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[1] "The first Wilder known in history was Nicholas, a military chieftain, in the army of the Earl of Richmond, at the battle of Bosworth, in 1485. The fact that it is a German name, and that it is quite common in some parts of Germany at the present time, would indicate that he was one of those who came with the Earl from France, and landed at Milford Haven."
Needless to say, Moses Wilder, the author of this, [2] was wrong. But that has not stopped this and similar stories from being copied all over the Internet.
This did not happen. There were several Wilders in Berkshire before the Battle of Bosworth, within walking distance of Sulham and Nunhide, so there is no need to seek a place of origin a thousand miles away.
There was a John Wylder, or more than one, in Sulham, Berkshire, at about this time.
At an uncertain date (TNA estimate 1485-1509) [3] Robert Lenham, esquire, kinsman and heir of Thomas Rothewell, esquire, lately deceased, granted to Alexander Holowey, John Clerk, John Blithe, John Peytowe, and John Wyldar, the manor of Thedemersh with the advowson of the parish church of the same; with further grant of all his other lands and tenements etc. in Thedemersh, Pangbourn, Sulham, Tilehurste, and Ufton Robarte.
According to the Victoria Country History [4] article on the manor of Tidmarsh, Thomas Rothwell died in 1477 and Robert Lenham died in 1491, so that would narrow down the date of this grant to 1485-91. This was not a grant of freehold, which remained with the heirs of Robert Lenham. It was a grant of the land for a period of time at a certain rent, or firma.
In 1524, [5] Richard Turner sued Thomas Stoner, of Rotherfeld, Oxon, esq; Richard Jenyn, of Sulham, chaplain; and John Wylder, of Sulham, husbandman, in the Court of Common Pleas for debt.
There is a will of John Wylder, of Sulham, farmer, in 1550, the son or grandson of the above. (Berkshire Record Office D/A1/132/041).
It should be noted that the word farmer did not mean the same then as now. Our farmer would then have been a husbandman or yeoman. A late medieval farmer was a firmarius, a tenant of land who paid a fixed annual rent or firma. Often they rented whole manors and sublet smaller amounts of land to husbandmen.
There were several other people named Wilder or Wylder in and near Sulham at about the same time. [6]
Finally, there was a Wilder in Berkshire before the Battle of Bosworth. In 1468, Roger Wylder of Bastelden (Basildon), Berks, was being sued by John Hamond in the Court of Common Pleas [7] for debt. He was not a military chieftain, however. He was a husbandman.
There were several people named Wilder within a few miles of Sulham in the 15th century. They may have been related, but the available evidence does not say how.
The three Andrew Wilders are probably the same person. The younger John Wylder of Basildon might be the same as John Wyldar in the grant of about 1490. The places mentioned in the grant are all within two or three miles of Basildon. So it might make sense to look for the origins of John Wilder not in Bohemia but in Basildon.
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