I possess a number of booklets published by the 'Lincolnshire Family History Society' - and is entitled 'Extracts from the Minute of the Board of Guardians Stamford Union Workhouse - Part Three 1844-1847 - by Anne Cole and Derek Paine (2008). This extract is from Page 33. 'Mr Wyles' - lives in South Witham - which is around 15 miles 'North of 'Duddington'!
0 Comments
Northants Home Guard was comprised of 15 Battalions - with each Battalion being comprised of 3 Companies. Each Company was usually comprised of 3 Platoons. A Platoon should be comprised of around 30 men. Of course, these are ideal numbers not always followed due to local conditions. Incidentally, 3 Battalions usually form a 'Brigade' - with 3 Brigades forming a 'Division'. The book referenced below gives the exact designation of the King's Cliffe Platoon - although we do not know the exact number of the Platoon - which was part of 'A' Company of the 3rd (Oundle) Battalion of the Northants Home Guard. Oundle Divided into Six Companies The 3rd (Oundle) Battalion (Lt-Col FR Berridge) was well in step with the new regularization. It now divided into six companies, with the area reaching from Denford and Addington in the south to Easton on the Hill in the north, and from Lutton in the east to Brigstock and Deene in the west A Company (King’s Cliffe) was originally commanded by Major FJ Lenton, MC, who later became the Battalion’s second-in-command. He was succeeded by Major Simpson, a farmer, and a veteran of the 1914-18 war Chapter VII – The Battalions Reviewed, Page 75 Another interesting observation quoted below states that the 2nd (Soke Peterborough) Battalion of the Northants Home Guard also covered the King's Cliffe (and by implication - Duddington) area, Just what this means is open to interpretation - but it seems to suggest that some Home Guard Units 'overlapped' their defensive capabilities: Like other battalions, the 2nd also had its own special problems and responsibilities – among them being the Wittering, King’s Cliffe and Westwood aerodromes, the works of P Brotherhood & Co, the Royal Army Ordnance Depot at Walton, and the Wainsford viaduct on the Great North Road. Chapter VII – The Battalions Reviewed, Page 73 Quoted from: BG Holloway – Zone HQ Intelligence and Public Relations Officer (Editor) & H Banks A Company, (Northampton) Battalion (Collaborator), The Northants Home Guard (1940-1945) – A History of the Services of Men and Women of Northamptonshire Who in the World War of 1939-1945 Forsook Their Rest and Leisure to Rally in the Defence of the Homeland and Defiance of the Invader, The Naval & Military Press Lrd, (2019)
Dear Gillian
As far as I can see at the moment - according to extant written documents (various local Church and tax lists) a group of two or three wealthy 'Wyles' brothers entered Duddington around early 1500s as they appear on a Tax Demand for the area in 1523 (Henry VIII). This could be a father and two sons as it is difficult to discern exactly, but it was before the Reformation firmly hit in and I assume St Mary's Church would have been 'Catholic' and full of icons (according to the now 'empty' icon alcoves dotted throughout the interior of the Church). (In 1587, the Sir Walter Raleigh's voyage to establish the so-called lost colony of 'Raonoke' in the Americas left England with a 'John Wyles' and 'Brian Wyles' on board. It would be 'tidy' from a research perspective if these two men were registered as coming from Duddington - but all I could find is that they were from 'London'). The next Tax Demand is for the expanding Wyles family of Duddington to pay tax to Elizabeth I (in 1588). The St Mary's Church obviously transitions to 'Protestant' and the 'Jackson' family enter Duddington. This Stamford family (literally the 'Son of Jack') made their money as bakers. Prior to this time, however, the Wyles family was very prominent landowners in and around Duddington - and had been for a long-time before this, with a number acting as solicitors to Lord Burghley (Cecil William 1520-1588) and his descendants as well as frequenting the Stately home of Burghley House (just up the road c. 15th and 16th centuries). We have found all this out primarily through Wills in the local area, and Court Rolls documents of land-sale and land-acquisition kept at local Northamptonshire libraries and the local record office. Quite often the Name 'Robert Wyles' appears as either the 'organising' or 'witnessing' Solicitor during various (written) transactions which they then 'signed'. The name 'Robert' was passed from father to son within this particular (legal) branch of the 'Wyles' in Duddington during the 16th and 17th centuries. Although there's the names of four 'Wyles' people 'engraved' on the lower part of the wall of the 'vestry' of St Mary's (c. 1600s) as an act of compensation for their family tomb being dismantled to make-way for the vestry, and a 'George Wyles' buried under a flagstone inside St Mary's Church (1800s) - all the flag-stones leading up to - and surrounding the Altar - are now dedicated to the 'Jackson' family - but I would suggest that these are later replacements for far-older 'Wyles' burials. I suspect that as the 'Wyles' family lost their social prominence and wealth in the area (becoming 'Black Smiths'), the Church simply adjusted to the times and started to reflect the local prominence of the 'Jackson' family. I would like to know what the earlier flag-stone burials recorded - perhaps these still lie under the latest burials hidden beneath the later flag-stones. This would be prior to around the 