AR (Tony) Traylen (1927-2008) was born in Hartley-Witney,
Hampshire, and was educated at Wellington College. He was
the only child of a professional soldier in the
Lincolnshire Regiment - the family originated from Spalding -
but he showed no inclination to follow in his father's
footsteps. Instead he seemed to favour his relative
JC Traylen, one-time architect to the
Diocese of Peterborough. In fact, he attended the
Brighton School of Architecture for three years before
deciding that the profession was overcrowded.
Rather than design houses, Tony felt he would be more satisfyingly employed
in building and restoring them in the traditional manner. To this end he
conducted a survey stretching from Cheshire down to Buckinghamshire, his
eye eventually falling on Rutland. He married Patricia Loake, a Derbyshire girl,
in 1962 and they moved to South Luffenham in 1964.
As a property developer he restored many cottages and shops in Rutland and
Stamford. He also established Uppingham Yarns which is now run by his son
Nicholas. Uppingham Yarns was founded in 1980 by Tony and his family in a
small shop in Uppingham to sell industrial yarns to home, trade, and club
machine knitters. The firm thrived, and moved to larger premises in 1984, a
two-storey warehouse on the site of an old bus station and garage in North
Street East, Uppingham. Twenty years later it moved to the present location
fifty metres away in the same street.
However, Tony's great and consuming interest was local history. Shortly after
arriving in Rutland, he joined Rutland Local History Society, which at that time
met above the library in Gaol Street, Oakham. By 1971, he had become
chairman of this society.
It was a chance remark which sparked off the crusade which culminated in the
original series of booklets recording the histories of Rutland villages. ‘What a
pity’ somebody said, ‘someone did not record the stories of old Rutlanders, as
the young do not listen to their parents' and grandparents’ reminiscences as
they used to before the days of radio and TV.’ The booklets covered all the
parishes in Rutland and were later brought together to form the first volume in
the ‘In Rutland’ series. This series now extends to eighteen volumes:
1. Villages of Rutland, Parts 1 & 2
2. Soldiers, Police and Firemen
3. Railways of Rutland
4. Wings over Rutland
5. Turnpikes & Royal Mail in Rutland
6. Oakham in Rutland
7. Uppingham in Rutland
8. Traction Engines in Rutland
9. Maps of Rutland, 1579 to 1845
10. Windmills and Watermills
11. Churches of Rutland
12. Dictionary, Dialect & Traditions
13. Old Motors of Rutland
14. Life of the Gentry of Rutland
15. Old Trucks & Buses of Rutland
16. Old Village Schools of Rutland
17. Notable Citizens of Rutland
18. Ancestral Houses of Rutland
As can be seen, Tony was a prolific writer. He gave all the royalties from his
books to The Rutland Trust, a charity that gives grants to individuals and
organisations in the county. In fact, our Society was a recent recipient of an
award from this charity as a contribution towards our publications programme.
We are grateful to Audrey Buxton for allowing us to use information from her
1980 interview with Tony, which was published in Rutland People.
Rutland Local History & Record Society
Copyright © Rutland Local History and Record Society
Registered Charity No 700273
AR (Tony) Traylen (1927-2008)