Hexworthy]], from the [[Duchy of Cornwall]] and Sayer used to visit as a child.<ref name=D10>DPA News (2000), p.10.</ref><ref name=H469 />

Her mother was Olive Louise Munday (born Burnard; {{circa}} 1873–1960), Robert Burnard's eldest daughter.<ref name=H469>{{cite book
|last=Hemery|first=Eric
|title=High Dartmoor|publisher=Robert Hale|location=London|year=1983
|isbn=0-7091-8859-5|page=469
}}</ref> Her father was the [[Royal Army Medical Corps#Military abbreviations applicable to the Medical Corps|Principal Medical Officer]] at the Naval Hospital School in [[Greenwich]]. She attended [[Princess Helena College]] in [[Ealing]], and then the [[Central School of Art]] in London. In 1925 she married [[Guy Sayer (Royal Navy officer)|Guy Sayer]], who was a [[midshipman]] in the [[Royal Navy]], and they spent some time in China. Three years later they bought Old Middle Cator, a dilapidated [[Dartmoor longhouse]] about two miles west of the village of [[Widecombe-in-the-Moor]] in [[Dartmoor]]. They had twin sons, Geoffrey and Oliver, born in 1930, and until World War Two the family travelled widely to meet the needs of Guy's navy career. After [[VE Day]], Guy was posted to the Far East and Sylvia settled at Cator and became interested in local politics, at first as a [[parish councils in England|parish councillor]] for Widecombe, then as a [[Rural District Council]]lor and a member of the [[Dartmoor National Park Authority#First incarnation|Dartmoor Sub-Committee]] of [[Devon County Council]].<ref name=D4>DPA News (2000), pp.4–5.</ref>

Lady Sayer acquired her title in 1959 when her husband was knighted on his retirement as the vice-admiral commanding the [[Reserve Fleet (United Kingdom)|Reserve Fleet]].<ref name=K243>Kelly (2015), p.243.</ref> After his retirement he spent much of his time helping his wife with her conservation work.<ref>DPA News (2000), p.11.</ref> She was chairman of the [[Dartmoor Preservation Association]] between 1951 and 1973, and after that, as its [[Patronage|patron]], she continued to attend virtually every meeting of its executive committee until 1999.<ref name=D3>DPA News (2000), p.3.</ref>

She lived at Cator almost until her death, moving to a nursing home in [[Chagford]] two weeks before.<ref>{{cite news
|title=A slice of history in the wilds of Devon – Homes |last=Webb|first=Christine |work=[[The Times]] |date=7 June 2000}}</ref> On 10 February 2000 a service of celebration for her life was held in the parish church of [[Widecombe-in-the-Moor]]. It was attended by over 300 people, including representatives of the [[Dartmoor National Park Authority]], the [[Association of National Park Authorities]], the [[Council for National Parks]], the [[Campaign to Protect Rural England]] (CPRE), the [[Ramblers' Association]], and the [[Duchy of Cornwall]].<ref name=D3 />