Daniel Farson
Encyclopedia
Daniel Negley Farson a British
writer and broadcaster, was a popular television personality and prominent public figure in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
, London
, the son of the American
journalist Negley Farson, his childhood was mostly divided between Britain
and North America
. He visited Germany
with his father while Negley was reporting on the Nazi
regime, and was patted on the head by Adolf Hitler
, who described him as a "good Aryan
boy". He briefly attended the British public school Wellington College, whose militaristic regime was not to his taste; Farson had become intensely aware of his homosexuality
, which would sporadically cause him great emotional strain. As a teenager he worked as a parliamentary correspondent, and was pursued in the House of Commons
by the predatory Labour Member of Parliament
Tom Driberg.
, the first commercial television company to operate in Britain. Here he took risks that few television interviewers (certainly not those employed at the still very conservative BBC
) would dare to take at the time. In his series Out of Step
(1957) and People in Trouble (1958) - never shown at the same time throughout the ITV
network, but much repeated in various regions well into the early 1960s - he dealt with issues of social exclusion and alienation that most of the media at the time preferred to sweep under the carpet (in this he was helped, of course, by the fact that as a gay man - a term he would not himself use even when it came to be much preferred to "homosexual" - in 1950s Britain, he could himself have fitted into the criteria of both series). The most famous editions of these series are the Out of Step programme on nudism (the term "naturism" had yet to become commonplace), which claimed to show the first naked woman on British television, and the People in Trouble programme on mixed marriages (a highly sensitive issue at the time as post-war immigrants tentatively began to integrate into British life). Their fame is at least partially down to the fact that they were repeated comparatively recently, in 1982 (on the fledgling Channel 4
).
Another 1958 Farson series, entitled Keeping in Step, looked at establishment institutions such as public schools from a distinctly more distanced perspective than that seen on virtually all BBC programmes (and even most other Associated-Rediffusion programmes) of the time. A regular guest on Farson's programmes at this stage was James Wentworth Day
, a reactionary
British writer of the Agrarian Right school, who infamously ranted in the programme on mixed marriages, in which he referred to mixed-race children as "coffee-coloured little imps" and argued that black people must be less "civilised" than white people because "a couple of generations ago they were eating each other" (Wentworth Day's remarks were featured in Victor Lewis-Smith
's series Buygones and TV Offal
). Farson would usually respond to these diatribes with a polite statement along the lines of "I couldn't disagree with you more, but at least you do say what you really feel".
However, Wentworth Day's appearances would rapidly come to an end when he claimed that all homosexuals should be hanged
. Farson insisted that the episode of People in Trouble in which Wentworth Day had made those remarks - concerning transvestism
- was scrapped before it had been completed. He publicly insisted that the Independent Television Authority
would ban it; in reality Farson was terrified that Wentworth Day would attempt to bring him to trial - a trial which would inevitably have been a high-profile event comparable to that of Oscar Wilde
. After this, Farson immediately froze Wentworth Day out of his life and his programmes.
Farson's broadcasting career, however, continued to go from strength to strength. Farson's Guide to the British (1959-1960) took a critical eye at a nation in transition and was the first public expression of his long-term quest for the true identity of Jack the Ripper
. Other series included Farson in Australia (1961) and Dan Farson Meets ... (1962), which usually featured popular singers of the time. The one-off programme Beat City (1963) was an atmospheric evocation of the Liverpool
scene which had given birth to The Beatles
and the sociological
factors which had brought it into being. In 1960, he helmed Living For Kicks, a documentary about the frustrations and uncertainties of British teenagers in the post-Elvis
, pre-Beatles era.
The Daily Sketch
, a tabloid paper then owned by Associated Newspapers
(who were the "Associated" in Associated-Rediffusion, although they had sold their stake in the company by this time), led the chorus of revulsion to the documentary. The Daily Mirror responded with a defence of British teenagers; a considerable war of words then developed between the two papers, with the Mirrors well-remembered TV commercials ("The Daily Mirror backs the young!") representing its position on the matter.
where he lived, called Time Gentlemen Please (this led directly to the company's later series Stars and Garters, with which Farson was not, however, personally involved). Soon after this he bought a pub, The Waterman's Arms, in the East End with the explicit intent of reviving old-time music hall
, but this failed and the money he lost would have bought a row of houses at the time (1963). By the end of 1964 he had resigned from Associated-Rediffusion (by then renamed Rediffusion London) and would keep a lower public profile for the rest of his life. He moved from London to live in his parents' house in Devon, but continued to visit the pubs and drinking clubs of London's Soho on a regular basis.
