Introduction

This article concentrates on two twigs of the Tilley family which started life in the Langtons in Leicestershire ([Article A.]) and moved to Uppingham in Rutland, a distance of about 13 miles to the north east. Uppingham is a market town on the western edge of Rutland close to the border with Leicestershire and stands on the main route running east-west between Leicester and Peterborough. It stands about 6 miles south of the county town of Oakham. In the 18th century the road south through Lyddington to Rockingham was the London to Leeds turnpike. The town is probably most well known for its public school which was founded in 1584. The town was granted its charter to hold markets in 1281 and these were held every Wednesday. Annual cattle fairs were held at the beginning of March and July. The Anglican church in the town is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul. It is of gothic design, started in the fourteenth century. The tower, which is topped by an imposing spire, contains a peal of five bells. The population of Uppingham swelled during the decades of the nineteenth century from about 1400 inhabitants in 1801 to 2500 in 1901 (2).

It is perhaps surprising that much of the action of this story took place in a couple of the adjacent alleyways which ran between North Street and the High Street. The two Tilley branches remained very near neighbours, interconnected by marriages and both were prolific in their production of children. Both have presented researchers with riddles, many of which have been only partly resolved.

The family of George Tilley and Sophia Edgley

George, the tenth child of Joseph Tilley and Catherine Waterfield was baptised in Thorpe Langton on March 9th 1834. He was destined to have an even larger family which provided its own complex relationships. Like so many of his siblings he became a carpenter. As a young man he spent some time in the village of Ashley which is about 4 miles east of Thorpe Langton over the border in Northamptonshire. He married Sophia, the daughter of carter John Edgley, at St Mary's Church in the village on May 24th 1858. Almost immediately the couple returned to East Langton where their first son John Joseph was born. Their stay there was short lived and by 1862 they had moved moved again, twelve miles north east to the town of Uppingham.

Their first daughter Eliza Ann was born that year but sadly died about eighteen months later. She had been suffering from Measles for 10 days. She was buried on April 21st 1864. Six more sons and five more daughters followed. Sons Charles Edwin (1870) and Arthur Ernest (1872) were baptised together on June 7th 1872. In 1871, the family were living in Unicorn Yard off North Street. Two doors away were blacksmith Thomas Waterfield and his wife Sarah, the younger sister of Sophia Edgley, who were married on May 23rd 1866. No relationship has as yet been established between Thomas and the Waterfield family described earlier in this saga. Seven year old son Arthur Ernest died on September 7th 1879 of "congestion of the brain". This is a rather vague term now known as cerebral oedema and could be caused by a number of factors including infection, stroke and injury. By the census of 1891 the family were settled in the Rope Walk, a terrace of houses which ran south from North Street just to the west of its junction with Ayston Road. Even as children left home to marry, they too occupied houses in the same alley. With George and Sophia living in No. 9 with unmarried daughters Ada and Louisa, the census of 1901 also has Tilleys living at Nos 2 and 3.

Youngest son Edgar Martin (1879) moved out to Peterborough where he married Sarah Ann Baines in 1904. They had a daughter, Florence, two years later. George died and was buried in the town on November 14th 1907. Sophia continued to live in the Rope Walk. She had a full house in 1911 with her now married daughter Ada, her husband and four children and her married daughter Beatrice with three of her four children. Sophia lived on until 1928 and was buried in the town on August 11th that year.

John Joseph (1859 - 1937)

The oldest of the sons of George and Sophia was born in East Langton and baptised there on July 17th 1859. He moved with the family to Uppingham where he became a farm labourer. On April 17th 1882 he married Lois Skellams at the Church of St Mary the Virgin in the village of Ayston just north of Uppingham. Lois had been born in Lyddington, the daughter of Abraham Skelhorne and Mary Dumford, and baptised there on October 21st 1860. Her father died in 1859 and Mary married again under the name Skellam to John Scotney in the early months of 1869. Lois was registered with them as a stepdaughter in the village of Ayston in 1871 alongside her two brothers Everitt and George. After their marriage John and Lois settled in No. 2 Rope Walk, Uppingham.

Lois delivered seven children between 1882 and 1900 but five of her babies died. The first son was born about June 10th 1882 and was given a private baptism the following day. He died and was buried on June 17th 1882, the record showing him to be four days old. It is likely that he had been subject to a difficult birth and the death certificate stated convulsions as the cause. First daughter Mary Sophia was born in 1890 and did live to maturity. She married John William Sharman in the spring of 1913 and moved to Coventry were she had three sons and two daughters. She died there in 1936. Lois' next daughter was born and died on May 17th 1892. She was named Emily and was buried two days later. The parish record notes that she lived for five minutes. Next son was born in 1894 and named John Henry Edgar. He died on February 13th 1899 having caught one of the common childhood winter infections which led to bronchitis and pneumonia and was buried on the 16th of that month. Her third son was born in 1896 and registered as John Herbert Everett but later in life became known as George. He will be followed up below. Third daughter Elsie May was born in August 1897 and died on April 2nd the following year. She had also caught an infection which developed into bronchopneumonia. Final son Thomas William Percy was born in 1900 and died of chest complications following catching Measles on February 19th 1902. He was buried two days later. John Joseph and Lois had their two remaining children with them in 1911, with son George acting as a house boy.

