Reigns of Charles I & II (before and around 1650)
King Charles I became king of England in 1625. In 1642 the English Civil War started between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians. It only finally ended in 1651.
Robarte Browne Lilly fought on the side of the Royalists during the time of the Stuart kings. They fought for Charles I under Prince Rupert - by land and sea. Prince Rupert was the nephew of Charles I and cousin to Charles II. King Charles was executed in 1649. As a result of fighting on the losing side, the Lilly family property in Shropshire was confiscated by Oliver Cromwell (Herbert Lilley still writing of "Cromwell and his thieves" in 1935!) and they moved to N. Wales for safety.
Great, Great Uncle Herbert Lilley had a Bible with 1648 in it and "Isaac Lilly, A Anwyd (Welsh for "Born"), 1704" written in it. (Before 1611 when the King James Bible was printed, it would have been rare for a family to have a Bible, especially in English. So it is interesting to see this Bible was dated 1648 - a time when a family might indeed possess a Bible.) The family lived somewhere in N. Wales from around 1650 to 1700. We know they were in Wrexham, Denbighshire, NE Wales in 1677 when Isaac Lilly´s daughter, Mary was baptized there. Isaac is said to be a gardener. Later his son, Samuel Malanor Lilly and two grandsons - John and Isaac are also gardeners, near Llandwrog. How the mighty have fallen, but they showed adaptability and made the best of their reduced circumstances. It would make sense to settle in Wrexham as it was only 39.4 miles from Lillieshall in Shropshire, where they had lived - but across the border in Wales in relative safety. Around 1700 they moved to Llandwrog, also in Denbighshire and there are several family entries in the parish register there. We have the record in the Parish register of Samuel Malanore Lilley whose son Isaac was baptized in 1704. The next record we have is of Isaac Lilley who is a gardener at "Caer Halen Manor", Llandwrog - 3 miles from Llanwnda station, Carnarvonshire, Wales. Great, Great Uncle Herbert Lilley visited Llandwrog in 1893 and inspected the Parish Register and found entries from just before 1700. He also found a tombstone with the names Samuel Lilley, died 1796 and Alice, his wife, died aged 78 - (not quite consistent with the parish register but close enough!) The tomb itself was destroyed in a fire in 1860 when the church burnt down. (It is not known when the name changed from "Lily", "Lilly", “Lilye”, Lyly or Lylly to "Lilley".)
The entries in the Parish Register at Llandwrog were as follows:
Nov 24th, 1704 Isaac Lilley, son of Samuel Malanore Lilley, baptized. (Consistent with the entry in the Bible.)
October 11th, 1721 Isaac Lilley married Alice Dafydd. (Great, Great Uncle Herbert wrote her maiden name as Davis)
Jan. 5th, 1726 Samuel Lilley buried (presumably Isaac’s father - Samuel Malanore Lilley)
October 13th 1731 Maria, daughter of Isaac baptized.
May 30, 1736 Samuel Lilley, son of Isaac baptized.
January 6th, 1742 Ann, daughter of Isaac baptized.
March 11th, 1744 Ann, daughter of Isaac buried.
March 12th, 1777 Alice, wife of Isaac buried (aged 77) (Tombstone – aged 78)
July 3rd, 1795 Isaac, gardener, Caer Halen Manor, buried (aged 91) (Tombstone - 1796)
(There is a problem here in the records as ISAAC LILLEY married ALICE and died in 1795 according to the parish register but tombstone says SAMUEL LILLEY, the name of Isaac’s father and son, according to Great, Great Uncle Herbert. Was he Samuel Isaac, but known as Isaac? Or did Herbert Lilley make a mistake about the inscription – maybe indistinct with age - on the grave?)
In conclusion:
VI) SAMUEL MALANORE LILLEY (? -January, 1726) married Ernole Morgan (buried 06/01/1765). Samuel was apparently gardener at Dolydd Byrion which was an estate/farm near LLandwrog. They had two sons : 1 )John Lilley (born - 1700) 2) ISAAC LILLEY.