He wrote a number of studies of artists and authors. The Man Who Wrote Dracula (1975) was a life of his grand-uncle, Bram Stoker
. While living at his father's old house in North Devon he established a close friendship with the writer Henry Williamson
(an Agrarian Right ally of James Wentworth Day); Farson paid tribute to Williamson with a book entitled Henry: An Appreciation of Henry Williamson published in 1982, five years after Williamson's death. Sacred Monsters (1988), was a collection of essays on artists and writers he had known.
Farson also wrote the authorized biography of his friend, the painter Francis Bacon
(The Gilded Gutter Life of Francis Bacon (1994) - at Bacon's insistence this was not published until after the artist's death). The 1998 film Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
starring Derek Jacobi
and Daniel Craig
draws heavily on the book, showing Farson (played by Adrian Scarborough
) socialising with Bacon, as well as interviewing him on television. The film is dedicated to him.
His last book was a "portrait" of the artists Gilbert and George
, published posthumously in 1999 (he had already, in 1991, published an informal account of a trip he took with them to Moscow). He devised the Channel 4 art quiz Gallery and he worked as TV critic and, later, art critic for The Mail on Sunday
(oddly, another Associated Newspapers title).
He also wrote travel books, including A Traveller in Turkey, The Independent Traveller's guide to Turkey and A Dry Ship to the Mountains (Down the Volga and Across the Caucasus in My Father's Footsteps), the book version of the children's TV series The Clifton House Mystery
(produced by HTV
West for ITV in 1978), and an appreciation of "Marie Lloyd
and music hall" and a recollection of "Soho
in the Fifties" (a time and a place in which he had found one of his few natural homes).
, had been an alcoholic, and Farson himself had been a heavy drinker since his Bohemian days in Soho in the 1950s. In later years, the effect of alcoholism
became more apparent. He knew he was dying of cancer
in March 1997 when his self-deprecating autobiography, Never A Normal Man (a phrase actually used to describe his father, not himself) was published. He was hung over when he appeared on the BBC Radio 4
programme Midweek to promote this book.
He died at his father's house in Devon
on 27 November 1997.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
writer and broadcaster, was a popular television personality and prominent public figure in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Early life
Born in KensingtonKensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the son of the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalist Negley Farson, his childhood was mostly divided between Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. He visited Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
with his father while Negley was reporting on the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
regime, and was patted on the head by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, who described him as a "good Aryan
Aryan
Aryan is an English language loanword derived from Sanskrit ārya and denoting variously*In scholarly usage:**Indo-Iranian languages *in dated usage:**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers...
boy". He briefly attended the British public school Wellington College, whose militaristic regime was not to his taste; Farson had become intensely aware of his homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, which would sporadically cause him great emotional strain. As a teenager he worked as a parliamentary correspondent, and was pursued in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
by the predatory Labour Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Tom Driberg.
1950s
Farson shot to fame in the 1950s when he joined Associated-RediffusionAssociated-Rediffusion
Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion, London, was the British ITV contractor for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 1954 and 29 July 1968. Transmissions started on 22 September 1955.-Formation:...
, the first commercial television company to operate in Britain. Here he took risks that few television interviewers (certainly not those employed at the still very conservative BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
) would dare to take at the time. In his series Out of Step
Out of Step (TV series)
Out of Step is a documentary series made by Associated-Rediffusion in 1957, in which presenter Daniel Farson looks for unconventional opinions' - surrounding a particular topical issue. Episodes lasted approximately 16 minutes, and the show was placed at 10.30pm in ITV's Wednesday schedule.When the...
(1957) and People in Trouble (1958) - never shown at the same time throughout the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
network, but much repeated in various regions well into the early 1960s - he dealt with issues of social exclusion and alienation that most of the media at the time preferred to sweep under the carpet (in this he was helped, of course, by the fact that as a gay man - a term he would not himself use even when it came to be much preferred to "homosexual" - in 1950s Britain, he could himself have fitted into the criteria of both series). The most famous editions of these series are the Out of Step programme on nudism (the term "naturism" had yet to become commonplace), which claimed to show the first naked woman on British television, and the People in Trouble programme on mixed marriages (a highly sensitive issue at the time as post-war immigrants tentatively began to integrate into British life). Their fame is at least partially down to the fact that they were repeated comparatively recently, in 1982 (on the fledgling Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
).
