UNITED KINGDOM
Express
Monday November 5,2012
By James Parry
IN A corner of a country churchyard in north Norfolk lies the grave of Harold Francis Davidson, the last resting place of a man who 80 years ago was at the heart of a case that scandalised the Church of England and caused a press furore. Davidson was a church rector who strayed beyond his brief and was sensationally defrocked in 1932 after a trial that gripped the nation. The potent mix of sex, skulduggery and abuse of authority proved toxic and still resonates today.
Davidson came from a long line of clergymen but his early interests were rather more theatrical. He revelled in amateur dramatics at school and toured for several months in 1895 with a group of likeminded friends, performing as entertainers. But in the autumn of 1903 the young Davidson turned his back on the stage and was ordained as a priest.
Three years later he was posted as rector to the parish of Stiffkey St John and Stiffkey St Mary & Morston, located on a remote stretch of the Norfolk coastline. In the Edwardian era that part of the country was far from being the fashionable rural playground for the chattering classes that it is today. Local society was still deeply feudal with a small-minded establishment holding sway and with firm views on what was and was not appropriate behaviour.
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