Lois died and was buried in St Peter and St Paul's Churchyard on November 3rd 1937. John Joseph survived just three weeks after his wife's death and was buried alongside her on November 27th 1937.

George Herbert Everett

Sometime after the end of the first World War, George moved to Coventry in Warwickshire. He married his first cousin Florrie Louisa, the younger daughter of James Bryan and Emily Mary Tilley in the city in 1926. By 1939 they were living in Conway Cottages in York Street Coventry. George was employed as a gate keeper. The marriage was childless. George died in Coventry on September 16th 1970. Florrie lived on there until her death in June 1987.

Herbert Thomas (1865 - )

Herbert, the second son of George and Sophia, was baptised on January 28th 1865. After their marriage the family moved to Leicester Road, Uppingham where Herbert became a journeyman butcher and inn keeper. Jane was looking after their seven year old son, Herbert William, aided by Herbert's sister Florence, who was employed as a mother's helper. Also lodging with them was grocer's porter Joseph Hammond whose younger brother Alfred would marry Herbert's sister Louisa Caroline in 1904. By 1911 they had moved into Queen Street in the centre of the town. Herbert was an assistant to a butcher in Uppingham and son Herbert was acting as an errand boy. Herbert died on November 6th 1919 and was buried in St Peter and St Paul's churchyard. Jane was still living in Queen Street at the outbreak of the second World War. She had widow Louisa Tilley carrying out domestic duties for her. Jane ultimately died in Oakham in the early months of 1949.

After the outbreak of the first World War, son Herbert enlisted with the Army on March 29th 1916. He became Private 203059 with the 2nd Battalion, the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. He was shipped out to France the same year. During various engagements he sustained injuries during shelling and was also gassed. Towards the end of August 1918 the 2nd Battalion was involved in the second Battle of Bapaume, a town in the Pas-de-Calais midway between Albert and Cambrai. On August 24th, Herbert took a bullet to the head fired by a sniper. He was taken to the No 53 Casualty Clearing Station at Roisel where he died from his wound. He was buried in Sector V Plot C 34 at Daours Communal Cemetery Extension near Amiens (6, 7, 8).

Frederick William (1866 - 1906)

Frederick, the second son of George and Sophia, was the first to be born in Uppingham. In the early 1880s Frederick became a baker. On August 28th 1887 he married Hannah Chapman accompanied by his brother John Joseph and Jane Marriott, the sister of his brother George's future wife Annie. Hannah was born in the vicinity of Lyddington in Rutland, the daughter of William and Anne Chapman. She was baptised in Seaton on March 27th 1864 when their residence was listed as Thorpe by Water. Hannah had been in service with the family of farmer William Northern in Gretton in 1881.

After their marriage they set up house in Union Yard, another of the inlets from North Street in Uppingham, where Hannah took in washing. They were to have six children: sons George William (1895) and Charles Frederick (1897) and daughters Gertrude Ellen (1888), Emily Mary (1899), Alice Maud (1893) and Margaret Ethel (1901). After the turn of the century Frederick had probably been suffering from increasing ill health for some time. He died on August 10th 1906 from pulmonary tuberculosis and was buried three days later. Daughter Gertrude is missing from the records after 1901. By 1911 Hannah had moved into the neighbouring Hope's Yard on North Street and was earning money as a charwoman. She had her other six children with her as well as a granddaughter, Fanny, who was born to Alice Maud in 1909.

Alice Maud married Charles Minckley in 1913 and settled in Oakham with daughter Fanny. They had a daughter, Gladys, in 1920. George William was earning pennies as an errand boy in 1911. He married Elizabeth Vause in Uppingham in 1918. Younger son Charles married his first cousin Gertrude Ada, the elder daughter of James Bryan and Emily Mary Tilley, in South Luffenham in 1921.

George Alfred (1868 - 1943)

George was baptised when three weeks old in Uppingham on July 5th 1868. On February 7th 1893 he married Annie Marriott in the town. By the turn of the century they were living at No 9, Rope Walk where George was a blacksmith. They had a daughter, Edith Annie (1895) and two sons Arthur Ernest (1895) and Alfred (1899). By 1911 the family had moved into a house on North Street where George was registered as a mechanic. Sometime during that decade they moved to Melton Mowbray where Arthur married Dora Alice Hewerdine in 1920 and Alfred married Aurea Rose Sletcher in 1922. In 1939 Alfred, now an analytical chemist, and Aurea were living on Main Road, Asfordby, just outside Melton Mowbray. Arthur and Dora lived opposite them on Main Road. George and Annie lived in New Street, Asfordby. George died in the spring of 1943; Annie in the early months of 1947.

