Devonshire Characters and Strange Events

by Sabine Baring-Gould

Sabine's Baring-Gould's account of many somewhat ordinary individuals oddly caught-up in somewhat extraordinary lives.



*****


Various critical notices and advertisements published at the time of the original edition (1908):


Daily News.—"A fascinating series . . . the whole book is rich in human interest. It is by personal touches, drawn from traditions and memories, that the dead men surrounded by the curious panoply of their time, are made to live again in Mr. Baring-Gould's pages."


"Notices of some of the most singular characters and events connected with the County of Devon—a county that has been exceptionally prolific of such. The personages named, and whose lives are given, belong to a lower plane than the great men of the county who have made their mark in history. But the range of characters is really wonderful. The volume is profusely illustrated with reproductions from old and rare prints."


"Having previously dealt with the greater names of Devonshire fame, Mr. Baring-Gould now turns to the sixty or seventy minor characters. There are rascals and worthies, simple citizens and men with slight claim to erudition, sailors and clergymen, doctors and poets. They are called Devonshire "oddities," and the author portrays them with their peculiarities on the outside."


"One of the best pieces of work in the whole book is the article on the Princetown Massacre (1814), concerning which Mr. Baring-Gould marshals the facts and weighs and sifts the evidence of either side with masterly impartiality. The stories of " Caraboo " and of Joanna Southcott are astounding records of human credulity. In reference to the last-named impostor, the writer does not produce one iota of authority for his statement that Joanna Southcott's following is identical with the quite recent sect of New Jezreelites at Chatham, or, rather, New Brompton."

962 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1908

About the author

Sabine Baring-Gould was born in the parish of St Sidwell, Exeter. The eldest son of Edward Baring-Gould and his first wife, Sophia Charlotte (née Bond), he was named after a great-uncle, the Arctic explorer Sir Edward Sabine. Because the family spent much of his childhood travelling round Europe, most of his education was by private tutors. He only spent about two years in formal schooling, first at King's College School in London (then located in Somerset House) and then, for a few months, at Warwick Grammar School (now Warwick School). Here his time was ended by a bronchial disease of the kind that was to plague him throughout his long life. His father considered his ill-health as a good reason for another European tour.

In 1852 he was admitted to Cambridge University, earning the degrees of Bachelor of Arts in 1857, then Master of Arts in 1860 from Clare College, Cambridge. During 1864, he became the curate at Horbury Bridge, West Riding of Yorkshire. It was while acting as a curate that he met Grace Taylor, the daughter of a mill hand, then aged fourteen. In the next few years they fell in love. His vicar, John Sharp, arranged for Grace to live for two years with relatives in York to learn middle class manners. Baring-Gould, meanwhile, relocated to become perpetual curate at Dalton, near Thirsk. He and Grace were married in 1868 at Wakefield. Their marriage lasted until her death 48 years later, and the couple had 15 children, all but one of whom lived to adulthood. When he buried his wife in 1916 he had carved on her tombstone the Latin motto Dimidium Animae Meae ("Half my Soul").

Baring-Gould became the rector of East Mersea in Essex in 1871 and spent ten years there. In 1872 his father died and he inherited the 3,000 acre (12 km²) family estates of Lew Trenchard in Devon, which included the gift of the living of Lew Trenchard parish. When the living became vacant in 1881, he was able to appoint himself to it, becoming parson as well as squire. He did a great deal of work restoring St Peter's Church, Lew Trenchard, and (from 1883 – 1914) thoroughly remodelled his home, Lew Trenchard Manor.

Reviews

[Batgrl (Book Data Kept Elsewhere)]

Found here at Internet Archive:
http://archive.org/details/cu31924028...
and here on Google Books (hopefully that ridiculously long link will work correctly).