Nicholas St Aubyn: Saints and Sinners

Join Falmouth Bookseller in welcoming Nicholas St Aubyn to talk about his latest book, Saints and Sinners, which follows the true story of the fluctuating fortunes of the St Aubyns of Cornwall, through wars, plots and rebellions. For the very first time, backed by scholarly detail, the book describes how family has survived across an entire millennium, ranked below the courtly level so often covered before.

Saints and Sinners: How My Family Survived A Thousand Years Of History

This is a true story. About survival. A Breton soldier who fought at Hastings returns to his family’s ancient Celtic roots in the West County.

Nicholas St Aubyn follows his family’s tenuous path over the next one thousand years, describing those they loved, the many wars they fought, and their role in Cornish rebellions. His story also features a host of remarkable women, from the Countess of Oxford in the 14th century to Honor Basset at the 16th century Tudor court and Vita Sackville-West, a member of the 20th century Bloomsbury Group. He shows how the St Aubyns acquired St Michaels’ Mount during the Civil War, the Jacobite conspiracy plotted by Sir John St Aubyn, and the love between his grandson Sir John and local farmer’s daughter, Juliana, who inspired Winston Graham’s Poldark novels.

The story moves from medieval battles, and shipwrecked treasure in Mount’s Bay, to love at the Court of Henry VIII, and the political fortunes of fourteen family MPs since 1283. The diary of one illegitimate son reveals the life of a Regency rake, as another builds a property empire in Devonport, while a third shocks his parishioners. In the First World War, St Aubyns were found on the Western Front, and during the Second, they served on the PQ17 Arctic Convoy and at the Battle of Arnhem. The gift of the family castle to the National Trust seventy years ago is one of many events that give this history its unique and increasingly personal perspective as the family identity evolves.

The author also portrays the symbiotic bond which has evolved over eight hundred years between the St Aubyns and the island jewel of St Michael’s Mount, secured in the turbulence that followed the Civil War.

About Nicholas St Aubyn

Nicholas St Aubyn won a scholarship to Oxford, where he studied politics and philosophy, then worked in the City. He later ran West Country businesses, winning awards for enterprise and innovation. He stood in Truro, including the 1987 by-election, before becoming MP for Guildford. Custom of the County, his first novel, was “a fast-paced adventure” (Western Morning News) which  "weaves a fascinating tapestry out of the remnants of historical evidence” (BBC Cornwall). 

He lives in the Surrey Hills with his wife Jane, their children, grandchildren and dogs.

Nicholas St Aubyn: Saints and Sinners: How My Family Survived A Thousand Years Of History

Thursday 15th May, 6:30pm

The Poly, Falmouth

Tickets: £8

A £1 Poly Fund payment is added to each ticket sold. A 50p booking fee is also applied per ticket for online and telephone transactions.