Charles Edwin (1870 - 1953)

The fourth son of George and Sophia was registered in 1870 as Charles Edwin but baptised Charles Edward on June 7th 1872 in a double ceremony with his ill fated younger brother Albert. His initial occupation was as a bricklayer. He married Frances Charlotte Jesson from Barrowden, Rutland on March 4th 1894. Their family home was No.3 Rope Walk. Frances gave birth to two sons and eight daughters. The first two, Alice (1894) in Northampton and Florence May (1895) locally in Uppingham, had both entered domestic service by 1911. Bessie Annie Ada (1901) and Beatrice Louisa (1903). Both died of bronchopneumonia following an outbreak of Pertussis (Whooping Cough). Bessie died on March 21st 1903 with her aunt Annie by her side. Her mother was present when Beatrice Louisa died on April 13th 1903. Doris Ivy Selina (1904) married carpenter Joseph Stamps in Coventry in 1927 and settled in the northern suburb of Meriden in that city. Nothing more is known of daughters Frances Mabel (1897)and Gertrude Ada (1907) or son George Henry (1900) after the census of 1911. By 1939 Charles and Frances were living with youngest daughter Phyllis in Deans Terrace off North Street. Charles was a stoker at the gas works. Frances died in Uppingham in 1945. Charles died in 1953.

Charles Alfred

Older son Charles was born in Uppingham in the winter months of 1898. He was still at home with the family in Rope Walk in 1911. Little survives of his documentation for the years of the First World War except for one page from a Register of inmates of a German Prisoner of War Camp dated July 15th 1918. It appears that Charles enlisted with the Army and was posted as Private 78728 with the 6th Battalion the Durham Light Infantry. It is on record that the 5th and 6th Battalions were situated in and around the town of Estaires, a small town between Armentiéres and Bethune in northern France. In the early morning of April 8th 1918 there was a heavy bombardment on the town which was part of the German spring offensive. The Battalions suffered many casualties and on April 9th the town was overrun and many more, including Charles, were taken prisoner (11). They were taken firstly to Lille, then to the Prisoner of War camp at Dülmen, a town in the district of Coesfeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on June 14th 1918. He is listed in the Register as No.68. His date of birth was confirmed as October 24th 1898 and his address 3 Rope Walk. He was transferred on to Hameln on June 21st 1918. He was released and repatriated to England on 20th January 1919 and was demobilised to the Class Z Reserve list (12).

He married Alice Spring in Coventry in early 1921. They are known to have had three sons: Eric (1922), Allan (1923) and Robert (1929) and a daughter Frances (1925). Charles became a steam navvy driver at an ironstone mine. Alice died before the outbreak of the second World War. The 1939 Register has Charles living as a widower with his four children in South Luffenham. He died in Back Lane of that village on November 2nd 1970.

Emily Mary (1874 - 1961)

George and Sophia's second daughter Emily was born on May 16th 1874 and baptised three weeks later. She married James Bryan from Weldon in Northamptonshire on March 3rd 1895 with brother John Joseph on hand as a witness. They made their home in South Luffenham, 6 miles east of Uppingham, where James was employed as a railway plate layer. Over the 23 years of their marriage they had ten children: five sons (James Edgar, 1902; George Albert, 1905; John William, 1907; Charles Ernest, 1909 and Alfred Ernest, 1918) and five daughters (Martha Annie, 1896; Gertrude Ada, 1897; Florrie Louisa, 1900; Kathleen May, 1912 and Gladys Emily, 1915). First born James died on June 25th 1904, the death registered as "Dentition and convulsions". As noted elsewhere Gertrude and Florrie both married Tilley first cousins.

Dentition is a term synonymous with teething. Convulsions in infants were also frequently attributed to teething. It was wrongly considered a cause of death particularly during the middle of the nineteenth century. It became so widespread a diagnosis that in 1842 it accounted for 4.8% of all infants dying in London. The underlying cause of death could have been any of the common infantile ailments, including infection, which occurred at the same time that the child was teething (13)

James was killed in an accident at work as an acting ganger for the London and North Western Railway on February 11th 1919. He was hit by a train when on the line near Atherstone in Warwickshire. An inquest was held before Dr C.W. Iliffe the North Warwickshire Coroner two days later (14). James was brought back to South Luffenham for his burial on February 16th 1919. The following month Emily applied to the Uppingham County Court under the Workmens Compensation Act supported by the National Union of Railwaymen. She was granted compensation of £280 "to be paid in monthly instalments apportioned herself and her and her wholly or partially dependent children" (15). Before the second World War, Emily moved back to Uppingham where she took a house at West End on North Street. She had with her her two youngest children: Gladys, now a school teacher and Alfred who was working as a chemist's assistant. Emily died in the Market Harborough area in the summer of 1961.

