Some Advice from Holmes

Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke vividly brought to life the detective, Sherlock Holmes, and his companion, Dr. Watson in the Granada TV adaptation. I caught these on Public Television in the 1990s, finding the characterizations and Victorian detail delightful, whether or not I already knew the plot, or even thought it believable. Part of the fun of genealogy for me lies in the detective work. And that set me to looking for Holmes quotes. I like the irony of this one - a fictional character telling us that fact is stranger than fiction!

"Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and leading to the most outre results, it would make all fiction with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and unprofitable."

Some family lines appear to lead predictable lives, and I can sail from census to census, finding enough continuity of place or year of birth, or occupation, or the presence of family members, to trace with some confidence the generations of a single family. In other cases, my confidence quickly evaporates as I'm left with a Victorian/Edwardian detective mystery, as in the case of John Tilley and his wife Amelia.

First, forward two generations. My stepfather rarely talked about his own father, and beyond the names of his siblings I learned little about his genealogy. Going into this genealogical project, I was interested in the Tilleys. I never really thought of him as a stepfather; he was simply “Dad” and I now bear his last name as part of mine. Having three parents at least means having half as many again genealogical lines to follow!

So, where to begin? A search of his name, John Beresford Tilley, showed that at least one other had been at work on Tilley genealogy before me. Even so, it is always good to check for documentary sources, which turns out to be fairly easy in this case, since the prior genealogist indicated that John Beresford Tilley's father had unusual given names: Vivian Kennett. The BMD Marriage Index records this marriage:
     Vivian Kennett Tilley and Minnie MF Byrne Dec1928 Paddington 1a 171

The BMD Birth Index records the following Tilley/Byrne children:

     Mary K Mar1929 Marylebone 1a 626

     John B Jun1931 Pancras 1b 182

     Richard K Dec1928 Huntingdon 3a 286

     Michael D Sep1942 St. Ives 3b 523

There should also be Linda, the youngest. And note how the Index records a move from London to Huntingdonshire, something my father had shared with us.

I did know that my father’s mother had died young. With the hint that she also went by the name Marion, I found this death record :
     Marion M Tilley Sep1946 St. Ives 4b 246 Age:42

Her BMD Birth Index record is:
     Minnie Mary F Byrne Mar1905 Paddington 1a 76

I could also confirm from BMD Indexes that Vivian Kennett remarried (Jun1953 Hammersmith 5c 160) to Patricia N Worner. In fact, the prior genealogist is a descendant through this line. Vivian Kennett Tilley died in 1993.

Vivian Kennett also shows up in the 1911 England Census, living at 23 Cleveland Square, Hyde Park, London:

     John Tilley                     Head              50  Married  Collector    b. London, Islington

     Amelia Augusta Tilley   Wife              39   Married Caretaker   b. Durham City

     Adela Bereford Tilley    Daughter       14                 School        b. London, Shepherd’s Bush

     Norah Kathleen Tilley   Daughter       12                 School        b. Kent, Gillingham

     Vivian Kennett Tilley     Son                 9                  School        b. London, Notting Hill

     Minnie Kennett Dawes Sister-in-law  36   Married Cook Domestic b. Durham, Langley Moor

The family also shows up prior to Vivian Kennett's birth in the 1901 England Census, living at 1 Hurstway Street, Kensington:

     John Tilley                Head                39 Married  House Minder  b. London, Islington

     Amelia A Tilley         Wife                29 Married                           b. Durham City

     Adela E                     Daughter          4                                          b. London, Hammersmith

     Nora K                       Daughter          2                                         b. Kent,  New Brompton

All three children were baptized on the same day, 2^nd November 1905 at St Mary Magdalene, Paddington. The baptismal record also lists their birthdays:

     Adela Bereford   10 January 1897,

     Norah Kathleen  23 November 1899

     Vivian Kennett    7 September 1901.

Their address is given as 126 Clarendon Street.  John’s occupation is cab driver. Around this time, London had mostly horse-drawn cabs and fewer than one hundred motor cabs.

When I search for a marriage between John Tilley and a spouse Amelia A., I find this one:

     John Tilley and Amelia A Beresford Jun1914 Paddington 1a 211

Which makes sense; the wife’s maiden name, Beresford, is that given by the prior Tilley genealogist, and also my father's middle name, which he explained as a family name. Amelia's BMD Birth Index entry is:
     Amelia Augusta Bereford Sep1871 Durham 10a 410
Her BMD Death Index entry is:
     Amelia Tilley Mar1959 Fulham 5c 668 Age:87

Yet the marriage entry also presents a mystery; in 1911 on their census return, John and Amelia A report being married for 15 years; yet their marriage certificate was issued in 1914! It is possible that their original marriage was not properly registered. (In an earlier post, I reported that Kenneth Kapadia and Hattie Maxfield/Wichert have two marriage records: one in London, England and one in Winnipeg, Canada). But is it possible that they were living together as married, while one of them was actually separated from a living spouse? Certainly not a topic of respectable Edwardian conversation!

A more prosaic mystery concerns John Tilley's parents. John Tilley, from the census data was born in Islington, London about 1861/2. When I searched for such a John Tilley, I found the son of one Llewellyn Tilley, a confectioner from Gloucestershire, and his wife, Elizabeth. Unfortunately the name is common enough that other researchers propose different parents, that John Tilley is the son of John Tilley, Carman, of Marylebone, London and his wife Ellen.

After some preliminary work, I decided it was well worth ordering the 1914 marriage certificate for John Tilley and Amelia Beresford, which ought to list the name and occupation of John Tilley's father. While I am waiting on this, I will present in future posts the preliminary work, which leads me to favor Llewellyn over John. Still, keep in mind Holmes's cautionary note:

"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts."