LOCAL Devon author Jonathan Crofts’ second book “The Portsmouth Connection” was published on November 29.

Subtitled “Stories and Lives of Devon Villages and an Aristocratic Estate”, this new history reveals a tangle of connections between two Devon villages and a scandalous 19th-century lunacy trial, a countess with literary and activist ambitions, a great Devonshire estate, and the capricious fortunes of wealthy local families and benevolent earls.

A curious set of circumstances circles back from Eveline, the Fifth Countess of Portsmouth, daughter of the Carnarvon family of Highclere Castle, to the Fellowes family and the much-loved TV and film hit Downton Abbey.

Tales of rural and farming life intermingle with the lives of the rich and famous of their day, country gentlemen, motor enthusiasts, writers and politicians, whose influence stretched from London and Hampshire, Scotland and Ireland, to deepest Devon.

The eventual demise of the vast estate coincided with the transformation of society around the First World War, forever changing life in England for rich and poor alike.

The family finally left Devon in the 1930s, leaving their properties and businesses to flourish under new owners. Despite upheavals and tribulations, the Portsmouth name persists today from village to village, in churches, country houses, railway stations, pubs and road names.

Julian Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford DL, actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter, and a peer of the House of Lords, best known for the internationally acclaimed, award-winning TV series “Downton Abbey” and its associated films, says in his Foreword:

“Jonathan Crofts’ book is a treasure trove of connections brought to light through people’s lives and the places they live in.

“The letter ‘P’ and a crest over the front door of a Devon village farmhouse connect the 400-year-old building to the Wallop family, the Earls of Portsmouth, who owned the enormous local estate for over two centuries, along with three quarters of that village, and many others nearby.

“There is a historical connection with my own family, the Fellowes, earlier owners of the estate, who married into the Portsmouth (or Wallop) family, and I am still friendly with the Portsmouths today. My own family claim descent from Thomas, of the original family of William Fellowes of Eggesford.

“Of the great-grandchildren of William Fellowes, the early 18th-century owner of the Eggesford estate, Isaac Newton Wallop (5th Earl of Portsmouth) was the second great-grandson, and the sixth was George Herbert (8th Earl of Carnarvon).

“The Carnarvons have owned Highclere Castle, the famous main location for my most well-known screen work, Downton Abbey, for over three centuries.

“The connections (or perhaps coincidences?) run deep. For one episode of ‘Downton Abbey’, I dared to name one of the characters after the current Lady Portsmouth, Annabel.

“The son of my great-aunt, Isie, who helped bring my father up, is buried in the churchyard of the Eggesford estate, All Saints.

“Isie herself was the model for the late Maggie Smith’s redoubtable Dowager Countess in ‘Downton’. And the great-grandmother of the current (10th) Earl of Portsmouth, Quentin Wallop, took care of my own great-grandmother when she was suddenly widowed in a carriage accident in the 1890s.

“Jonathan’s book tells the story of the evolution of the Eggesford estate, its owners and its principal seat, Eggesford House, through to the last Portsmouth owners in Devon in the 1930s.

“He recounts tales of the buildings and inhabitants of Eggesford, a parish without a village.

“Historically and geographically close to Eggesford, the ancient village of Chawleigh bursts into life with tales from the past of buildings such as the church, parsonage/rectory, schoolhouse and traditional hostelries.

“Stories of its inhabitants reveal a rich social and agricultural history, dating back even before the Domesday Book to when ancient forests were cleared by early cattle herders.

“In 1869, Chawleigh suffered a catastrophic fire, and the memory of the respected 5th Earl of Portsmouth who helped rebuild the village has been preserved in the name of the pub closest to the area of regeneration.

“His Countess, Eveline, embraced not just her friends from the world of literature and traditional country pursuits, but was an early supporter of the suffragettes and active in charity work.

“Snapshots of English life outside the towns and cities, especially in the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian periods, show influences over recent centuries from people and politics, national and world events, the improvement of transport, arrival of electricity and other factors.

“Today, the legacy of my ancestors and family friends is overshadowed by transformations in agriculture, property ownership and technology which continue to affect the character of villages such as Chawleigh and Eggesford.

“Jonathan’s book is full of illustrations and will delight readers who know and love this part of Mid and North Devon, but others also who are interested to understand the historic counterpoint between aristocratic families and their estates, tenants and other occupiers, not to mention the connections with literature and screen.

“Although very different, usually on a smaller scale and no doubt not as rich, many original such estates and landowning families continue to thrive, especially in large rural counties such as Devon.”

The Portsmouth Connection has 261 pages and 160 illustrations and is for sale at selected Devon retail venues, including The Bookery in Crediton and online at: https://richmondbridgemedia.bigcartel.com/, priced £20.

A proportion of the sale price will go to two local charities.