Another 1958 Farson series, entitled Keeping in Step, looked at establishment institutions such as public schools from a distinctly more distanced perspective than that seen on virtually all BBC programmes (and even most other Associated-Rediffusion programmes) of the time. A regular guest on Farson's programmes at this stage was James Wentworth Day
James Wentworth Day
James Wentworth Day was a British writer and occasional broadcaster, firmly of the Agrarian Right school and essentially a High Tory. He lived for most of his life in East Anglia, an area which would always be his first love; he had a particular interest in wildfowling, and at one stage owned...
, a reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
British writer of the Agrarian Right school, who infamously ranted in the programme on mixed marriages, in which he referred to mixed-race children as "coffee-coloured little imps" and argued that black people must be less "civilised" than white people because "a couple of generations ago they were eating each other" (Wentworth Day's remarks were featured in Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith
Victor Lewis-Smith is a British satirist, producer, critic and prankster. He is known for his sarcasm and biting criticism.-Radio and recordings:...
's series Buygones and TV Offal
TV Offal
TV Offal was a British television comedy sketch/archive series that ran on Channel 4, from October 1997 to June 1998. It was written and narrated by comedian and writer Victor Lewis-Smith, who shared writing duties with Paul Sparks...
). Farson would usually respond to these diatribes with a polite statement along the lines of "I couldn't disagree with you more, but at least you do say what you really feel".
However, Wentworth Day's appearances would rapidly come to an end when he claimed that all homosexuals should be hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
. Farson insisted that the episode of People in Trouble in which Wentworth Day had made those remarks - concerning transvestism
Transvestism
Transvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing clothing traditionally associated with the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often has additional connotations. -History:Although the word transvestism was coined as late as the 1910s,...
- was scrapped before it had been completed. He publicly insisted that the Independent Television Authority
Independent Television Authority
The Independent Television Authority was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" , the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom...
would ban it; in reality Farson was terrified that Wentworth Day would attempt to bring him to trial - a trial which would inevitably have been a high-profile event comparable to that of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
. After this, Farson immediately froze Wentworth Day out of his life and his programmes.
Farson's broadcasting career, however, continued to go from strength to strength. Farson's Guide to the British (1959-1960) took a critical eye at a nation in transition and was the first public expression of his long-term quest for the true identity of Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
. Other series included Farson in Australia (1961) and Dan Farson Meets ... (1962), which usually featured popular singers of the time. The one-off programme Beat City (1963) was an atmospheric evocation of the Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
scene which had given birth to The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and the sociological
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
factors which had brought it into being. In 1960, he helmed Living For Kicks, a documentary about the frustrations and uncertainties of British teenagers in the post-Elvis
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, pre-Beatles era.
The Daily Sketch
Daily Sketch
The Daily Sketch was a British national tabloid newspaper, founded in Manchester in 1909 by Sir Edward Hulton.It was bought in 1920 by Lord Rothermere's Daily Mirror Newspapers but in 1925 Rothermere offloaded it to William and Gomer Berry The Daily Sketch was a British national tabloid newspaper,...
, a tabloid paper then owned by Associated Newspapers
Associated Newspapers
Associated Newspapers is a large national newspaper publisher in the UK, which is a subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust. The group was established in 1905 and is currently based at Northcliffe House in Kensington...
(who were the "Associated" in Associated-Rediffusion, although they had sold their stake in the company by this time), led the chorus of revulsion to the documentary. The Daily Mirror responded with a defence of British teenagers; a considerable war of words then developed between the two papers, with the Mirrors well-remembered TV commercials ("The Daily Mirror backs the young!") representing its position on the matter.
1960s
In 1962, Farson made a documentary for Associated-Rediffusion about pub entertainment in the East End of LondonEast End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
where he lived, called Time Gentlemen Please (this led directly to the company's later series Stars and Garters, with which Farson was not, however, personally involved). Soon after this he bought a pub, The Waterman's Arms, in the East End with the explicit intent of reviving old-time music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
, but this failed and the money he lost would have bought a row of houses at the time (1963). By the end of 1964 he had resigned from Associated-Rediffusion (by then renamed Rediffusion London) and would keep a lower public profile for the rest of his life. He moved from London to live in his parents' house in Devon, but continued to visit the pubs and drinking clubs of London's Soho on a regular basis.
