It is easy for someone who does not know the area to presume that the Hayles family lived in the village of Arreton. However, this is not necessarily the case because there is some confusion today between the actual village of Arreton and the extensive medieval parish of Arreton which covered a large central part of the Isle of Wight.

Edward Hayles was born in 1785 and his children were baptised in The Church of St. George, Arreton. “Arreton consists of a long straggling street and some widely scattered farms.” National Gazeteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)

The reality is that the family lived in the Parish of Arreton. Edward Hayles brought up his family in Packsfield on the northern side of the chalk down known as Arreton Down and it is in Packsfield and Littletown that the family remained until at least 1861 and some of its members were still there in 1888.

The parish was one of the largest in the Isle of Wight, extending both sides of Arreton Down. It was divided in 1894 into the two civil parishes of North and South Arreton and four years later part of South Arreton was transferred to Godshill. In 1907 the northern portion was absorbed into Whippingham.

For many people in the 19th and early 20th century a trip to the pawnbroker was a regular occurrence – pledging a suit or a clock for a small amount to tide the family over to payday when the item could be redeemed.

Most customers came in only when they needed short-term finance. A number, however, were regular customers “going to visit uncle” once or twice a week pledging small items of clothing or bedding. Most pawnbrokers were open until mid-night on Saturdays taking in all manner of pledges that were generally put in store rooms above the premises where the family slept to protect the goods.

In 1877, at the time of his only daughter’s marriage to James Derbyshire, Brook and Ann had a general domestic servant, Mary Bell, to help in the house.

Brook remained a pawnbroker for the rest of his life. He had trained his sons in the trade.