1) John Lilley was also a gardener at Caer Halen Manor near Llandwrog, like his brother.
a) He married a) Elowna (Ellen) Thomas on 11/11/1733. They had two children: 1) Janet baptized on 08/05/1739 at Llandwrog; buried at Bangor, Wales on 30/12/1797. 2) Thomas baptized on 01/07/1747 at Llandwrog. Thomas married Mary ?. Their daughter Ellen Lilley was baptized on 06/05/1780 at Bangor; second daughter Mary baptized 09/02/1783 at Bangor.
Thomas was buried at Bangor on 20/4/1830. Elowna Lilly died ? date.
b) John remarried - Margaret Griffith, born 1723, and they had a son: Griffith Lilly baptized on 01/07/1759. Margaret was buried 08/01/1779.
c) John remarried - Catherine ? on 09/05/1780 at Llanwanda.
VII) 2) ISAAC LILLEY (1704 - 1795) married ALICE DAFYDD (1699 - 1777) on 11th October 1727. He was a gardener at Caer Halen Manor, near Llandwrog. They had a son. SAMUEL LILLEY, son of Isaac, was baptized 30th May 1736 in the Parish church, Llandwrog. He was the only remaining child of Isaac and Alice Lilley. (Six others died).
Lt. Samuel Lilley was a naval man who moved from N. Wales to Peckham, Camberwell, Surrey to be nearer to the Admiralty. When he died, aged 84, he was buried in the family vault at St Giles Churchyard, Camberwell. HWC Hyde was the curate who conducted the burial service. (It is interesting to consider that Lt Samuel Lilley was the son of a gardener and yet a naval officer. Naval officers were gentlemen and therefore coming from a more elevated social status than gardeners. Did the family still have Connections? After retiring from the Royal Navy, he worked as a gardener!)
Naval career of Lt. Samuel Lilley in the British Royal Navy:
During reign of King George II:-
Served in "HMS Bedford", as 2nd Lieutenant, at the Seige of Louisberg in 1757. (Louisberg was in Nova Scotia, Canada) The French were defeated.
Served in "HMS Theseus" under Captain Keppel, in Admiral Hawke's brilliant engagement of 1759.
Served in Admiral Boscowan's action in 1759 at the Battle of Lagos against the French fleet under Jean-Francois de La Clue Sabrar, over two days during the Seven Years’ War.
During the reign of George III:-
Served in "HMS Minerva" under Captain Alex Hood against "Le Warrior" in 1761.
Retired from the Royal Navy. (See Allsorts "History of Camberwell" (1841) and Blancher? (1875) for entries on the family - seen by Herbert Lilley before 1935 at Camberwell and Woolwich Libraries)
VIII) a) Lt. SAMUEL LILLEY (1736 - 1820) married on 18/8/1765, MARTHA MILLIS at Bartholomew the Less church, London (She died before 1783) They had 2 daughters (both died young) and three sons (two died young).
The following are a few entries from St Giles Parish Church register, Camberwell:
December 12th, 1766 Elizabeth Lilley baptized.
November 22nd,1767 Edward Job Lilley baptized.
December 22nd,1767 Edward Job buried.
January 14th, 1770 Diana, daughter of Samuel and Martha Lilley baptized.
January 31st, 1771 Diana, daughter of Samuel and Martha Lilley, buried.
September 21st, 1771 Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel and Martha Lilley buried.
November 24th, 1772 Samuel, son of Samuel and Martha Lilley buried.
April 9th, 1775 Samuel Isaac, son of Samuel and Martha Lilley baptized.
Surviving son of Lt Samuel and Martha Lilley:
1) SAMUEL ISAAC LILLEY
b) Samuel Lilley married in 1783, Mary Cocking, born 1751, buried 1816 (65 years) St Giles
They ? had two children: 1) Robert Lilley, ?born after 1783, buried 03/07/1791 (If he was Samuel and Mary´s child, not Samuel´s and Martha´s. Parents not given on his burial entry) 2) Thomas Lilley, ? born after 1783, if he was Samuel´s and Mary´s son. We have no record of his baptism. Great, Great Uncle Herbert mentioned that he was a lieutenant at Waterloo, but was uncertain of his first name. From official records we have found: Thomas Lilly was an ensign (2nd lieutenant) in the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers) He joined up on 1st October, 1812. The commanding officer was Sir Henry Walton Ellis KCB, who died at Waterloo. Thomas was awarded several medals for battles (viz. Nivelle and Nive in 1813; Orthez and Toulouse in 1814), that he fought in during the Napoleonic wars, including the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 when he was in Captain Henry Johnson´s unit. He continued his military career in Ceylon which was at that time a colony of the British Empire. He was a lieutenant in the 58th Regiment of Foot (Rutlandshire) which was posted in Ceylon from 1826 - 1838. Later he was Captain Lilly of the Ceylon Rifles in 1839 (they existed from 1827-1873). He then became Major Thomas Lilly and was Lt. Colonel Lilly when he died in April, 1862. Distinguished himself (from the British point of view!) in the Kandian Insurrection of 1848. Received the special thanks of Lord Torrington, Governor of Ceylon, for his gallantry.
