Joseph Wyld

  Noted events in his life were:

• Spelling. At this time many people were unable to read or write, or even spell their own name. Names were recorded phonetically in most cases. Joseph's surname appears with the WILD spelling and also with the WILDE spelling. Either could be used as one is not neccessarily correct over the other. WYLD has been used for consistency.

• Surname Derivation. Variations include Wild, Wilde, Whild, Whilde, Wylde, Wyldes, Wylds.
Derivations are:-
i) From the Olde English wilde, when used as an adjective, meaning 'wild, violent' and used to describe a persons temperament. Examples are:
Uluricus Wilde, 1066, Lincolnshire.
William le Wilde, 1177, Leicestershire.
Henry le Wylde, 1236, Essex.

ii) From the Olde English wilde, when used as a noun, meaning 'wild, waste'. A person who lives by the waste, uncultivated land. Examples are:
William de Wilde, 1200, Sussex.
Walter de la Wylde, 1256, Huntingdonshire.
William atte Wylde, 1347, London.

• History: Local: Nottingham, England. ²⁴ So far as reliable history goes, we have our first glimpse of Nottingham in the time of the Danish invasion. In 869, as the Winchester Chronicle testifies, these hardy warriors occupied the town, and were besieged by Alfred and Aethelred. A treaty of peace was temporarily concluded, but in the spring of 874 they returned in ever-increasing numbers, conquered Mercia, and occupied the five boroughs of Nottingham, Lincoln, Stamford, Derby, and Leicester. Here they remained until Edward the Elder, assisted. by his sister, Aethelflaed, drove them away, Edward’s capture of Nottingham in 919 being, in the words of Mr. Freeman, ‘the crown of his conquests in Central England.’ Edward built a fortress on the southern bank of the Trent in 921, and connected it with the town by a bridge, where his successor, Aethelstan, established a mint, and coins of his, bearing the Nottingham mark, have been found.
Then came the struggle at Hastings. Nottingham men were not prominent on that eventful day; the Earl of Mercia was absent, and it was probably because of these abstentions that the Norman Conqueror confirmed so many Thanes in the possession of their lands in this county.
William in due time reached Nottingham, and, as was his custom, immediately began to consolidate his power by the erection of a castle, which William of Newburgh described as being so strong by nature and art as to be able to defy any force but that of hunger. The control of this stronghold was entrusted to William Peverel, a military follower, who built himself a castle of his own on the craggy heights of Castleton, which caused his descendants to be known as ‘Peverels of the Peak.’
After the anarchy of Stephen’s reign, Henry II. insisted upon all the great castles being surrendered into his hands, and the Peverel of the time declining to yield, the King set out to enforce his commands. Peverel secretly retreated in the garb of a monk, and the King took possession in 1155. Under his auspicious rule the town made rapid strides. A royal charter was granted to the burgesses, the Palmers of Nottingham established a hospital for poor men, which Pope Lucius III. protected and assisted by a Bull, and the commercial bodies began to form themselves into guilds, which gradually drew into their own hands the government of the town.
The castle, round which the interest of the warriors of successive ages naturally centred, from its commanding position and unusual strength, remained in the hands of the reigning monarch during the vigorous career of Henry II., and was also controlled by Richard I. until the absence of that King on the Crusades, when it was seized by Earl John, who also possessed himself of the Castle of Tickhill. When Richard returned in 1193, amid the rejoicings of his people, most of the strongholds that had yielded to the solicitations of the King’s unscrupulous and ambitious brother returned to their alliances but Nottingham, always partial to John, held out with unexpected vigour. When an army, led by Lord David, brother of the King of Scotland, approached in the royal interest, it refused to submit, and it was not until the King led the siege in person, in March, 1194, that it yielded to superior force. After the victory, the King, taking advantage of his proximity to the ‘merrie’ forest, of Sherwood, indulged himself in the royal pursuit of hunting, which no doubt formed a pleasant contrast to the stern work of reducing his unruly subjects.
But the enjoyments of the forest had to give place to matters of State. On Wednesday, March 30, his Majesty held a council, which sat for three days, and summoned John to surrender. The Prince boldly defied his royal brother, and after forty days, sentence was pronounced against him, declaring his lands confiscate and himself a traitor. These were strong measures, but, like most great-hearted men, King Richard was not callous to all appeals for mercy. John sought forgiveness, obtained it, had Nottingham Castle restored to him, and resided there in a state of comfort and splendour he hardly deserved.
Upon John’s accession to the throne he visited Nottingham in 1199 and again in 1202. Henry III. held his Court at Nottingham, and granted a short charter in 1229, supplementing it with another in 1255, and a third in 1272, which showed the abiding interest his Majesty took in the affairs of the thriving Midland town.
It was at this eventful period that the movement in the direction of establishing religious houses became most active and fruitfull. In 1250 Henry III. had founded a house in Broadmarsh for the Gray Friars, and in 1276 Reginald, Lord Grey, of Wilton, and Sir John Shirley, Knight, are said to have been instrumental in the introduction of the Carmelite or White Friars, who were located between Moothall Gate and St. James’s Lane, in the parish of St. Nicholas. A reminiscence of the friars still exists in the thoroughfare now known as Friary Lane, where tradition asserts the church connected with the order stood between the Swan Inn and St. James’s Street. The Hospital of St. John was another mediaeval institution where the poor might find shelter and relief. The Borough Records contain references to several grants made to the Hospitallers, and Pope Honorius III. allowed them a chaplain of their own in the chapel, and a cemetery as their exclusive burial-place. Other ancient foundations of this character were the hospitals of St. Michael and of St. Leonard, as well as a free chapel within the walls of the castle itself. Tanner also mentions a cell of two monks at St. Mary’s Chapel in Castle Rock.

Joseph married Margery Wilkinson, daughter of "Male" Wilkinson and Unknown, on 10 Nov 1607 in Woodborough, Nottingham, England.¹ (Margery Wilkinson was born in 1585.)