Reverend Jack Russell, famed for his terriers

John "Jack" Russell, known as "The Sporting Parson", was the vicar of Swimbridge and rector of Black Torrington in North Devon. He was an enthusiastic fox-hunter and dog breeder, and was the original breeder of the famous Jack Russell Terrier.

John Russell (1795 – 1883) was born in Dartmouth, Devon. Whilst studying at Exeter College, Oxford, legend has it that he bought a small tan and white terrier female dog from a local milkman. She was white with patches of tan over her eyes. A small patch in the size of a penny marked the root of her tail. The name of the dog was Trump, and she became the matriarch of a breeding programme to create a terrier with stamina and courage for foxhunting - a pastime that Russell much enjoyed.

Jack Russell terriers, as they became known, were well-suited by the shortness and strength of their legs for digging out foxes which had "gone to earth" having been hunted over-ground by fox hounds.

Russell was a founding member of The Kennel Club. He seems to have been a flamboyant character. He married an heiress, but ran through her money quickly with his love of sports, fine dining and socialising.

He was vicar at St James Church in Swimbridge, near Barnstaple, for 40 years from 1832. It was said that his sermons were brief by Victorian standards, because his hunting horse was usually saddled and waiting in the churchyard.

The village has a pub called the Jack Russell Inn, and its sign is a reproduction of a painting of Trump which was commissioned by the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). The original still hangs at Sandringham.

These days, Jack Russell dogs are popular pets, and several of these characterful dogs have become stars of film and television.