IX) SAMUEL ISAAC LILLEY (son of Lt Samuel Lilley) (1775 -1842) married on 29th August, 1805, SARAH MEDLYCOTT (1785 - ?) at St Giles, Camberwell, by licence.
His address was Parliament House, Peckham Road. She came from a Gloucestershire family. His father, Samuel Lilley was a witness. The other witness was Medlycott -?
Sarah´s father. Samuel Isaac Lilley was a solicitor. (On 7/4/1789 he was apprenticed to a Stationer for seven years. On 05/02/1976 he became an Articled Clerk on his way to becoming a Solicitor.) (Two children not mentioned below: Isaac Lilley, born 1813, buried 1820 aged 7 years. Martha Lilley, born 24/9/1814, buried 13/10/1814, aged 19 days.)
The 1841 Census tells us the following: Samuel Isaac was 65, Sarah, 55. Samuel, aged 30 - Barrister; William aged 30 - Royal Navy; Thomas aged 28 - East India Service; Elizabeth aged 25; Sarah aged 25; Martha aged 20; Mary aged 20 - were at home. Only Edmund was not there. (Not all the ages of the children are accurate according to other information we have. Someone guessed?) (Martha Lilley died and was buried on 03/08/1842, aged 26. Mary Lilley, born 1818, died 1851 aged 33. Both buried at St Giles).
Samuel Isaac Lilley died and was buried on 9th October 1842 in St Giles Churchyard, Camberwell, in the family vault. Service was led by the vicar - IG Starck.
They had 7 surviving children:
1) Samuel Lilley (1806 - 1889),born on 13/8/1806 and baptized on 10/9/1806.Obtained an M A at Worcester College, Oxford. He was a barrister and for many years, Leader of the Surrey Sessions. Samuel apparently married Harriet. They had a daughter Louise Constance Mary Lilley, baptized 18th March, 1860 at St Giles.
2) Edmund Lilley (1807 - 1894) M.A., B.D. of Jesus College, Oxford married Louise Fitton. He was a clergyman. She was the daughter of Captain Fitton of the Royal Navy. Edmund was for years rector of St Chrysostoms, Peckham (this church was bombed in World War II) and afterwards of St Mary and St Edward parish church in Barrow Gurney, Somerset, near Clifton. Memorial to Edmund & Louise in Parish church, Barrow Gurney. No children.
3) CAPTAIN WILLIAM LILLEY (see Later for his history)
4) Elizabeth Lilley (1810 - 1889). She never married. Died, aged 79.
5) Captain Thomas Lilley, Royal Navy (1811 - 1860), born in Camberwell, had a twin sister, Sarah. They were born on 11/8/1811 and baptized on 10/9/1811.
Thomas Lilley married on 22nd January, 1845, Eliza Finella Howe (1821 - ), born in Scotland Combe, by licence in the Parish of St Mary, Lambeth, Surrey. Eliza´s father´s name was William Howe and her address at the time of her marriage was given as Dunster. Thomas´s address was Brixton.
(H.E.I.C.S. were added to his name by Great, Great Uncle Herbert. I could not find out the meaning of those initials but it seems they stand for Ḧonourable East India Company Service! In the 1841 census Thomas is said to be in the East India Service.)