Beatrice Annie (1880 - 1930)

George and Sophia's third daughter, Beatrice, was baptised on December 10th 1880. Her life story presents something of a mystery. It is known that she married a Frederick John Gilbert in Oakham in the spring of 1905. However by the census of 1911 she is back living in Rope Walk with her widowed mother. She confirmed that she was married but Frederick is not present. She declared that she had given birth to four chidlren although only three are listed on the census. Her daughter, Elsie, was apparently born in 1904 - prior to the marriage - but bears her father's name. Missing from the census as well is Frederick Harold Gilbert who was born in the Peterborough district in 1905. Sons Edgar (1908) and Arthur Ernest (1910) were both born in Uppingham. There is no further trace of Frederick John Gilbert in the records. Beatrice continued to live in the Rope Walk house with her son Edgar after her mother died in 1928. Beatrice died in Uppingham in the winter of 1930.

Ada Sophia (1883 - 1963)

Next daughter, Ada Sophia, was born on January 29th 1883. On June 23rd 1903 she married George Owen Moore watched by her brother John Joseph and sister Florence. At the time, George was a parcel porter and Ada was a laundress. By 1910 they had three sons (George, 1904; Herbert, 1906 and Frederick, 1907) and a daughter Ethel Emma Sophia (1909). The 1911 census shows them resident at 6 Rope Walk with Ada's widowed mother and her sister Beatrice's family. By that time George was a general labourer. George died in Uppingham in the summer of 1936.

By the start of the second World War, Ada had moved to Market Harborough and taken a job as a barmaid working for landlord Samuel Burgess of The Crown Inn in The Square. (The 1939 Register lists the address as No. 5 with The Cock Inn next door. It has now been replaced by a jeweller's shop.) She remarried in the closing months of 1944 to Samuel Leonard Burnham. He was born in Uppingham in 1882 and his first wife Bertha Driver who he married in 1904 had died in 1934. At the time of the census of 1911, the Burnhams were living in Hope's Yard with two Tilley families as near neighbours and Ada living just around the corner. Samuel was a chimney sweep. It is more than likely this marriage between Samuel and Ada was one of comfort and convenience between two widowed and very long term friends and not just a coincidence. Samuel and Ada lived together in Uppingham until her death at the beginning of 1963. She was buried there on January 10th 1963. Samuel followed a year later and was buried in St Peter and St Paul's churchyard on June 4th 1964.

Louisa Catherine (1884 - 1979)

Louisa, the penultimate daughter of George and Sophia, was born on September 19th 1884. She married Alfred Thomas Hammond in Uppingham on May 23rd 1904 supported by her brother John Joseph and her sister Florence Alice. Alfred was born on December 10th 1882 in the hamlet of Wing in Rutland where he worked as a wagoner on a farm. The couple moved back to Wing after the service where their daughter Gladys Louisa was born in the early months of 1908. In the 1930s the couple moved to Brockhall Road in Flore, a tiny village 6 miles to the east of Daventry where Alfred was a builder's labourer. He died there at the beginning of 1952. Louisa died in the spring of 1979.

Florence Alice (1887 - 1950)

Last born Florence Alice arrived on September 1887. In 1901 she was living with her married brother Herbert, working as a mother's help. She married Thomas Holmes Green, a coal carter, in Uppingham in 1907. He was born in Pinchbeck near Spalding in Lincolnshire on September 1st 1871. They settled in South Luffenham where they had five sons (Thomas Reginald, 1908; Herbert Leslie, 1910; Claude, 1912; Sydney, 1916 and Ronald, 1920. Their address in the 1939 Register was Greenfield House, South Luffenham. Florence died in the village in the summer of 1950.

The family of Thomas Tilley and Mary Ann Litchfield

Thomas, the eldest of the six sons of James and Anne Tilley, was born in Thorpe Langton and baptised there on February 24th 1837. He was initially employed as an agricultural labourer. Sometime during the 1850s he changed jobs, becoming a sawyer, and probably spent time over the border in Ashley, a village in Northamptonshire. There he met Mary Ann Litchfield and together they went up to Leicester. They were married at St Nicholas Church in the town on January 16th 1860. The record shows that they were both lodging in Jewry Wall Street. However as the story unfolds it is by no means clear whether Thomas was fully aware of their marital history.

Mary Ann, probably a year older than her new husband was born in Ashley, Northamptonshire, the daughter of John Edgley and Sarah Maria Jeffs. She was the oldest of six children: five daughters (Mary Ann, 1836; Ann, 1837; Caroline, 1839; Sophia, 1842 and Sarah Ellen, 1848) and a son (Thomas, 1846).She was baptised in the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin on May 22nd 1836. Mary Ann, as Ann, was living with her parents, siblings and grandmother and working in the lace industry at the time of the census of 1851. There were at least three Litchfield families living in the village at that time, one of which were next door neighbours to the Edgley family.

Mary Ann entered into a marriage as a sixteen year old with John Litchfield, a much older man, in Ashley in the summer of 1852. Two daughters, Sarah Jane in 1854 and Emma in 1857, ensued. Then the marriage fell apart. Sometime around 1858 John left his young family and travelled to the United States. The reason for his departure and his adventures once there are unknown. However by the spring of 1859 Mary Ann was pregnant again. Another daughter was born that summer and the record of her baptism on September 11th 1859 at St Peter's Church, East Langton is most telling. Rector Thomas Hanbury has noted the baby, named Mary Ann, was the illegitimate daughter of married woman Mary Ann Lichfield (note no 't' in the spelling) whose husband is in America. A note in the margin names the reputed father to be Thomas Tilley of Thorpe Langton. Her birth though was registered in the third quarter of the year as Mary Ann Tilley with no mother's maiden name entered.

