THE PYEs

The family name of PYE may seem unusual, but there are several thousand of us with branches all over the globe, particularly in Lancashire, Australia and the USA.

The reputed story is: "We originated from Viking mercenaries who came over in 1066 and were rewarded with lands on the Welsh borders in Herefordshire around Kilpeck. "

Sir Thomas a'Becket is reputed to descended from one of the early a' Pyes. His mother was the result of a liason between a crusader ancestor and the daughter of his Saracen captor"

The Mynde near Much Dewchurch in Herefordshire was the family seat in Tudor times. A branch of the family took up residence at Faringdon Berks.where Sir Robert Pye became a Colonel in Cromwell's Model Army. He married Anne Hampden, daughter of Sir John Hampden. Robert missed fighting the Battle of Naseby with his regiment, as he had been taken prisoner at the siege of Leicester a few days before.
Like his father Sir Robert senior, he went on to be a member of the parliament. and he was one of the group in favour of the return of Charles II, for which he spent some time in The Tower of London before the restoration.

There are some other notable members in this particular line - Admiral Sir Thomas Pye (worth looking up elsewhere if you like family scandals) and the Poet Laureate to George 3rd Henry James Pye M.P.

The Mynde

The Pye Coat of Arms