In the 1851 census: Thomas and Eliza were living in Clarendon Terrace, Camberwell New Road. The children recorded were: Thomas aged 5, born Scotland Combe; Agnes Helen aged 2 - born Scotland Combe ( 30th September, 1848 and baptized on 12th January, 1849 by Uncle Edmund Lilley at St Giles, Camberwell, when they were living in Peckham);
Alice aged 1 born in Lambeth, Surrey; Edmund Howe Lilley aged 0, (born in Camberwell 30/03/1851, baptized 30/05/1851 by Uncle Edmund at St Giles, Camberwell. He died in 1900.) There were 2 servants - Elizabeth Pepall aged 48; Elizabeth Barnard aged 19.
In the 1861 census: The family were living at 10, Chatham Place, Camberwell. (Now here is a mystery. His name is still given as head of the household, his age 48, but he was supposed to have been lost in a typhoon off the China coast in 1860! It says he was a Master Mariner. Was he away and Eliza had not yet got the news of the shipwreck?) Eliza is listed as the wife. The children were listed: Alice, aged 10, Edmund, aged 9, Arthur aged 5. (Arthur, born 1855 and baptized on 19th September in St Giles Parish, by his Uncle Edmund, Minister of Peckham Chapel. They were living in Barrington Road.) Agnes Helen is missing from the list. Emma Bates was the servant.
Captain Thomas Lilley was lost in a typhoon off the China coast in 1860. He left 3 sons and 2 daughters. Two sons survived to grow older:
Thomas Lilley (II) was still alive in 1935, aged 90. He had no children.
Edmund Howe Lilley went to sea aged 17 in 1868 as an indentured apprentice in the Merchant Navy. He received his Second Mate certificate in 1872, aged 21. He was awarded his First Mate certificate in 1877, aged 26. He received his Master´s certificate in 1879 and became Captain Edmund Howe Lilley, aged 28 . At the age of 40 he received another Master´s certificate having passed the examination on ¨Compass deviation¨. In the 1881 census he is recorded as being aboard the ¨The Marlborough as a First Mate, although he had qualified as a Master Mariner. Shortage of ships? Shortage of connections? Edmund Howe Lilley died in Wandsworth, London, October 1903, aged 52, after being ill for one day. Buried on 24th October in Parish of Tooting, London. Home address, 7a Mantilla Rd. Tooting.
I investigated the road - interesting old houses.
Edmund Howe Lilley (1851 - 1903) married in 1876, Melina Elizabeth Clark (? - 1937)
They had a son: A) Edmund Arthur Howe Lilley, born November 21st, 1882, was baptized in St Stephen´s of Lambeth church in the County of Surrey on 11/02/1883. His father´s occupation is given as Master Mariner. He married Annie Amelia Crockford (née Clark), a widow, on 21/09/1907. He was 24, she was 39. (Note the same surname as his mother’s maiden name. A relative?) His profession on the marriage certificate is given as Contractors’ Agent and his residence was 34, Mantilla Road, Tooting. They were married at St Leonard´s church, Streatham by licence. Her address was 15, Hopton Road, Streatham. Her father was Frederick Henry Clark but deceased. He had been a Colonial Broker. During World War I, Captain Edmund Arthur Howe Lilley belonged to the Hertfordshire Regiment, but was attached to the 6th Bedfordshire Regiment. He was killed in action on 31/07/1918 in France. He was buried in St Amand British Cemetery. He left 267 pounds sterling in his will, to his wife and mother. He was awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. There he is said to be a lieutenant but the Commonwealth Wargraves commission gave him the rank of captain! Our family history also says he was a captain. The register of the war medals has ¨killed in action¨ and date of death written in another handwriting, in red ink. Maybe the medals were awarded before he attained the rank of captain. Edmund Howe Lilley´s widow Melina Elizabeth died on 25/05/1937 at 25, Brunswick Road, Sutton, although her residence is given as 7, Litchfield Road, Sutton, Surrey. She left 952 pounds sterling. The same solicitor dealt with her will as had dealt with her son´s in 1918 - George Alfred Herington.
Edmund Arthur Howe Lilley´s widow, Annie Amelia née Clark died on 12/9/1938 in St Mary Abbot´s Hospital. Kensington. She left 80 pounds sterling and 11 shillings to Frederick Henry Potter Clark, retired civil servant. She had been living in Stratford Rd., London.
