Will be held via ZOOM,
7.30 pm Tuesday 16th April 2024 by Professor Mark Stoyle
The Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549
This talk tells the story of the Western Rising of 1549 - the so-called 'Prayer Book Rebellion'- which saw thousands of ordinary people in Devon and Cornwall rising up against the protestantizing religious reforms of the boy-king Edward VI. The talk will draw on new evidence to explore both the causes and the course of the rebellion. It will also consider the terrible consequences which ensued when the protestors were eventually crushed by a powerful royal army, and will argue that the rising was the most catastrophic event to occur in Devon and Cornwall between the Black Death and the Civil War.
Mark Stoyle grew up in rural mid-Devon, and after leaving school worked for a time as a field archaeologist in Exeter. He is currently Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Southampton, and has particular research interests in the British crisis of the 1640's; in witchcraft; in urban society; and in Tudor rebellions. He has written many monographs and scholarly articles and his latest book - A Murderous Midsummer: The Western Rising of 1549-was published by Yale University Press in August 2022. He is also one of the co-investigators on the major AHRC-funded research project, 'Conflict, Welfare and Memory: Maimed Soldiers and War Widows of the English Civil Wars'. Mark has served on the Council of the Royal Historical Society, on the advisory board of the Victoria County History and on the editorial advisory panel of BBC History Magazine. He has also appeared on many radio and TV programmes.
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The Harberton and Harbertonford History Society encourages the study of the local history of Harberton Parish and the surrounding County.
There are approximately 5 meetings with speakers each year and at least one field excursion. Meetings take place in Harberton or Harbertonford on alternative dates, or via Zoom sessions - details of which can be found in the Programme.
Members of the Society have gathered information on the past history of the villages, personalities and the Parish including the preparation of historic walks around both Harberton and Harbertonford. The Society is making collections of photographs and some artefacts and have embarked on an oral history project to build an archive of first hand histories in both villages.
Subjects covered in previous meetings have included:-
The History of Harbertonford Mill Pilotage on the River Dart
The Construction of the Avon Dam Victorian Crime in Totnes
Tuckenhay Paper Mill Church Houses in Devon
Vagrants and Travellers in 17 Century Harberton
The Trist Family of Harberton
Field Trips have included visits to:
Finch's Foundry at Sticklepath
Grimspound and Bellever Neolithic Sites, both accompanied by an
Archaeologist from Dartmoor National Park
Membership is open to anybody interested in local history and is £12 per year with talks free to Members. Non members are welcome to meetings at the cost of £3 per meeting.
The Society is keen to receive photographs/articles/family records for the archives which can also be added to our website.
Please contact our secretary Jill Powell - jill.powell-redlion@outlook.com
We are affilliated to The Devon History Society - see links page
Chairmen:--
Derek Robinson in Harbertonford 01803 732442
Stanley Oldfield in Harberton 01803 864654
Harberton & Harbertonford
History Society
