John Biffen was born in 1930 in Hill Farm, Otterhampton. He attended the village school, then Doctor Morgan’s Grammar School in Bridgwater before going to Jesus College, Cambridge to study History. He became a Member of Parliament in 1961 and served until 1997 when he gained a life peerage, becoming Lord Biffen. He passed away in 2007, aged 76. He served in Margaret Thatcher’s and later John Major’s government as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, then Secretary of State for Trade and finally Leader of the House of Commons, having come a very long way from his humble origins as the son of a tenant farmer.
The plaque was unveiled by Lady Sarah Biffen at noon on Tuesday, 3 February 2009, at the Otterhampton Village Hall
Otterhampton means something either like ‘the farming settlement frequented by otters’ or the ‘outermost farming settlement’. Close nearby is the village of Combwich, ‘the village near the water’, which has existed since at least Roman times, and was an important crossing point of the River Parrett. There was a causeway which could be used at low tide, and at high tide there was a ferry, which took travellers to the far bank and the now ruined Whitehouse Inn and onwards to the Polden Hills. To the west is the picturesque village of Stogursey, ‘Stoke Curcy’ meaning ‘the place belonging to William de Curcy’. There is a delightful castle there, largely ruined but with a cottage built in the remains of the old gatehouse.