6) Sarah Lilley (1811 -1891) was Thomas Lilley´s twin sister. She never married and died, aged 78 according Great, Great Uncle Herbert - small discrepancy here. Both Elizabeth´s and Sarah´s property passed through Edmund Howe Lilley to his son, Edmund Arthur Howe Lilley, and after his death in World War I, to his widow and mother.
7) Joseph Lilley was born in Camberwell, Surrey. He was an attorney by profession. Joseph Lilley (1819 - 1875) married Jane Wharton, daughter of Lt. Wharton of the Royal Navy. They had no children. Jane apparently died at quite a young age.
According to the 1871 census, Joseph was married to Emily H. Lilley, born in Devonport, Devon. They lived at 1, Broadwater Down, Tunbridge Wells. He was 52 and Emily was 47. They had two servants, Henrietta Weston aged 33, born in Camberwell and Frances Wallis, 25, born in Wadhurst, Sussex. He died at Broadwater, Tunbridge Wells. Joseph Lilley had the official family history in his possession, and it was lost at his death.
Subsequently, Great, Great Uncle Herbert tried to put together as much of it as he could by checking records, visiting places etc. We are fortunate in having the internet and access to the public records of past generations.
(I want to put in some names whose connections are not clear but are apparently part of our family and recorded at St Giles, Camberwell. Sarah Lilley married William Wyngard in 1767; James Lilley, born about 1756. buried 1832, aged 76; Sarah Anderson Lilley born 1802, buried 1870, aged 68 years; John Lilley born 1815 and buried 1863, aged 48 years; William Albert Lilley born 1862, married Alice Eliza England on 7/3/1897. His father was William Henry Lilley)
CAPTAIN WILLIAM LILLEY, (1809 - 1870), of the Royal Navy. (our ancestor)
His naval career:
During reign of George IV (1823-1830):
Joined HMS Ganges on 27th June 1823. Appointed Midshipman 27th June 1823.
Served in following ships: "HMS Java" (4th April 1826 - 31st January 1827)
"HMS Boadicea (1st February 1827 - ?31st August 1827)
"HMS Bittern" (26th September 1827- 17th March 1828)
"HMS Sparrow" (2nd August 1828 - 5th January 1830)
During reign of William IV:
"HMS Sparrow" Appointed Lieutenant (6th January 1830)
Later appointed Captain but dates and ships not stated.
During reign of Queen Victoria:
Served until 1847 when he retired with rank of Captain, Royal Navy.
He subsequently sailed with the Mercantile Marine and died in Mauritius in 1870, probably on a voyage as captain of a merchant ship.
William Lilley was born on 23/03/1809, baptized at St Giles, Camberwell on 19/04/1809.
a) Captain WILLIAM LILLEY (1809 - 1870) married Emily ? (Died before 1841)
They had a daughter, Emily Susannah Lilley, baptized 23/07/1837 at St Giles, Camberwell.
X) b) Captain WILLIAM LILLEY (1809 - 1870) married JANE ? (born in Islington in 1820)
They had five sons and four daughters.
In the census of 1851, William was away ¨with the Mercantile¨. Jane Lilley was 31.
Samuel, 8 and Martha, 5 were scholars. Alfred was 4, Jane Florence, 2 and there was a nameless son of 3 months. They were living at 25, Nelson Square, Lambeth.
In the census of 1871, Jane is called an annuitant, William having died the previous year. Jane, 21 was still at home, Herbert was 10, they had an 83 year old boarder, J. Nichols. Emma Friday was the servant. They lived at 38, Rye Hill, Peckham.
(Of their children, two sons and three daughters died young: William Lilley, born 1843, was buried at St Giles 12/12/1850 aged 7 years; Martha Lilley, born on 06/05/1845 and baptized by Uncle Edmund on 11/06/1845 - the family were living at Willow Place, Old Kent Road, Camberwell; Florence Mary Lilley was baptized on 06/07/1857)
Surviving children of William and Jane Lilley:
1) Samuel Isaac Lilley was born on 21/04/1842 and baptized by Uncle Edmund at St Marks, Kensington, Surrey. The family´s address was Sydney Place, Kensington, London. His father´s profession was given as ¨gentleman¨.
