Publications
The Georgian provincial builder-architect and architect: Amon and Amon Henry Wilds of Lewes and Brighton, c. 1790-1850, by Sue Berry, published 2012 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 150, article, pp.162-183) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 18615] & The Keep [LIB/500368] & S.A.S. library View Online
Abstract:Provincial builders and architects designed the majority of urban buildings during the eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth centuries and therefore deserve study. Some, such as James Essex (1722-84), Owen Browne Carter (1806-1859), the Bastard family of Blandford and the Smiths of Warwick, had substantial influence within an area.1 From the later eighteenth century, provincial builder-architects and architects faced increasing competition from men trained in architectural practices in London who were particularly interested in the larger, more prestigious schemes. The Wilds moved from Lewes to Brighton when the resort was expanding rapidly; it was already far ahead of other resorts in scale and social status. Its growth attracted Charles Barry and other well-connected London architects, who were competing against each other as well as against provincial practitioners. Seen in this competitive context, self-taught provincial architects such as the Wilds were remarkably successful.
John (Jack) Wild of Harting, 1914, by Susan Martin, published 2015 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 83, article, p.39) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/83] & The Keep [LIB/508996]
John (Jack) Wild of Harting, 1915, by Susan Martin, published 2016 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 84, article, p.11) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/84] & The Keep [LIB/509448]
The Other Wilds, by Susan Martin, published June 2016 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 22 no. 2, article, pp.57-58) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 15860] & The Keep [LIB/509232]
Preview:If your family lived in a village (or town) where there are a number of people with the same surname (and often the same first names too) then it is usually necessary to research several lines, and what you discover can be very rewarding even if you are getting rather distant from your immediate line. This was the situation I was faced with the WILDs in Harting. Between 1784 and 1794 eight babies were baptised with parents John and Sarah WILD. But they weren't born to a single couple; four belonged to John WILD Jr and Sarah HALL and four to John WILD and Sarah WHEATLEY. The two Johns were first cousins, grandsons of Edward and Mary WILD. John WILD Jr was a witness to the marriage of his cousin John at St Paul's Elsted on 13 January 1787.