East Devon MP Simon Jupp has paid tribute to a group of local residents who have set up a link between their village and an American city founded by a Devon-born settler four centuries ago.  

The Conant 400 project in East Budleigh has been set up to coincide with Mayflower 400, the British Plymouth-based organisation which is commemorating the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers in the New World. 

None of the Mayflower Pilgrims came from Devon, but the 1620 voyage was followed during two decades by many other groups of people in a phenomenon known as the Great Puritan Migration.

Among them was Roger Conant, the youngest son of East Budleigh's miller who sailed to America in 1623 and three years later founded the city of Salem Massachusetts. 

Conant initially joined the Plymouth Pilgrims, but apparently found them too strict for his liking. He has been admired by Americans for his attitude of tolerance and conciliation at a time when the early settlers faced so many dangers. 

Prof Stanley Roberts, chair of the Conant 400 group, said that positive contact had been made with City of Salem officials and with Salem State University, and that various ways of commemorating Roger Conant were being explored.  The group has also been in contact with Tourist Information Centres in East Devon to discover how the area can benefit from Mayflower 400 away from Plymouth. 

Simon Jupp, MP for East Devon said; "East Devon should be proud of its Pilgrim, Roger Conant. He was a leader with vision. I congratulate members of East Budleigh's Conant 400 project for their initiative in developing transatlantic links which I hope will benefit local tourism and education."