The nave window nearest to the south transept shows the two apostle saints and sons of Zebedee, James and John.  St James, bearded, to the left, holds a great sword in his left hand, while the youthful St John has a book showing the opening words of his Gospel in Latin: “In Principio Erat Verbum”.  The window was designed by Charles Eamer Kempe and was the first of his windows to be installed in St David’s.

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The window is dedicated to Henry Septimus Eland, who died on 25 January 1901.  He was the seventh son of a draper and banker of Thrapston, Northamptonshire, where he was born on 2 August 1840.  In 1869 he took over an existing bookseller and stationer business at 24 High Street and gave it his name. The following year he moved to new premises at 236 High Street, and soon expanded the business to include a lending library and a fine art gallery, in which the best West Country artists of the time offered their work for sale.  He took on bookbinding and picture framing, as well as selling newspapers and journals, and publishing books of local interest.  In 1880 he opened a branch library in Exmouth.

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Henry Eland and his wife Emma lived for many years at 58 (now 20) St David’s Hill and there they brought up their three sons and two daughters.  He was a member of the committee which supervised the building of the new St David’s and a major contributor to the cost.  He is sixth on the list of subscribers with £200, and his wife and daughters added their own smaller donations.

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​Two of his sons took on the business in 1909, as soon as the elder of the two, Frank, reached the age of 25.  The name was changed to Eland Brothers, and Frank and his brother Henry ran the firm for many years.  The premises in High Street were bombed in 1942, but the business survived in various locations. Many will remember Elands’ in the early years of this century as a fine stationer and map shop in Cathedral Close, and before that, for more than 30 years, in Bedford Street.