Samuel moved to South Africa. He settled in the Pilgrim´s Rest area, Lydenburg district.
Samuel Lilley (1842 - 1926) married on 19/03/1866, Jane Le Mesurier (1842 - 1912, born in Cape Town), at St George´s Cathedral, Cape Town. The witnesses were C. Goodson and A. D. Hodgson. The clergyman was Rev Parmuter.
They had one son: i) William Herbert Lilley, born in Pilgrims´s Rest, Transvaal (now named Mpumalanga province), 1876.
He worked as a miner (an electrician, also called a Batteryman) in the Theta mine and was killed by a rockfall which caused suffocation, on 8th April, 1903. There is a monument to him in the Pilgrim´s Rest Cemetery on the Town Square. His estate was worth about 379 pounds sterling.
William Herbert Lilley (1876-1903) married on 16/06/1898, Maude Mary Purcell at St Maryś church, Pilgrim´s Rest. The witnesses were S.I. Lilley and J.M. Purcell. The clergyman was J. Graham Reid. They had three children: A) Thelma Constance Mary Lilley, born 1899 in the Transvaal - probably Pilgrims Rest - married O. Rees. She died in August 1937 of exposure. She was found dead in the Municipal Market, Benoni. At the time she was 38 years old, was a housewife and lived at 3, Palm Street, Boksburg. We found no explanation for this tragedy. Dr Cronje was the doctor. B) Herbert Wilfred Charles Lilley, born 24/9/1900, and baptized 11/11/1900 at St Peter´s, Pietermaritzburg. He was born at 225, Broom Street, Pietermaritzburg, Natal. He trained to be a fitter.
a) Herbert Wilfred Charles Lilley married on 04/08/1925, Susanna van der Walt (Venter), a divorcee, born 1894. They were later divorced.
b) Herbert Wilfred Charles Lilley, on 15/7/1929, married, by special licence, Martha Maria van Heerden, born in the Cape Province. She lived in Vereeniging and he in Pretoria before the marriage.
C) Sheila Marguerite Lilley, born 1902, married ? Mc Farlane. They had a daughter, Margaret Latitia Mc Farlane who married ? Mc Gee. They had two daughters: Susan McGee who married Trevor Robert Bell. They live in Ireland. Their children are Katelynn, Michael and Noah. The other daughter of Margaret Laititia McGee is Margaret Laetitia Els née McGee.
2) ALFRED LILLEY (our ancestor)
3) Herbert William Lilley born 1861 in Peckham, Surrey, was 10 years old at 1871 census. He was still alive in 1935 and later. He wrote the two histories of the family and the Naval record. We have one written by hand in 1935 and sent to Uncle Laurie from the UK. The second was typed and sent later. At the 1891 census Herbert and Ada were living at 41, Derwent Street, Camberwell.
Herbert´s widowed mother, Jane Lilley, was with them, as well as Herbert´s niece, Florence Evitt, aged eleven, born at Mullington in Surrey. Herbert was a clerk at CC Merchants. At a later stage he was said to be an accountant to a West African Goldminer. He was a Free Mason of the United Grand Lodge of England from the age of 32.
Herbert William Lilley (1861 - ? ) married Ada (1858 - ?), born in London.
They had a son : i) Reginald Lilley
- Jane Sarah Lilley, (1849 - 8/9/1929) was baptized on 9/5/1849.
Jane Sarah Lilley married on 9/10/1873, Frederick Clifford Evitt, aged 21 (1852 - ?) at the Parish church of St Mary Magdalene, Peckham, Southwark, by licence. His father was Frederick Evitt. They both lived in Peckham Rye at the time of the marriage. She died in Brighton, Sussex.
They had eleven children: i) Frederick Clifford Evitt born 1875; ii) Henry L. Evitt born 1878;
iii) Florence Evitt born 1880; iv) Constance M. Evitt born 1882; v) Lucy E. Evitt born 1883;
vi) Louisa E. Evitt born 1885; vii) Laura E. Evitt born 1886; viii) Olive S. Evitt born 1886;
ix) Charles K. Evitt born 1888; x) Arthur Leonard Evitt born 1890; xi) Annie C. Evitt born 1892
Arthur Leonard Evitt died in British Columbia, Canada in 1978.