THE BISHOP AND THE SPEAKER..
I don`t know about you but, for the first week back from a holiday, I find myself thinking where I was and what I was doing this time last week. Not only that but I also find myself trawling the internet for images of the area I`ve visited and digging out old books I`ve collected over the years. Some of these are really very old now; for example there`s one in the County Coast Series about `The South Devon and Dorset Coast` which was published in 1910 and another one, `The Heart of the West` by Arthur L Salmon, published in 1922. You see, it`s not just the places that interest me but also their history and it was in Salmon`s book that I stumbled across a poignant tale.
Now as well as a majestic coastline with picturesque villages, the area of the South Hams also has its charms inland where, nestling beneath the western beacon of Dartmoor, you find places such as Ugborough (pictured above) and the adjoining parish of Harford. But these two places form the backdrop for the tale.
John Prideaux, was born in Harford in 1578, the fourth son of John and Agnes Prideaux, who had to provide for a family of twelve. But young John was very bright and attracted the interest of the wealthy Lady Fowell of the same parish, who sponsored his education through Exeter College, Oxford. In his younger days, John had set his heart on becoming parish clerk of the larger parish of Ugborough, but he was rejected in favour of another candidate. A good few years later, he is recorded as confessing, "If I had been chosen as clerk at Ugborough, I would never have been Bishop of Worcester," which he was from 1641 until his death in 1650.
And just for good measure, Harford also produced Thomas Williams, who was Speaker of the House of Commons from January 1563 until his own passing three years later and his burial back in Harford church. Not bad for a small parish - a hamlet really - whose population even today amounts to just 77.
So, when I ask myself what was I doing at precisely this time last week, I easily recall that I was driving past Ugborough on the A3121, at the spot from where this photo was taken, getting a bit lost as I groped my way back to the order of the A38 en route back to the disorder of the south east and I wondered what great men or women might yet emerge from the tranquillity of this very green and extremely pleasant part of Devon.
Now as well as a majestic coastline with picturesque villages, the area of the South Hams also has its charms inland where, nestling beneath the western beacon of Dartmoor, you find places such as Ugborough (pictured above) and the adjoining parish of Harford. But these two places form the backdrop for the tale.
John Prideaux, was born in Harford in 1578, the fourth son of John and Agnes Prideaux, who had to provide for a family of twelve. But young John was very bright and attracted the interest of the wealthy Lady Fowell of the same parish, who sponsored his education through Exeter College, Oxford. In his younger days, John had set his heart on becoming parish clerk of the larger parish of Ugborough, but he was rejected in favour of another candidate. A good few years later, he is recorded as confessing, "If I had been chosen as clerk at Ugborough, I would never have been Bishop of Worcester," which he was from 1641 until his death in 1650.
And just for good measure, Harford also produced Thomas Williams, who was Speaker of the House of Commons from January 1563 until his own passing three years later and his burial back in Harford church. Not bad for a small parish - a hamlet really - whose population even today amounts to just 77.
So, when I ask myself what was I doing at precisely this time last week, I easily recall that I was driving past Ugborough on the A3121, at the spot from where this photo was taken, getting a bit lost as I groped my way back to the order of the A38 en route back to the disorder of the south east and I wondered what great men or women might yet emerge from the tranquillity of this very green and extremely pleasant part of Devon.
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