Examination of the marriage certificate from January 1860 is also revealing. Thomas Tilley's details are as expected. However, not only did Mary Ann declare herself to be a spinster and that she was illegitimate, she also used her married name. Given all that has gone before and that there is no evidence that she either knew or believed John Litchfield to be dead, this marriage must be considered to be bigamous.

Immediately after the marriage in Leicester Thomas and Mary Ann returned to East Langton. At the census of 1861 they listed two daughters: Mary Anne aged 1 year and Annie Maria aged 3 months, both having been born in the Langtons. Also present was seven year old Sarah Jane Litchfield. Two doors away were Thomas' first cousin once removed George with his wife Sophia Edgley (Mary Ann's younger sister) and their one year old son John Joseph.

During the summer of 1861 Thomas moved his family to Uppingham and their next daughter, Clara Jane was born there. Three sons followed: Samuel John (1866), James William (1868) and Frederick Charles (1870). The birth records of all these children are, to say the least, confusing. Full details can be seen on the attached chart. In the census of 1871 the family were situated in Bullock's Yard, one of the closes off North Street in Uppingham. Their six children have been joined two month old "daughter in law" Anna Southwell Litchfield who was Sarah Jane Litchfield's illegitimate daughter. She had been born during the early months of 1871 and baptised at the Church of St Peter & St Paul in Uppingham. She died later the same year

George and Sophia Tilley were resident in the next close, Unicorn Yard. Their penultimate son, Frederick Charles, was born in 1870. Their last son Albert Edward was born in June 1872 and baptised with his brother Frederick on July 17th 1872. Sadly both little boys perished in May the following year. Frederick died On May 2nd and was buried on May 4th 1873. Albert died on May 28th 1873 and was buried three days later. Both had contracted Pertussis (whooping cough). Interestingly it was Sophia Tilley who was present at both their deaths and subsequently registered them. In the 1881 census the family were listed as living in Hope's Yard - the recently renamed Bullock's Yard (17). Both Thomas and Mary Ann were missing and the census of 1881 has Clara Jane listed as "daughter of head" and working as a dressmaker. She had with her brothers Samuel and James and also 8 year old Elizabeth (Eliza) Ann Litchfield described as "granddaughter".

Continued in column 2...

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The family of Thomas Tilley and Mary Ann Litchfield (Continued)

Thomas and Mary reappeared in the census of 1891 in Glaston Road, Uppingham. Son James William, now a coal higgler (a travelling, possibly itinerant, salesman), had returned home. Also present is grand daughter Eliza Ann, the second illegitimate daughter of Sarah Jane Litchfield born at the beginning of 1873. Sarah Jane had married in 1880 and moved to Leicester, leaving Eliza Ann with her grandparents. Eliza Ann ultimately married George Woolston in Uppingham on June 4th 1906. Interestingly, one of the witnesses was John Joseph Tilley, George and Sophia's son. By the turn of the century Thomas and Mary Annd were back in Hope's Yard by themselves. Mary Ann died in the winter of 1904. After her death, Thomas had retired from work and had moved out to Seaton in Rutland to live with George and Eliza Ann Woolston. Thomas died in the fourth quarter of 1919. He was 83 years old.

Mary Ann (1859 - 1945)

By 1871 Mary Ann, then aged 12 years, had been sent into domestic service with the family of John Langley. Auctioneer and Estate Agent, in the High Street Uppingham. On April 22nd 1878 she married agricultural labourer Arthur Petchey at the Church of St Peter & St Paul. The marriage was witnessed by Mary Ann's sister Annie. Arthur has presented some issues with research because of variations in his surname. He was the son of Susan Petchey, born on October 3rd 1854 in Manuden, Essex the year before she married carpenter James Jackson. At times Arthur's surname was spelled Pechey or Peachey, at others he assumed the name Jackson.

After the marriage Arthur and Mary Ann moved to Leicester where they set up home in Craddock Street which runs off Humberstone Road in the St Margaret's district of the town. Arthur took up the trade as a bricklayer. Their first three daughters (Florence Annie, 1878; Gertrude Mary, 1880 and Edith Ellen, 1881) were born there. Soon afterwards the family moved to Ponders End, Enfield, Middlesex, a town which was to become their permanant home. Three more children were born there (James William, 1883; Eva, 1887 and Arthur Ernest, 1889). At the time of the census of 1911, Mary Ann declared that there had been a seventh baby who had died after birth but no record of it has been found to date. Arthur remained a bricklayer throughout his working life. Mary Ann took some employment in a general store around the turn of the century.

Arthur died in the early months of 1925. He was 70 years old. Mary Ann continued living at Durrant Road, Edmonthon. At the outbreak of the second World War she had her daughter Gertrude (labelled incapacitated in the 1939 Register) and her husband carpenter and builder Charles Harvey living with her. Mary Ann died in the summer of 1945.

