His neglect of his local duties over many years strained relations with his parishioners in Stiffkey; after a formal complaint, the Bishop of Norwich instituted disciplinary proceedings through a consistory court.

His descendants have continued to assert his innocence of any wrongdoing, and later commentators have generally accepted that however unwise and inappropriate his behaviour, his basic motives were genuine and he did not deserve the humiliations he endured.

[6] Under his aunts' influence, Davidson became a part-time worker at Toynbee Hall, an East End charity founded by Samuel and Henrietta Barnett which attracted many volunteers from schools and universities.

[4] Davidson's principal theatrical genre was that of the "drawing-room entertainer"; Cullen describes this kind of performance as "An answer to the demand of a rising middle class which was neither cultured nor resourceful, but which wanted desperately to be diverted".

[7] During his theatrical days, Davidson maintained high standards of personal morality, observed strict teetotalism and gave regular Bible readings to the elderly in the towns in which he performed on tour.

[14] Davidson's appointment in 1906 as rector of the Norfolk parish of Stiffkey with Morston came through the patronage of the 6th Marquess Townshend, whose family had a long history of public and political service in the county.

[14][16] The Stiffkey living was highly desirable, with 60 acres (24 ha) of glebe land, a large Georgian rectory, and an income in 1906 of £503 per annum, rising during Davidson's incumbency to £800.

[24][n 5] He also became chaplain to the Actors' Church Union, based at St Paul's, Covent Garden, and was frequently to be found backstage in London's theatres, ministering to the needs of showgirls—sometimes with an unwelcomed degree of persistence.

Shingled heads, clear cheeky eyes, nifty legs, warm, blunt-fingered workaday hands, small firm breasts and, most importantly, good strong healthy teeth, besotted him."

He also tried to get her a job with a touring theatre company, took her to Paris to find employment as an au pair, kept her supplied with small sums of money, and paid her medical bills when she was suffering from venereal disease.

Davidson was mesmerised, says Blythe, by "the ineffable harmonies created by starched linen crackling over young breasts and black-stockinged calves in chubby conference just below the hem of the parlourmaid's frock".

He sought to improve his financial position when, in about 1920, he met Arthur John Gordon, supposedly a wealthy American company promoter but in reality an undischarged bankrupt and confidence trickster.

"[46] On one occasion, Davidson arrived late at Morston to officiate at a communion service, having forgotten the bread and wine; enraged, Hamond ordered him back to the rectory to collect it.

[45] An even greater lapse, in Hamond's eyes, was Davidson's failure to return to Stiffkey in time to officiate at the 1930 Armistice Day ceremony at the local war memorial.

[47] Early in 1931, advised by a cousin who was a priest, Hamond made a formal complaint against Davidson to the Bishop of Norwich, the Right Reverend Bertram Pollock,[48] citing the rector's supposed behaviour with women in London.

[49] In search of evidence, Dashwood hired a private enquiry agent, who soon found Rose Ellis and persuaded her to sign a statement detailing her ten-year association with Davidson.

[51][52] On 7 February the bishop received a letter from a 17-year-old girl, Barbara Harris, which contained specific allegations of immoral conduct against Davidson and promised more: "I know lots of things against him that might help you ...

The prosecution's case was in the hands of a high-profile legal team, headed by Roland Oliver KC and including the future cabinet minister Walter Monckton.

[63] The picture that Harris' letter and evidence presented, if true, Tucker says, was that of "a man who is out of control ... running around London entertaining teenage girls ... adopting the guise of a kindly priest to ingratiate himself".

The two priests wrestled with the book for some seconds before Cattell yielded, telling the congregation: "As nothing short of force will prevent Mr Davidson from taking part, I can see nothing left to do but to withdraw.

"[71] The crowds of reporters and sightseers at weekends led the Archdeacon of Lynn to issue a statement deploring the "media circus" and asking that "the full spirit of worship" be restored to Sunday services.

On 18 July he made his debut with a variety act at the Prince's Cinema in Wimbledon and later toured in the provinces until, possibly dissuaded by pressure from church authorities, theatres declined to book him.

[79] Then, in what Blythe describes as a "horrible little ceremony",[80] Bishop Pollock delivered the most severe sentence available—that of deposition: "Now therefore we, Bertram ... do thereby pronounce decree and declare that the said Reverend Harold Francis Davidson being a priest and deacon ought to be entirely removed, deposed and degraded from the said offices.

As the ceremony ended he made a furious impromptu speech, denouncing the sentence and declaring his intention to appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Gordon Lang.

[84] His only recourse was to return to Blackpool and resume his career as a showman; this became his milieu for the next four years, interrupted by occasional prosecutions for obstruction and a nine-day spell in prison in 1933, for non-payment of rent owing to one of his former London landladies.

[10] Although the barrel act remained his staple performance, he introduced variations over the years: freezing in a refrigerated chamber, or being roasted in a glass-fronted oven while a mechanised devil prodded him with a pitchfork.

[90] He could not avoid press attention; in November 1936 he was arrested and fined for pestering two 16-year-old girls at Victoria station—he had approached them offering auditions for a leading role in a West End show.

Davidson was prevented from addressing the meeting, at which he dropped numerous copies of a mimeographed pamphlet titled "I Accuse", in which he listed his grievances and castigated the Church's hierarchy.

[92] By 1937 interest in Davidson's Blackpool sideshows was waning and, for that summer, he accepted an invitation to join the self-styled "Captain" Fred Rye's animal-themed show in the east coast resort of Skegness.

Somner struggled to pacify the snarling Freddie, who eventually dropped the unconscious Davidson, enabling her to drag him to safety; he was badly gashed, and had suffered a broken bone in his neck.