Description
Handwritten letter from Victor Exley, dated 19 August 1985, written from 7 Russ Crescent, Eccleshill, Bradford, W. Yorks BD2 3HP, England. Addressed to “Dear Mrs Exley” in New Zealand. This is the earliest known letter from Victor to the NZ family, predating the 1990 letters to Angela by five years.
2 pages. Handwriting is reasonably clear.
Transcription
Page 1
7 Russ Crescent, Eccleshill, Bradford, W. Yorks, BD2 3HP, England. 19 Aug ‘85
Dear Mrs Exley,
As I seem to be the focal point of Exley family genealogy in England & America (& now New Zealand), Colin Exley of Hales has kindly forwarded to me the pedigree papers which you sent to him.
I have enclosed copies of two articles published in two Yorkshire historical journals, & I think they will all show you what I’ve been doing with my spare time since I retired in 1972 from teaching mathematics in a Bradford grammar school.
I fondly believed that I was the only Exley to have persevered through [continued on page 2]
Page 2
[…] know whether you did the research yourself or, as that seems unlikely, at that distance from Yorkshire, if you managed to obtain outside details?
I have much also to send you — a sketch of Exley Hall, the 1673 will of Samuel Exley of Rawdon, other wills & deeds and local history of Rawdon & Southowram.
I know all along about the marriage of Henry de Ecclesley & Joan, the youngest of the “heirs of Morton”, daughter of Simon de Monte Alto (Maud). But your sheet is the first to state definitely that this Henry was of Exley Hall.
If so it now seems almost certain… Henry and a near relative of William… the Ecclesley… then this further strengthens my case that there was just the one Exley family in the whole of [Yorkshire — text trails off at bottom of page]
Key Information
- Victor’s address: 7 Russ Crescent, Eccleshill, Bradford BD2 3HP
- He retired in 1972 from teaching mathematics at a Bradford grammar school
- Colin Exley of Hales forwarded the NZ pedigree papers to Victor
- Victor enclosed two articles published in Yorkshire historical journals
- Victor also sent: sketch of Exley Hall, the 1673 will of Samuel Exley of Rawdon, other wills, deeds, and local history of Rawdon & Southowram
- Victor comments on the NZ pedigree’s mention of Henry de Ecclesley’s marriage to Joan (daughter of Simon de Monte Alto), noting it is “the first to state definitely that this Henry was of Exley Hall”
- Victor argues this strengthens his case that there was one single Exley family
Significance
- Establishes contact between Victor and the NZ branch as early as August 1985
- Confirms Victor’s retirement from teaching mathematics in 1972
- Shows Victor received the NZ pedigree via Colin Exley of Hales
- Victor’s comment about the Henry/Joan/Monte Alto connection confirms the NZ pedigree contained details about the pre-Dewsbury ancestry that Victor had not been able to document from his side