Memorial Mystery

Enter the Church of St James Swimbridge, walk down the central aisle towards the high altar, stand at the sanctuary steps and cast your eyes to the left. There you will see the memorial to John Nott "who was born into this world the 10th day of March1856". The memorial is in the form of an open book but one that does not tell us very much directly. On the first page, all that it tells about he man is that he was supposedly:
                                                 A humble minded Christian
                                                 And the friend of his poorer brethren.
But on page two of the memorial book it then states:
                                                 May our name as his
                                                 Be written
                                                 In the book of life
This tells us, a little more interestingly, what someone thought of the man. What is even more interesting is the unwitting testimony. Look closely at the words "as his" and you will see that someone has tried to erase them. The black inlay which forms the words, has largely been removed although enough remains to read them. Were there doubts that his name would be written in the book of life? I have always assumed that someone merely thought that it was all a little too presumptuous.
       Investigation into the life of John Nott sheds some light. In 1830 John Nott was at the centre of one of the most dramatic incidents in the history of Swimbridge Parish. Agrarian riots had spread across southern England and finally a poor harvest pushed up the price of bread, making it unaffordable to the poorer agricultural labourers. In Swimbridge, the poor decided that one of the ways that their financial plight could be relieved was by a reduction of their rents and tithes. John Nott
had the lease of the tithes, which were due to the Dean and Chapter of Exeter Cathedral and which he collected. A mob marched on Nott's home at Bydown House in order to seek relief and give John Nott a 'bloody shirt". What happened after that is a tale which will be told elsewhere, but all that needs to be noted here is that the poorer parishioners of that time despised him for his actions. Later in 1841 the courts gave the Overseer of the Poor a distress warrant for £24-6s-8d against his property for non-payment of poor rates. He had certainly gained a reputation with Rev. John Russell for being a little less than generous to the poor. This was perhaps further clouded by the bad relationship which had developed between Nott and Russell. Nott was very critical about the way Russell was conducting his ministry. It ended in a sensational court case in which Russell sued Nott for Libel and won.
      There is a feeling, which is a little stronger than a dislike of presumption, that could have accounted for the attempted alteration to the memorial inscription. John Russell was a man worthy of his position and after his victory over Nott in the libel case the North Devon Journal reported that: "The bells of Swimbridge were not rung, Rev. Russell having given peremptory prohibition of any demonstration which might offend the feelings of the defeated". It is doubtful that there were any instructions from Russell to erase the words from the memorial but there are always people who purport to know the mind of the incumbent and even presume to speak words or act on his or her behalf.