1970s to 1990s
He remained, however, a prolific author and a prominent figure in the art world. He produced several volumes of memoirs. Soho in the Fifties recalled his participation in London's west end Bohemia. Limehouse Days (1991) recalled his disastrous East End pub venture. These and other books were illustrated with his own photographs.He wrote a number of studies of artists and authors. The Man Who Wrote Dracula (1975) was a life of his grand-uncle, Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
. While living at his father's old house in North Devon he established a close friendship with the writer Henry Williamson
Henry Williamson
Henry William Williamson was an English naturalist, farmer and prolific author known for his natural and social history novels. He won the Hawthornden Prize for literature in 1928 with his book Tarka the Otter....
(an Agrarian Right ally of James Wentworth Day); Farson paid tribute to Williamson with a book entitled Henry: An Appreciation of Henry Williamson published in 1982, five years after Williamson's death. Sacred Monsters (1988), was a collection of essays on artists and writers he had known.
Farson also wrote the authorized biography of his friend, the painter Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon (painter)
Francis Bacon , was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery. Bacon's painterly but abstract figures typically appear isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
(The Gilded Gutter Life of Francis Bacon (1994) - at Bacon's insistence this was not published until after the artist's death). The 1998 film Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
Love is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon is a 1998 film made for television by the British Broadcasting Corporation . It was written and directed by John Maybury and stars Derek Jacobi, Daniel Craig, and Tilda Swinton....
starring Derek Jacobi
Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
and Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig
Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. His early film roles include Elizabeth, The Power of One, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and the television episodes Sharpe's Eagle, Zorro and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Daredevils of the Desert...
draws heavily on the book, showing Farson (played by Adrian Scarborough
Adrian Scarborough
Adrian Philip Scarborough is an English character actor and won an Olivier award for best actor in a supporting role in 2011.Scarborough was born in Melton Mowbray, and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, winning the Chesterton Award for Best Actor.In 1993, he was nominated for the Ian...
) socialising with Bacon, as well as interviewing him on television. The film is dedicated to him.
His last book was a "portrait" of the artists Gilbert and George
Gilbert and George
Gilbert & George are two artists who work together as a collaborative duo. Gilbert Proesch and George Passmore have become famous for their distinctive, highly formal appearance and manner and their brightly coloured graphic-style photo-based artworks.-Early life:Gilbert Proesch was...
, published posthumously in 1999 (he had already, in 1991, published an informal account of a trip he took with them to Moscow). He devised the Channel 4 art quiz Gallery and he worked as TV critic and, later, art critic for The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday is a British conservative newspaper, currently published in a tabloid format. First published in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it became Britain's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper following the closing of The News of the World in July 2011...
(oddly, another Associated Newspapers title).
He also wrote travel books, including A Traveller in Turkey, The Independent Traveller's guide to Turkey and A Dry Ship to the Mountains (Down the Volga and Across the Caucasus in My Father's Footsteps), the book version of the children's TV series The Clifton House Mystery
The Clifton House Mystery
The Clifton House Mystery was a British children's television paranormal drama series written by Daniel Farson and Harry Moore, produced by Patrick Dromgoole and directed by Hugh David, and shown in 1978 by HTV....
(produced by HTV
HTV
HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
West for ITV in 1978), and an appreciation of "Marie Lloyd
Marie Lloyd
Matilda Alice Victoria Wood was an English music hall singer, best known as Marie Lloyd. Her ability to add lewdness to the most innocent of lyrics led to frequent clashes with the guardians of morality...
and music hall" and a recollection of "Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
in the Fifties" (a time and a place in which he had found one of his few natural homes).
Final years
His father, Negley FarsonNegley Farson
James Negley Farson , was an American author and adventurer.Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Farson was raised by his eccentric grandfather, the Civil War General James Negley. He was educated at Andover and read civil engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He was expelled from this...
, had been an alcoholic, and Farson himself had been a heavy drinker since his Bohemian days in Soho in the 1950s. In later years, the effect of alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
became more apparent. He knew he was dying of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in March 1997 when his self-deprecating autobiography, Never A Normal Man (a phrase actually used to describe his father, not himself) was published. He was hung over when he appeared on the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
programme Midweek to promote this book.
He died at his father's house in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
on 27 November 1997.