Author: Wyles, W. C.
Biography:
WYLES, W. C. (fl 1824)
Poetic Trifles (1824) first appeared under the authorship of “a Resident of Huntingdon” and then in an expanded form in which the author identifies himself as W. C. Wyles. Both editions are dedicated to the ladies of Huntingdon. The second, published by subscription, contains mostly local names from the district around Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, but there is one significant exception, Mr. W. Wyles of Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, who was presumably a cousin. The Wyles family had been long established in Kings Cliffe as grocers and brewers, and there are several Williams among them, including one (1801-43), a grocer, who married Elizabeth Hawkes in 1823 and lived in Kings Cliffe all his life. It is likely though not certain that the “Resident of Huntingdon” was also a William Wyles, the son of Benjamin Wyles (1777-1862) who for reasons unknown moved from Kings Cliffe first to Uppingham, Rutland, about 1800 and then to Huntingdon about 1812. He had married Mary Castledine (d 1820) at her parish of Woolsthorpe, Lincoln, on 19 Sept. 1799 and their first child, William, was baptised at Kings Cliffe on 6 July 1800. He thus was born in Northamptonshire but spent his adolescence and early manhood in Huntingdon. He may have adopted his mother’s maiden name as a middle name when he came to publish his poems. Details of his later life are not clear. He cannot be the William Wyles (b 1811) who married Letitia Cunningham at Kings Cliffe in 1831. Burial records around the country before the 1841 census provide too many candidates and his name (with matching birthdate) does not appear in the census. (ancestry.com 27 July 2024; findmypast.com 27 July 2024; Stamford Mercury 27 Oct. 1820) HJ