1650s when Jackson interior Church burials become extant. Obviously, before this date of 1650 CE the interior of the Church could not have been 'bare'. The wealthy courted Church attention through paying for this type of burial. Although my great grandfather - Archibald Wyles (1887-1941) left Duddington around 1905 - his Grandmother mother - my Great Great Great Grand mother - Mary Ann Wyles (nee 'Sweeby') [1839-1917) - did not pass away until 1917! She is recorded as being buried in the graveyard of St Mary's - but this is a grave we have been unable to locate. The Viking ‘Wyles’ ('Jarls') Surname Entered Duddington During the Times of ‘Danelaw’ (c. 874 CE)11/20/2021 The ‘Duddington Hoard’ was discovered in Duddington during 1994, and consists of thirty-seven (37) silver coins (’pennies’) of Anglo-Saxon production. Marion MacCallum Archibald (1935-2016) - of the British Museum - was responsible for taking delivery of these coins, and providing an authoritative academic report regarding the provenance of these coins. Indeed, in her report dated May 25th, 1995, Marion M Archibald states (in-part) the following information:
‘The coins are silver pennies, some very base, of Burgred, King of Mercia 852-874, and of his brothers-in-law the Kings of Wessex, Athelred I, 865/6-871, and Alfred the Great, 871-899. All are of the Lunette type (so named from the moon-shaped panels on the reverse) produced as a unified type for the Mercian and West Saxon Kingdoms, and dating from the period of the late 860s and earlier 870s. The coins are listed in the schedule. The latest coins were probably issued c. 874/5. The coins of the West Saxon Kings circulated freely in the territories of the Mercian King and vice-versa at this time, with hoards usually containing a mixture of their coins as here. The Vikings raided extensively over England in the early 870s and in 874 Burgred fled into exile, leaving the Vikings in control of the east Midlands and the eastern counties. It is to this critical period that the Duddington hoard, as of several others, belongs.’ Up until 874 CE, it seems that the Anglo-Saxon village of ‘Duddington’ was part of the Anglo-Saxon ‘country’ of East Mercia falling under the rule of King Burgred (852-888 CE). Duddington – the ‘clearing in the Forest Founded by Dudd’ - was founded at some point between the 6th and 9th centuries CE according to Anglo-Saxon archaeological finds discovered throughout the area. Further evidence suggests that with the Viking Great Army successfully entered the ‘Cambridge’ area during the Winter of 1874, causing the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of ‘Duddington’ to bury their wealth and flee the area! Obviously, their intention was to return to gather their wealth at a later date, but events turned-out otherwise (as the Vikings occupied the area for hundreds of years). Whilst the Vikings did not intensively settle the entirety of the large area of North and Eastern England they had conquered (known as ‘Danelaw’) – the Vikings did extensively settle the five towns of Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford (with Duddington situated just 5 miles Soutwest of Stamford) - collectively known as the ‘Five Boroughs’. The ‘Danelaw’ existed in the North and Eastern England between 865-954 CE – and signifies that ‘Danish Law’ is applied to the local population through the Law Courts. As a legal system, it was separate and distinct from the ‘Christianised’ legal systems in use throughout the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic areas of Britain. I am of the opinion that the ‘Wyles’ surname entered the Duddington area with the conquering Viking Great Army during late 874 CE. References: https://wylesfamilyofduddington.weebly.com/duddington-hoard-1994.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Archibald https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylloge_of_Coins_of_the_British_Isles https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/The-Five-Boroughs-Of-Danelaw/ https://www.wikiwand.com/en/History_of_Anglo-Saxon_England#/English_unification_.2810th_century.29 https://vikinghistorytales.blogspot.com/2013/11/874-great-danish-army-split-up.html |
AuthorAdrian Chan-Wyles - Last Male Descendant of the 'Wyles' Family of Duddington! Archives
November 2023
Categories
All
|
- Home
- Wyles family of Duddington Facebook
- Wyles Blog
- Duddington: Etymology
- Duddington Land Survey (1984)
- Statement Of Inclusivity (17.7.2019)
- Wyles Family Tree (1301-2016)
- Origins of the Wyles Family of Kings Cliffe
- Deciphering the Wyles Enigma of Duddington
- Etymology: Wyles Family Name
- Wyles Family Portraits
- Kilmurray Clan (Eire)
- 69th South Lincolnshire Regiment
- Duddington Hoard (1994)
- Duddington Church & Graveyard
- Duddington Videos
- Duddington Digest
- Wyles Family Coat of Arms
- Wyles Family Paternal DNA
- Wyles Family Certificates
- Wyles-Wiles Extra Parish Records Data
- Wyles Marriages
- Northamptonshire Record Cards
- Duddington Militia List – 1777
- Wyles Wills & Marriages (1601-1790)
- Wyles Marriages Cambridgeshire (1618-1830)
- Duddington area: Baptisms (1650-1812)
- Duddington area: Baptisms (1813-1843)
- Duddington area: Marriages (1650-1860)
- Duddington area: Burials (1700-1865)
- Duddington Burials (1735-1966)
- Contact
©opyright: Site design, layout & content (2009) Adrian Peter Chan-Wyles. No part of this site (or information contained herein) may be copied, reproduced, duplicated, or otherwise distributed without prior written agreement
from [email protected].
from [email protected].