John Prince (Totnes)

John Prince (1643-1723) was vicar of Totnes and Berry Pomeroy in Devon, England, and was a biographer of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. He is notable for his major work, "The Worthies of Devon". He was also involved in a sexual scandal, the court records of which were made into a book, and more recently a play.

Early life

John Prince was born in Axminster, Devon in 1643, in a farmhouse on the site of an abbey - nowadays called Prince's Abbey. He was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, and became curate of Bideford. He then became minister of St. Martin's Church in Exeter.

He was vicar of Totnes from 1675 until 1681, when, at the invitation of the Duke of Somerset, he was made vicar of Berry Pomeroy, a post he held for over forty years. Here he seems to have authorised much building work, as the church and vicarage have several period features.

candal

It was while serving in this capacity that the scandal occurred. In April 1699 He arranged a meeting with a local woman, Mary Southcote, in the back room of an inn. Their dalliance was witnessed through a broken window, they were interrupted, and a court case followed later that year. However, despite many statements against him, the reverend was allowed to keep his post (from which he had been suspended), as the main witnesses were deemed to be unreliable. He returned to Berry Pomeroy and lived out his years as vicar.

A plaque in St Mary's Church in Totnes states that he was well connected, and it is possible that the trial was set up by his enemies.

"The Worthies of Devon"

While at Berry Pomeroy, Prince worked on his "Magnum Opus": a biography of his home county's many notable figures, which he probably finished in 1697. The book ran to 600 pages, with woodcuts to illustrate the 191 biographies. Unfortunately he struggled to find funding for it; most publishers able to handle such a large book were based in London or Oxbridge. Funding was also a problem, as the scandal had temporarily deprived him of his living. The printer was forced to advertise for subscribers, while the book languished for four years.

It is evident that Prince was over-ambitious in his work. The alphabetical entries from A to H fill half the book, while L to Z are squeezed into the final quarter, as money problems took their toll on his inclusions. A second volume, detailing 115 entries chosen by Prince to redress the balance, was never published.

Revival of interest

In 2001 Todd Gray published the court depositions of Prince's church trial as "The Curious Sexual Adventure of the Reverend John Prince", which awakened interest in Prince. The records had gone unpublished, partly due to the coarse language used by some of the witnesses; it was not until the modern decade that such language became less shocking and could be included in a popular work.

In 2005 the book was adapted as a play [http://www.angelfire.com/planet/south_devon_players/prince.html] [http://www.devon.gov.uk/etched?] , "The Tale of John Prince", performed by the South Devon Players theatre company, and written and directed by Laura Jury. The Company performed the play at two venues relevant to the story: The Seven Sisters Hotel in Totnes (next door to the former site of Angel's inn); and also in Berry Pomeroy Church. The possibility of a television adaptation remains open.

References

*Gray, T. "The Curious Sexual Adventure of the Reverend John Prince" (Mint Press, Exeter 2001)
*Prince, J. "Danmonii orientales illustres : or, the worthies of Devon", 1701
*http://www.angelfire.com/planet/south_devon_players/prince.html
*http://www.devon.gov.uk/etched? (South Devon Players theatre company site with information about rev Prince)
*http://www.devon.gov.uk/etched?_IXP_=1&_IXR=114899 (how "The Worthies of Devon" was published)
*http://www.uk-genealogy.org.uk/england/Devon/towns/a/Axminster.html (early life in Axminster)
*url=etched/ixbin/hixclient.exe&_IXP_=1&_IXR=100429 (Berry Pomeroy Community page)