TILLEY
with roots in Somerset, England
family
the
Family Name History
The English surname Tilley and its variants Tillie, Tilly, Tily, Tylee and Tyley are ultimately of Norman origin, introduced into England during the Conquest of 1066. The name denotes “one who came from Tilly”, the name of various places in northern France, such as Tilly-sur-Seulles in Calvados and Tilly in Eure. These toponyms are derived from either the Gallo-Roman personal name “Tilius”, from the Latin “tilia” meaning “lime tree” or the personal name Attilius, a variant of Attalus (of unknown origin) and the local suffix ending “-acum”. Alternatively, the name denotes “one who came from Tilley”. The name of a place in Shropshire, derived from the Old English word “telg(e)” meaning “branch, bough” and “leah” meaning “wood, clearing”.
Occasionally, the name is of occupational origin, that is, derived from the trade or profession pursued by the original bearer. Here the name is derived from the Middle English word “tilie”, from the verb “tilian” meaning “to cultivate, till” and therefore the name denotes “a husbandman”. In some instances, the name is of matronymic origin, indicating “son of Tilley”, a diminutive of Mathilda which name derives from the German “math” meaning “might, strength” and “hild” meaning “battle”.
The earliest record of this surname dates back to 1086 when one Ralph de Tilia is listed in the “Domesday Book” of Devonshire. Oto de Tilli is mentioned in the “Records of the Templars in England in the Twelfth Century” in 1185. Wulwordus Tillie is recorded in the “Pipe Rolls” of Kent in 1230 and John Tilly is mentioned in the “Rotuli Hundredorum” of Somerset in 1274. Thomas Tilley and Susanna Turnedge were married in 1762 and the marriage of Henry Tilly and Susanna Whittington took place in 1774. Notable bearers include Edward Tilley and John Tilley who were both passengers on board the Mayflower when it sailed from Plymouth to America in 1620.
A Somerset Childhood
At what age do we begin to store the memories that stay with us into old age?
Two, three, four?
I must have been around two years old when the first photographic memory burnt itself onto my incipient consciousness. An adult’s hand was running a toy fire engine up and down the wall above my cot. Later, I learnt from my mother that the hand must have belonged to the local doctor, who was treating me for a severe case of pneumonia. I contracted pneumonia in the rambling, chilly farmhouse of my grandparents, where my mother had taken me when the German Luftwaffe began to bomb our home town near Bristol.
To read more of this account by
Robert James Tilley (1938-2015), click here.