Annie Maria (1861 - 1955)

Second born daughter Anna (Annie) Maria was baptised at St Peter & St Paul's Church on September 2nd 1861. Just over a year after she had witnessed her older sister's wedding, she married Richard Morris Wilks at the St John Street Wesleyan Chapel in Chester. The couple set up home in Yorke Street, Wrexham where Richard opened a business making and repairing clocks and watches and selling jewellery. During the 1880s, Annie's younger brother Samuel moved to Wrexham and became Richard's apprentice.

During the course of their first 22 years together, Annie and Richard had fifteen children: the first, a daughter named Annie Maria, being born barely three months after the marriage. Three did not survive childhood and were buried in a recently purchased family plot at Ruabon Cemetery in Wrexham: John Herbert on July 15th 1887 at 11 months (from bronchitis complicating measles); William Alfred on March 12th 1902 at 6 months (debility from birth and convulsions) and Alice Louise aged 7 years on July 29th 1910 (from tuberculous meningitis). There were eight other sons (Richard Matthews, 1881; Frederick Harold, 1882; Llewellyn, 1883; Edgar Henry, 1885; Arthur Ernest, 1888; Sydney Tilley, 1893; Charles Rupert, 1895 and Albert Victor, 1897) and three daughters (Beatrice Victoria, 1889; Fanny Elizabeth, 1890 and Winifred Mary, 1899) who lived to maturity.

Richard became well known and highly respected in the community. He was a prominent Churchman and Conservative and a member of the Wrexham Bowling and Angling Clubs (19). On March 1st 1909 he unexpectedly collapsed with severe chest pain and died at the age of 53 years. The formal cause of death was registered as a rupture of a thoracic aortic aneurysm (20). He died without making a will and administration was granted to Annie Maria. Their son Richard took over the management of the family business and the other brothers joined in the running too. Llewellyn and his sister Fanny Elizabeth emigrated to Western Australia

By 1915 and the onset of the first World War, all of the sons, with the exception of Albert Victor, were serving in either the Army or the Air Force. Son Charles suffered a gas injury and shell shock. Albert, who had been born with talipes equinovarus (club foot) was ineligible for Army service and remained at home looking after the family shop. After the War Arthur set up a similar business in Portsmouth. Frederick did similar in Derby.

Eldest daughter Annie Maria did not marry but remained at home to look after her aging mother She died in October 1955. Annie Maria herself died on June 13th 1955 and was buried alongside Richard in Wrexham. As an epitaph, her numerous grandchildren remembered her as a tiny person, always dressed in black but with a very strong and determined personality. She was a true matriarchal figure.

Sydney Tilley

As Sydney reached the end of his teenage years it became obvious that he wanted a new challenge away from the family business. In January 1914 he enlisted in the Army with the Denbighshire Yeomanry. In March 1916 the Battalion was moved out to Alexandria in Egypt. It was reformed and renamed the 24th (Denbighshire) Battalion on December 16th 1916 and became part of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. Throughout 1917 the Battalion was involved in several conflicts around the town of Gaza in Palestine. Sydney was killed in action during the Third Battle of Gaza - the Capture of Beersheba on October 31st 1917. His commanding officer wrote a letter of condolence to Annie Maria later that year in which he stated that Sydney had died taking ammunition to his Lewis gun. He was buried within a few miles of Beersheba (although after the war this grave has not been located). Sydney is commemorated on Panels 19 -21 of the War Memorial within the Jerusalem War Cemetery and on the War Memorial in Wrexham. There is also an inscription to Sydney on the Wilks Memorial in Wrexham Cemetery alongside the one to his father and three of his siblings.

It is also noteworthy that two of Sydney's brothers, Edgar and Frederick, had sons in after the end of the war in 1919. Both named their babies Sydney Tilley. Edgar's son continued to live in Wrexham and died there in 2002. Frederick's son lived in Derby and died in December 2015.

Clara Jane (1863 - 1945)

Clara Jane was born on March 27th and baptised in Uppingham on April 15th 1863. In 1881 she had turned her hand to dressmaking but soon after she left the town for Leicester. She married Joseph Edward Baldwin at St Peter's Church in the city on September 1st 1883. They made their home in Hart Road which lay to the east of the cente near to Spinney Hill Park. This was to be the family home for over 50 years. Clara Jane gave birth on three occasions: Jane (1884), Gertrude Elizabeth (1885) and John Edward (1888). Sadly Jane was only four weeks old when she died on March 29th 1884 and John Edward had reached just two months when he passed away on May 18th 1888. Neither infant had been well from birth and had failed to thrive. However the death certificates were indeterminate: Janes stating merely "debility" and John showing "natural causes; convulsions". Both babies were buried in Section cF plot 591 of the Welford Road Cemetery. Joseph worked as a baker for his whole life. He died and was buried on June 26th 1926 in Section cA plot 239 of Welford Road Cemetery. Clara lived on in Hart Road. At the beginning of the second World War she had her grandson John Sibson, a grocery warehousman, living with her. She died and was buried on May 30th 1945 close to her husband in Sector cA plot 260.

