We first become aware that the Wyles side of my family lived in a sleepy village called “Duddington” around 2008 – thanks to the research of Diane Wyles (my mother) – who diligently worked her way through copious amounts of Birth, Baptism, Marriage, Taxation, Military , and Death Certificates, as well a Census Records – that the internet allowed to be shared with alacrity. We learned that my “Wyles” family lived in Duddington from at least the 1520s – with an Oxford academic pointing-out that he had found a “Wyles” living in the area around 1301 – suggesting a very ancient presence of the family in the area.
When we first arrived in Duddington during 2009 – we were actually on our way to Leicester to find “Barclay Street” – where my father (Peter Wyles) used to lived with his parents as a child (Alfred and Gladys Wyles). Well, we stopped at this bridge and I could not believe my eyes! We had been driving for about four-hours from Sutton and were looking forward to stretching our legs. Gee and myself were with a friend called Liz, her son Mark, and my eldest daughter – Sue-Ling. My mother ad provided a digital camera at the time that took superb photographs. Indeed, the picture of the bridge I took that day has become iconic. Liz suggested that whilst we were in Duddington – we might as well check the graveyard of St Mary’s Church – where my mother stated all my relatives were buried.
As soon as we entered the graveyard – everyone started shouting-out the name “Wyles”! I was astonished as I had become so used to having a name that hardly anyone had heard of. It turns-out that names in the UK – just like anywhere in the world – developed in local areas and spread-out as populations moved about. It turned-out that Duddington has been cut-off from mainstream society for years – with my direct relatives not leaving until around 1905. Even today – the world has passed Duddington by. None of the broader changes of society have touched Duddington at all. The local population today are wealthy and conservative with a “C” and “c”. Although I do not share these views myself – I have to admit that these attitudes have preserved my family history until I became aware of it – and have been able to gather all the data together for anyone interested to benefit freely from it. Today, myself and Gee headed to Duddington around 6 am in the morning to get some early research in. We are staying in the Duddington area to carry-out some much needed genealogical investigations and we are making important headways already!
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 