Eardley Bryan's
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 My name is Eardley Bryan and I live with Oliver and Amy, in Poole, Dorset on the South coast of England.
 

We have lived here since 1979.


 
We live not far from the Isle of Purbeck, which is not an island at all. 

It is an area that is well known for its stone which is, or was, extensivley used in building. 

This photograph was taken at Winspit where there used to be extensive quarrying, but the quarries have now closed down in this area.  The quarried stone was taken away by sea
I went to Monkton Combe School in what was then Somerset, but, since the boundary changes, it is now in Avon, not far from the city of Bath.  It is set in some really beautiful countryside.  It is built on a solid Christian foundation and several of the old boys, including my father, entered the Mission field.  I spent many very happy years there.

My great-grandfather Rev R G Bryan bought the school from its founder and really got it going. Oliver was the fourth Bryan in direct line of descent who went there as a pupil.

I served in the Army for several years. I enlisted in The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment in 1960 and later served in The 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment, which is the only regiment in the British Army bearing a county name that has never been amalgamated.  On commissioning from the Royal Military Academy Sandhusrt, I joined the 1st Battalion of the Regiment when it was stationed in Münster, Germany and served with it in Cyprus, with the United Nations force in 1964/5, and in England when it was the Demonstration Battalion at the School of Infantry in Warminster.

After a short time at Warminster, I was posted to the Mercian Brigade Depot at Whittington Barracks near Lichfield in Staffordshire as a training platoon commander.  I resigned my commission in 1968 and went to live in Wiltshire, then Dorset where I worked as Driving Examiner.

Some time after I left the Army I joined the Territorial Army and served in the Wessex Regiment, my local TA infantry regiment.  I was with D Company in Bournemouth.  I served with them for four years after which I was attached to the Headquarters of the Royal Corps of Transport TA at Grantham Lincs as a liaison officer to the Dutch Army TA headquarters in Gouda.

In the early 1990s, upon its amamlagamtion with other Corps and parts of Corps, the RCT became the Royal Logistics Corps.  Whilst I was at Grantham, D Company 1 Wessex became D Company 4th Battalion The Devon and Dorset Regiment.  In my final years in the TA, the Wessex Regiment ceased to exist so I elected to be re-badged to 3 Cheshire, the wheel having turned full circle. TheWessex Regiment is now the Second Battalion of the Royal Berkshire, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Regiment.

During the Gulf War I had a Short Service Volunteer Commission in the RCT and worked in the Ministry of Defence in London.  I worked in Whitehall, which was an interesting experience as I'd never had much to do with London before.  Whilst I was there, I joined the Society of Genealogists.

One of my hobbies is Genealogy and I am researching on both my side of the family and my ex-wife’s side too. I have found this interesting and have learnt a lot about the various families.  The help that I have received from various family members has been very much appreciated.  I have exchanged valuable information with distant relatives in South Africa and Australia and contact was made through Internet.

The main names on my side are: Bryan, Walkey, Eardley, Wilmot, Eardley Wilmot, Lewis, Malone, Paske, Forbes, Montanaro, Chamberlin, Blomefield.  I am always ready to share information.

The main names on my ex-wife’s side are: Osborne, Candy, Pitman, Shepherd, Gould, Hix. There was a considerable amount of inter-marrying between the Osbornes and Candys, who were Somerset farming families.  Two of the Candys were sentenced to be deported to Australia for being involved in a forgery trial in Frome, Somerset.  There was also a Christopher Candy who was sentenced to be deported for taking part in the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion, but he managed to escape whilst on the way to the docks.  I don't know if he is in any way connected with 'my' Candy family.

Another of my hobbies is my MG which I bought from Texas in 1992.  It is my second MG. The first MG that I owned was a 1932 MG F Magna, which I bought in 1966 and owned for a few years.  That car was recently on the front cover of a book about pre-war MGs.  It has been extensively rebuilt, but I believe that unfortunately the owner has changed some of the fundamental aspects of the car rather spoiling its authenticity.

Naturally, I am a member of the MG Owner’s Club.

I am a Volunteer Tutor with the Expert Patients Programme.  This is very worthwhile as it helps people with long term conditions self manage their condition.  There are other courses too and one that I'm invloved with is Looking After Me, which is a course for Carers who have a long term condition. This course helps Carers to look after themselves.  I have also helped train parent facilitators for the Supporting Parents course which is aimed at parents of children with long term conditions.

Very recently we have bought a Daimler DS420 hearse which we are in the process of renovating

My e-mail address is     ewh.bryan@ukonline.co.uk

Oliver and Amy can be contacted through my e-mail address
 

Go to Eardley's Page, Oliver's Page, Amy's Page, Max's Page Genealogy Page, Cheshire Regiment Page, MG Page, Daimler DS420 Hearse Page