Daughter Gertrude Elizabeth took up work in the shoe industry. She married shoe hand William Sibson, born on March 31st 1884, at St Saviour's Church on Christmas Eve 1908. The couple had two sons: William Arthur (1910) and John Ernest (1913). At the outbreak of the first World War, William signed his attestation papers on August 17th 1914 for service as Private 11512 with the 3rd Battalion the Leicestershire Regiment. He had previously been on three years active service with the King's Own Dragoon Regiment and then on the Reserve List. He was transferred back to the 1st Battalion the King's Dragoons on August 28th 1914 and was shipped out to France with the Expeditionary Force on January 26th 1915. He was in action at the Battle of Festubert when he sustained a gunshot wound to the right shoulder. His right humerus was fractured and although it did eventually heal he was left with a wrist drop. He was considered unfit for further service and was sent back home. Gertrude had been suffering from ill health for some time and died on November 23rd 1915 of pulmonary tuberculosis and was buried four days later in Welford Road Cemetery in the same plot where her father would subsequently be laid to rest. After his wife's death, William continued to attend for Medical Board examinations through 1916 and 1917. He was given cash awards for himself and for his two children. He died in Markfield Sanatorium on May 25th 1919 and was buried four days later in Section cA plot 807 of Welford Road Cemetery.

Samuel John (1866 - 1929)

Thomas and Mary Ann's first son was born on September 5th and baptised in Uppingham on October 3rd 1866 on the same day as his 2nd cousin once removed Frederick William Tilley. On May 26th 1890 he married Sarah Maria Thorpe at St Nicholas Church in Little Bowden, Market Harborough. He returned to Hope's Yard where he was working as a watch maker and their next door neighbour was the recently married son, Herbert, of George and Sophia Tilley. They had four children in the 1890s: Noel (1891), Cecile Maria (1894), Doris Mabel (1896, who died the same year) and Gladys Maud (1898). By 1901, the family had moved into the High Street where Samuel was now a shop keeper. Samuel died in Uppingham on February 26th 1929. Neither of their remaining daughters married. Cecile died in 1936 in the Billesdon district of Leicester. Sarah Maria was living with her daughter Gladys in Welland Street in the Highfield area of the city in 1939. Sarah died in 1944. Gladys followed shortly after in 1950.

Son Noel moved to Leicester where he married Beatrice Wilkins at St Peter's Church on August 2nd 1917. He became a scientific instrument maker. By 1939 the couple were living in Guthlaxton Avenue. They had a daughter Gladys Cecile (1919). After the second World War they move to Henley Crescent, Braunstone. Noel had suffered from high blood pressure for a number of years. He suffered a cerebral haemorrhage (stroke) when on holiday and died on July 22nd 1949 in Torbay Hospital, Torquay, Devon. Beatrice died in Leicester in 1979.

James William (1868 - 1955)

Thomas and Mary Ann's second son was born in the spring of 1868. At the census of 1891 he was still living at home with his parents earning a living as a coal higgler. He had met Emily Jane Skellet who had been born in the village of Ketton, Rutland and who was working as a servant in a hotel in Station Road, Peterboroough. That same year the couple were married in Stamford. James brought his new bride back to Hope's Yard. Over the next 23 years Emily gave birtn to 13 children: 3 boys and 10 girls. Two, Mabel Ellen (1895) and Lilian Maud both died in 1898. Mabel Ellen died on April 26th from bronchopneumonia and cardiac failure, whilst Lilian passed away a week later on May 3rd 1898 from whooping cough and bronchopneumonia. Their grandmother Mary Ann was with them both when they died. Seven children remained at home in 1911. It is known that Elsie Annie (1894) and Dorothy Bertha (1896) had both entered domestic service with two families, a draper and a harness maker, on the High Street. James William died in Uppingham in 1955. Emily Jane died and was buried in the Parish Cemetery on July 16th 1960.

Mary Jane

Eldest daughter Mary Jane married John Thomas Hewerdine on September 25th 1912. There is no obvious connection between John Thomas and Dora Alice Hewerdine who married Arthur Ernest Tilley (Mary Jane's 3rd cousin once removed) in 1920. John and Mary Jane moved to Stamford where they had two sons and four daughters. After John Thomas died in February 1956, Mary Jane married again in July 1959 to Leonard George Barber. This second marriage lasted four years. Mary Jane died in Stamford on December 1st 1983.

Links to the articles mentioned in the text are in italic capitals below:

Article A: Where the Tilleys started A History of the Tilley family: Origins and alternatives 1: The Langtons, Leicestershire

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their thanks for the help, comments and suggestions from the following in the construction of this article: Margaret Stacey from the Uppingham Local History Study Group; Linda Griffiths for permission to reproduce her two photographs of the Wilks memorials in Wrexham from Find a Grave; Contributors to the Leicestershire Forum (including Annette7 and David (DCB)) and the Rutland Forum (BumbleB and Christine53) at RootsChat.Com; Henne, Denmark at the TNG Community Forum and Matlock1418, Mark1959, MaxD and Sadbrewer at The Great War Forum.

