POLITICIANS stood in silence to pay tribute yesterday following news of the death of a former parish Constable.
At the start of the second day of this week’s sitting of the States Assembly, the Bailiff – Robert MacRae – announced that Silvanus Yates, known as Silva, had died on Monday at the age of 91.
Mr MacRae said that Mr Yates had been elected as Constable of St Martin in 2006 and re-elected two years later, before retiring from politics in 2011.
As members of the late Constable’s family watched from the public gallery, the Assembly heard that Mr Yates had acquired a reputation for his plain-speaking and his work on Scrutiny.
“He had a knack of saying in a few words what some people might take 20 minutes to express,” Mr MacRae said.
The Bailiff said Mr Yates had remained active in parish life after stepping down as Constable, working as a committee member for the St Martin Housing Association.
Mr Yates’ schooling began at St Peter’s before the Second World War, when his family moved to England, and he finished school as a pupil at Victoria College after returning to the Island in 1948.
During his career, Mr Yates was a civil servant for five years after leaving school, and then worked for an engineering business prior to setting up his own business designing and building yachts.
Mr MacRae said Mr Yates was married to Nancy, and the couple had a daughter and five sons. He concluded by expressing condolences to the family.
