"A Case of Identity"

One of the Holmes adventures involves a mysterious suitor, who writes his letters with a typewriter and clearly wants his identity concealed. On the wedding day, the bride is left standing at the altar. She goes to Holmes to track down the perpetrator. Importantly, Holmes deduces his identity in part by noting that the suitor never appears when a certain other is around; in fact, this other and the false suitor are one and the same.

In this, the fourth part of a genealogical mystery, the identity in question is that of John, the father of Vivian Kennett Tilley, and husband of Amelia Augusta Beresford. However, family trees in ancestry.com have John Tilley, son of Llewellyn and Elizabeth, married to Maria Jane Jotcham (BMD Marriage Index Jun1887 Dursley 6a 428). Assuming they are right, the fate of this couple may help me determine whether these two John Tilleys might be the same person.

The 1891 England Census for Orchard Street in Wotton-under-Edge has:
     John Tilley          Head    M   30   Commercial Traveller London, Islington
     Maria Jane         Wife            30                                   Gloucester, Wotton-under-Edge
     Ida Eleanor         Daur            1 m                                Gloucester, Wotton-under-Edge

And in 1901 for Market Street in Wotton-under-Edge
     Maria Jane Tilley Head      M  40  Dressmaker             Glos. Wotton-under-Edge
     John L                Son              11                                  Glos. Wotton-under-Edge
     Ida E                  Daur            10                                   Glos. Wotton-under-Edge
     Laura M             Daur             8                                    Glos. Wotton-under-Edge
     Dorothy J           Daur             6                                    London, Hammersmith

Of course, John - the father - may be travelling on business, but he is not dead; Maria Jane reports her status as married, not widowed. But this does mean, unless John and Maria Jane are separated (and the former living with Amelia Beresford and their two children), we might rule out this line of inquiry as well.

Entires from the BMD Birth Index would be:
     John Llewellyn Tilley Sep1889 Dursley 6a 229
     Ida Eleanor Tilley      Jun1891 Dursley 6a 235
     Laura Marjorie Tilley Dec1892 Dursley 6a 25
     Dorothy Jennie Tilley Dec1894 Fulham 1a 175

Being unable to find this family in the 1911 England Census, I searched for Ida Eleanor Tilley, on the supposition this name would be easily identifiable. Several candidates were suggested, of which the following bears some examination. I found a US Passport application dated 1920 for Ida Eleanor Tilley, born in Wotton-under-Edge 7 March 1891, whose father John was born, and at the time of the application resided, in London. Ida Eleanor had lived in the United States since May 1906, and at the time of the passport application resided in Stamford, Connecticut.

The 1910 US Census has this family living in Stamford, Connecticut:
     Tilly     Maria      Head       M1   48   Dressmaker                    England
                Ida          Daughter   S     19   None                             England
                Marjory  Daughter   S      17  Stenographer                  England
                Dorothy  Daughter   S      15  Milliner's Apprentice       England
In spite of the mis-spelling of Tilley, this is surely the same family. The notation M1 refers to a single marriage. Additionally, the census records that the marriage was 23 years ago (consistent with an 1887 wedding), and that Maria had borne 5 children of which 4 have survived. A candidate for the missing child would be:
     Albert Andrew Tilley Mar1887 Dursley 6a 225
Who died Jun1887 Dursley 6a 147 Age: 0

John Llewellyn Tilley became Jack Llewellyn Tilley. From the Texas Death records (LDS familysearch site), his date of birth is 29 June 1889 in England, death is 20 October 1963 in El Paso, Texas, aged 74. He was a pharmicist by occupation, had been married, and his parents are recorded as John Tilley and Maria J Jotcham. His World War One draft card locates him in Brooklyn, New York. And he served in the US Army, inducted 4 October 1918, by which he was eligible for a veteran's grave at Fort Bliss National Cemetery. (His military records give the correct birthday, but incorrect year of 1890).

Ida Eleanor Tilley naturalized in 1918, when she lived at 302 Summer Street, Stamford, Connecticut. Her death record in Connecticut reveals that she was born 7 March 1891 and died 9 November 1983, aged 92, in Wethersfield, Connecticut. In life, she had been the Principal of a girls' boarding school. Her photo is shown in the 1920 passport application.

Laura Marjorie Tilley apparently became Marjorie Llewellyn Tilley. She was naturalized as a US Citizen 7 April 1933. She also was a School Principal, first of the Low Heywood School, Stamford, Connecticut and later at the Ellis School, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where there is still a scholarship in her name. Her obituary was published in the 23 March 1970 New Castle News (Pennsylvania), which records her late parents John and Maria Jotchan (presumably a misprint for Jotcham) Tilley, and surviving siblings Miss Ida Eleanor Tilley and Mrs. Paul A Miller. She was 77 years old.

Dorothy Jennie (became Dorothy Jane) Tilley married the Reverend Paul Alexander Miller of Matz, Ohio, a United Presbyterian minister. The couple applied for passports for a mission trip in 1920. Here is another passport photo, this time of Dorothy Miller:

Clearly, the family of John and Maria Jane Tilley, which we began to track in the 1891 England Census, ended up in the United States, and there may be descendants here from Jack Lewellyn Tilley, and the Miller family. Marjorie Tilley's obituary mentioned a nephew and two nieces.

How far have I come in determining if the two John Tilleys are one and the same? The answer: it is still possible. The 1910 US Census had Maria as head of household; as in 1901, John is not to be seen. Again, he may be travelling on business. But in 1920, he is reported residing in London while his children are settled in America, and I suspect he was there all along. Of course, I may be completely wrong, and all the work detailed here may turn out merely to be an illustration of the kinds of records available, and the information therein. Or else of interest to more distantly related Tilleys.

To add to the suspense, according to the Connecticut Deaths and Burials Index, Maria Jane Tilley died in 1914 aged 54, the year that John Tilley and Amelia Augusta Beresford were finally married. The plot thickens... Lacking certainty from the materials I could find on ancestry.com, I decided to buy the 1914 marriage certificate for John Tilley and Amelia Beresford - it's in the mail.