Further Reading

1: "Marriage Law for Genealogists: the definitive guide. Revised Second Edition"; Rebecca Probert (2016) Takeway Publishing, Kenilworth, Warwickshire. ISBN 978-0-9931896-2-3.
2. "Divorced, Bigamist, Bereaved? - The family historian's guide to marital breakdown, separation, widowhood and remarriage from 1600 to the 1970s"; Rebecca Probert (2015) Takeaway Publishing, Kenilworth, Warwickshire. ISBN 978-0-9931896-0-9
3. "The Changing Legal Regulation of Cohabitation: From Fornication to Family, 1600-2010"; Rebecca Probert (2012) Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-53630-2.

Rebecca Probert is Professor of Law in the Law School at the University of Exeter. She has interests in both legal history and how the law affects families. She has carried out extensive research into all aspects of cohabitation and marriage. She has written many volumes, both textbooks (books 1 and 2 above are two of several written as aids to the family historian; book 3 appears in the Law in Context series. Of particular interest to this article is the subject of bigamy. Divorce was difficult to obtain and extremely expensive in Victorian times. By definition it requires the guilty part to marry a second time knowing that the first spouse was still alive. It was fairly common for the marriage to break apart and there are several recorded occasions in our magazine pages of one party fleeing the country to marry again elsewhere in the world. The authors would like to thank Professor Probert for her helpful advice and comments in various aspects of our research.

References

1. Lane, Peter N (Editor): Index of Copyholders Part One: The Manor of Preston with Uppingham. Includes 1839 map of Uppingham. Uppingham Local History Study Group
2. Uppingham's Population The town of Uppingham is a vintage English market town Rutland Times July 12th 2015
3. Photograph: St Mary's Church, Ashley © David Purchase, on Geograph and licenced for reuse under this Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Licence by Creative Commons
4. Photograph: St Mary's Church, Ayston, Rutland, © Jules and Jenny from Lincoln, on Wikicommons and licenced for reuse under this Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Licence by Creative Commons
5. St Peter & St Paul's Church, Uppingham. From an old postcard in Kevin Gordon's collection: The Churches of Great Britain and Ireland.
6. Herbert William Tilley at Rutland Remembers
7. Unit History: King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Forces War Records
8. Herbert falls: Second Battle of Bapame Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
9. Photograph: Church of All Hallows, Seaton: © Tim Heaton, and licenced for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
10. Photograph Durham Light Infantry, cap badge. Wikimedia Commons. Reproduced image in the public domain.
11. Mapping the story of County Durham and its people in the First World War The Battle of Estaires Durham at War
12. Class Z Reserve British army reserves and reservists The Long, Long Trail
13. Teething Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia
14. Killed On The Line: Report of inquest on James Bryan. Atherstone News and Herald Page 4 February 14th 1919 The British Newspaper Archive; © The British Library Board.
15. COMPENSATION: Ganger's widow appeals to County Court Judge: Midland Mail Page 3 March 21st 1919 The British Newspaper Archive; © The British Library Board.
16. Photograph of St Nicholas Church and Jewry Wall, Leicester © NotFromUtrecht; Permission for use granted under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported Licence from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
17. Hope's Yard, a mongraph by P.N. Lane 2009 Hope's or Bullock's Yard, Uppingham. An Overview No. 11; Uppingham Local History Study Group
18. Lithograph of St John Street Weslayan Chapel from Bicentenial History Weslayan Methodist Church, Chester by Brian C Heald March 2012.
19. Sudden Death of a Banbury Gentleman at Wrexham Banbury Guardian Page 5 March 18th 1909 The British Newspaper Archive; © The British Library Board.
20. Patient information leaflet. Thoracic aortic aneurysm. Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
21. Photograph © Linda Griffiths, Memorial 133889414 Find a Grave. Reproduced with permission
22. Photograph: Durham Yeomanry Cap Badge. at Culman Collectables
23. Photograph Royal Welsh Fusiliers, cap badge World War 1. Wikimedia Commons.
24. Photograph © Linda Griffiths, Memorial 133937026 Find a Grave. Reproduced with permission
25. Photograph: St Peter's Church Highfields from a photo set by and © Aiden McRae Thomson. Reproduced with permission.
26 "After life's fitful fever, city's great and good sleep in pleasant spot". Lithograph of Welford Road Cemetery about 1849 Leicester Mercury October 14th 2013
27. Photograph: Welford Road Cemetery, Leicester Friends of the Welford Road Cemetery, Leicester Ancestors
28. Map of the sections of Welford Road Cemetery, Leicester City Council
29. Lithograph: St Saviour's Church, Leicester from Spencers' New Guide to Leicester, 1888 in Charnwood Street, Leicester ... Memories of Charney
30. Photograph: St Nicholas Church, Little Bowden © Richard Dear, on Geograph and licenced for reuse under this Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Licence by Creative Commons

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Last update: January 21st 2022

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