I MUST point out a factual error that appeared in History Fact Files: What was the Monmouth Rebellion?'' (Forest Journal, last week).

James II, the younger brother of Charles II, was the sole, legitimate heir to the throne in 1685 but unfortunately caused embarrassment to the Anglican establishment by converting to Roman Catholicism.

For that reason, the admittedly illegitimate son of the dead king who had been created Duke of Monmouth proved a popular choice of candidate successor because he was a member of the Church of England.

Ironically, James II (who reigned for only three years, until William III was invited from Holland to depose the House of Stuart) could claim support from both the Roman Catholic minority and a burgeoning movement of Protestant dissenters', who were equally opposed to, in effect, an intolerant Anglican Church that endorsed the secular authorities' abrogation of civil rights to non-Anglicans for the next 150 years.

RUSSELL WEBB, Seymour Road, Ringwood